Brown sugar on my butts


 
Pete Z

Pete Z

TVWBB Super Fan
I did a couple of butts yesterday and they turned out good, but I detect a little burned taste on the bark. I'd like to leave out this flavor nuance on future cooks, so I am asking for a little advice.

I did a couple of different things than my normal routine. We had high winds on Saturday night, so I waited until Sunday morning to start the cook. I used the Minion method with 3 chunks of hickory and 3 chunks of apple (all well-seasoned). Usually, I cook the butts at around 250-270 as measured on the top vent. This time I went for the 300-310 range so that I would have something to eat for supper. I also used a different rub. Lately I have been using some variation of Dr. BBQs big-time rub, but I switched this time to Steve Raichlen's All-American rub. A big difference between the two is that Dr. BBQ uses turbinado and Raichlen uses brown sugar. Did the combination of brown sugar and somewhat higher temperatures lead to my burned taste? One more bit of information: the water pan did evaporate all of its water while I was away at church. Could the drippings have burned and contributed a burned taste to the meat? Thanks for any suggestions.
 
David's right. Pete, I'm thinking your guess that the drippings might be the cause is the answer. They do cook in the pan, the water portion evaps out, and you can end up with over-caramelized (or burned) drippings that can affect flavor. Though sugar doesn't burn till 350+ (so the sugar still up on the butt is not an issue), drippings containing sugar (among other things) hitting a hot pan just above the fire, the water evaporates away and, well, there it is.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Josh Z.:
Did your kids make you feel better by telling your how much better it was than their Uncle Josh's? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, but now that I think about it, I should take an informal poll...

Of course, my lovely daughter has been saying for months that she wants to go to Two Pigs BBQ for her birthday. But, I tell her, my pulled pork is so much better... Highly suspect taste buds.
 
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