Good day all,
A friend of mine and I were debating the finer points of brisket prep last night. He's currently using an electric smoker, and is pining for a pellet pooper, but money is tight and I suggested he look at the PBC if he wanted to up his brisket game, as it's cheaper and nearly foolproof and the results speak for themselves.
He then launched into a diatribe that charcoal sucks and bar none the best method for brisket is propane, which baffled me.
I tried to explain that in my experience, combustion gasses and smoke from wood or charcoal impart a great deal of flavor into the meat, whereas propane merely provides heat. His answer was "propane makes the best bark." I don't think he understands how pellet poopers work. I tried to explain that the propane (or electric heating element) is only used to ignite the wood pellets, not as the primary heat source. Then I tried to tell him that pellet cookers aren't smokers, they're more like a wood oven - but still not a propane cooker... but he also wanted none of that conversation.
I had to stop at that point because I was clearly talking to a man who had no idea what he was talking about but was utterly convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was right. And if years of political discussions on social media has taught me anything, it's that trying to talk logic to those people is a complete waste of time. He also wraps his brisket in foil at 165, which I tried to tell him will adversely affect his bark, which he also dismissed quickly.
Opinions are opinions, so I'm willing to let him have his.
So... even though I'm done with that conversation (he can eat sub-standard brisket if he wants, it doesn't hurt me in the slightest) it still got me thinking...
what fuel/method makes the best bark in your estimation?
I have never actually tried to slow cook anything in a propane cooker, so I have no idea what kind of bark it's capable of but it seems like without combustion gasses, it would be like cooking it in a gas oven, and if you're going to do that, might as well just cook it in the oven. And do you find your bark to be more of a function of the rub than the heating method? Vice versa? Or a function of both equally?
A friend of mine and I were debating the finer points of brisket prep last night. He's currently using an electric smoker, and is pining for a pellet pooper, but money is tight and I suggested he look at the PBC if he wanted to up his brisket game, as it's cheaper and nearly foolproof and the results speak for themselves.
He then launched into a diatribe that charcoal sucks and bar none the best method for brisket is propane, which baffled me.
I tried to explain that in my experience, combustion gasses and smoke from wood or charcoal impart a great deal of flavor into the meat, whereas propane merely provides heat. His answer was "propane makes the best bark." I don't think he understands how pellet poopers work. I tried to explain that the propane (or electric heating element) is only used to ignite the wood pellets, not as the primary heat source. Then I tried to tell him that pellet cookers aren't smokers, they're more like a wood oven - but still not a propane cooker... but he also wanted none of that conversation.
I had to stop at that point because I was clearly talking to a man who had no idea what he was talking about but was utterly convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was right. And if years of political discussions on social media has taught me anything, it's that trying to talk logic to those people is a complete waste of time. He also wraps his brisket in foil at 165, which I tried to tell him will adversely affect his bark, which he also dismissed quickly.
Opinions are opinions, so I'm willing to let him have his.
So... even though I'm done with that conversation (he can eat sub-standard brisket if he wants, it doesn't hurt me in the slightest) it still got me thinking...
what fuel/method makes the best bark in your estimation?
I have never actually tried to slow cook anything in a propane cooker, so I have no idea what kind of bark it's capable of but it seems like without combustion gasses, it would be like cooking it in a gas oven, and if you're going to do that, might as well just cook it in the oven. And do you find your bark to be more of a function of the rub than the heating method? Vice versa? Or a function of both equally?
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