Bark Flavor Boost

[Shawn W]

In a recent thread we were discussing mopping and defended it as able to make a difference. I have been a vocal supporter of this saying 'Southern Sop makes a differnce, make sure to use the sop down to the last thick bit, paint it on with a brush'.

In discussion with J Beisinger, we came up with the reason I liked MR.Brown and Souther sop was the rub in the sop and the late application of the rub, albeit in liquid form, late in the cook ... before the rub has time to lose it's flavor.

So I tried it today on a beef cook and the results were spectacular. This isn't a fluke or peculiar to Mr.Brown. Give it a try! My beef was 'eyes rolling back in my head' good tonight.

The first three are pics of the beef cut I've been talking about, '7-Bone roast', what I used for this cook.




























Recipe:

1/2C cider vinegar
1/2C rub
1T sugar
2T woos
2t gran garlic
2T dehyd minced onion
1T dried cilantro leaves
1T paprika
1T crushed chiles
1t cinnamon

This made enough to do two eight pound chucks. Make one themed to your rub (this one was used with my ancho chile rub), use about these proportions of wet/dry (or less liquid) ... you want it thick enough to not run off the meat. Apply 2 hours before estimated removal from smoker.

So I used the same rub I rubbed the meat with but I'm sure one could get more complex and really layer flavors using different rubs and additions ... it needs about 2 hours to dry at 250ºF.

Edit: forgot to post sugar in the recipe

 

[Brian Bo.]

Good stuff.

I currently have a butt on the smoker Mr. Brown style without the Southern Sop, though.

I'll have to try that sop sometime...although, my butt looks like it has decent bark on it at the moment and it has 4hrs to go.

By the way, I have never used cilantro for any one of my smokes. Very interesting!

 

[j biesinger]

Shawn, my eyes lit up when I saw the topic of this thread and who the author was.

Looks like you did a great cook and thanks for following through with the idea. It was on my mental list of ideas to try but I haven't done much q'ing with the winter being the way its been. Now that you have precedence, I guess if this thing takes off we can name it after you.

That 7th pic down showing the glossy bark (without sugar???) was exactly what I was thinking would happen. I'll bet that flavor was a real party in your mouth.

was there any negative effects with the late addition of the rub? I worry that there might be a grainy/pasty layer of spice and stuff that might not fully tighten up. the second to last pic looks like the rub it pretty thick.

A soon as this idea popped up, I've been on a mission to make my own worcestershire, I feel this technique warrants a real first rate flavor boost.

 

[Paul H]

Shawn, looks like a great recipe. If you post it under beef recipes section it would make it easier for people like me to find it rather than having to do a search under all the categories

 

[Shawn W]

oh yeah, I did use some sugar, forgot to post that ... fixed recipe above, thnxs

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">was there any negative effects with the late addition of the rub? I worry that there might be a grainy/pasty layer of spice and stuff that might not fully tighten up. the second to last pic looks like the rub it pretty thick. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>garbage in garbage out I think ... if the rub used is bland then yeah, it would be pasty/grainy ... I used some paprika for color and bulk but the concoction was bursting with flavor

I think also it's possible to put too much of this on, so some caution would be good with large surface area small mass chunks of meat. Put it on 1/2" thick for a 20lb chuck roll though, jk.

With the amount I put on, to only eat bark would be too strong but once it was all mixed up it was great. I used bbq sauce in a sandwich, but it really didn't need it, it stood on it's own for flavor.

 

[j biesinger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">With the amount I put on, to only eat bark would be too strong but once it was all mixed up it was great. I used bbq sauce in a sandwich, but it really didn't need it, it stood on it's own for flavor. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm thinking this technique would be powerful in a comp where you only get one bite to impress.

Thanks again Shawn, its cool how this forum lets q-obsessed cooks a chance to spark one anothers' imagination regardless of their time zone. I half-heartedly bounce ideas off my friends and sometimes even my q-ing teammates and they look at me like I'm nuts.

 

[Dan H.]

havn't replied to even half of what im talking about but your a real help/whiz on this site. thanks and good work, I'm definatly keeping this in mind and also would like to do something similar. im a bark fan big time but didn't take me long to realize so many flavors change and/or dissapear, or turn bitter/grainy over long periods of smoke, this may be the cure. (thats why im partial to the "texas brisket rub#2, I felt it held up well through the whole process compared to other things i've made/tried., by the way whats your favorite for brisket so far?)
my first thought is to build a rather simple initial rub w/ bold stand out flavors and hopefully creat something to what this whole thread is about after that. man, thanks a lot.

 

[Shawn W]

Paul: I posted the recipe in Rubs section

JB: there is already precendence of it in Southern Sop recipe, but I would take some credit for continuing to defend mopping/basting over the years even when at times I felt it was as productive as shouting it to the bald arse prarie I live upon

.

When the beef came off I tried taking it a step further and threw on a hunk of pork, no rub, just S&P. It was frozen solid, I rinsed it in cold water enough to get the S&P to stick.

(It was in a paper package marked Picnic Roast ... funny lookin picnic, never seen one with a spinal cord before

)



At 12 then 13 hours I basted on similar wet stuff, only with Mr.Brown rub and coriander instead of cinnamon.

I intended to take it off in 4 hours or so but fell sound asleep. 8 hours later this is waht it looked like:






In foil, in the oven at 275ºF for another couple of hours for the pork to get pullable.

Rub flavor was much stronger than typical pre-cook rub application, though where the baste was thick it would wipe off .. but this turned out ok once the meat was all mixed up. The outer layer was pretty firm.

I think the techinique works well this way too, though I really need to do a better baseline cook ... this one was pretty strange.