Weber Smokey Mountain and Bark Question


 
D

D Gaddy

New member
Hello all
I live in Laurel, Md (suburb of DC) and I've had my WSM for about a year. My question is what is the best way to get a good bark with the WSM on brisket and pork butt? (I use a homemade rub consisting of salt, brown sugar, paprika and other spices) I've done about 10 of each on the WSM and intially I was using the water pan but it seems by bark was mushy. So I decided to go without the water in the water pan (just foil) and my bark came out a whole lot better.
I guess my question is what issues will I have with my meat if I don't add water? One thing I noticed is a lot of the fat gets caught in the water pan and causes flare ups.
Any advice would be great!
 
Hi. I'm kind of an amateur but one of the best tips I ever got here was to fill the pan with play sand and cover it with extra thick aluminum foil. I don't even know why they tell you to use water. Good luck!!
 
There are no consequences to the meat.

I make foil spacers by crumpling and rolling foil into ~2" rolls and put several in the bottom of the pan.
Then use wide heavy duty foil and drape it over the top letting it droop into the pan. On the 22" WSM you will have to crisscross the foil since its not wide enough to cover with one sheet. I crisscross 4 sheets of foil.
The crumpled foil will keep it off the bottom of the pan. Strip off long enough pieces that it will fold over the top edge.
When finished cooking take the top two layers off and throw away the grease with the ashes.
Add two layers back and you are ready to cook again.
I see no need for adding ballast (sand or anything else) to the pan. To me it's just something else that can get greasy and I have to mess with.
 
I guess it depends on what you call a "good bark". I like color and caramelization but never had one that turned out black like a meteorite that you see in so many posts.

Tim
 
I'm a meteorite guy, and I've never had problems forming bark with water in the pan or not. This could be that it has been dry here until recently. If I did it now I might have a problem.

You should have no issues running a dry pan. I usually foil it and just put a sheet or 2 over the top if I'm worried about the drippings burning. Also whether there is a huge effect or not depends on your process. If you wrap there will be very little. There might be some differences if you don't but they'll be minimal.
 
I dont use water and always get good bark. I wrap the water pan with foil and one suggestion is once your bark is set and the consistancy your looking for, tent it with foil.
 
No water pan here. A terracotta pizza plate foiled. Always get a decent bark. I feel the rub plays an important part also. If the rub contains sugar, the bark is more firm. In my experience, crutching ruined the bark making it mushy. I'm not a fan of the crutch........unless you're up against the clock.
With regards to clean-up. I place a cheap aluminium pie plate on top of the pizza plate to catch drippings. I can get x 10 of them for about $US5.00.
 
About your problem, Ive solved using this set up

https://flic.kr/p/J8AGvq

In the dispisable pan there isi some ash (a thin layer) and some paper towel on it.
I alway smoke at 250F and using this set up I stopped off flavour and any grease flames.
Water I used is on the meat rack just enought for the first 2 hours (for long cooks) or 1 hour for short cooks). Then I remove the small water pan.
 
I'm still working on getting a meteorite color to my cooks (butts and briskets), I'm getting close but still have not achieved that DARK greatness; hoping to do a butcher paper cook soon to see if that helps. Just worries me because I put liquids in when I wrap and probably won't be able to with paper...

Johnny
 
Mac LA said:
I'm still working on getting a meteorite color to my cooks (butts and briskets), I'm getting close but still have not achieved that DARK greatness; hoping to do a butcher paper cook soon to see if that helps. Just worries me because I put liquids in when I wrap and probably won't be able to with paper...

Johnny
Click to expand...

I spray it before I wrap it with a solution of 4 to 1 water to Worchester sauce. I've heard of using pickle juice as well. It puts a little something in there. You're right, you can't really add a lot of liquid like you can with foil.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I spray it before I wrap it with a solution of 4 to 1 water to Worchester sauce. I've heard of using pickle juice as well. It puts a little something in there. You're right, you can't really add a lot of liquid like you can with foil.
Click to expand...

That's an awesome tip, I think I'll try Worchester route on my next burn - Thank you Dustin!

Johnny
 
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