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Bark not dark/thick enough?

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    Bark not dark/thick enough?

    Hello all- new here but working on my briskets. Attaching a couple photos to illustrate the point, but in general my briskets don't quite have that nice black bark I lust after. I use oak on an offset smoker and am pretty anal about keeping a clean fire and 250ish temp. Do a thorough trim and just use bigger gauge pepper and coarse salt as rub. I wrap in butcher paper after the stall (usually around 170) and bring off when it wiggles to my satisfaction, usually around 203. I hold for at least an hour in the butcher paper. In the end, if something dries out or cooks a little hot it will get dark, but the rest stays kind of golden. Tastes good but hard to beat a great bark.
    The only other weird thing is sometimes the bark will "stick" to the butcher paper. I spritz the paper before wrapping but maybe it's cooking too hot? Have noticed pretty large disparity in temps between the temp gage and temp at the grate at times.
    In any event, looking for feedback on what may be causing the bark to not fully form.
    Cheers!
    Attached Files

    #2
    Stop wrapping until you have enough bark. Spritzing the paper just makes it worse. Meat does not absorb moisture it expels it as it cooks.

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    • Ahumadora
      Ahumadora commented
      Editing a comment
      +1

    • Dadof3Illinois
      Dadof3Illinois commented
      Editing a comment
      Agree 100%. You should be able to rub your finger across the surface and the actual rub stays put on the meat.

    #3
    "Illustrate the point" I see what you did there. I agree with Jerod.

    Comment


      #4
      Yep, wrap when the bark looks right, not at a specific temperature. Cooking at 250, you really don't even need that probe until after you wrap.

      Comment


        #5
        If you have the time, don't wrap at all. Guaranteed better bark that way.

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          #6
          Bang it up to 400F and it will be barking so much you will need ear plugs.. Leave it unwraped if you want more bark. Also looks like a small brisket so will cook fast and not much time to develop bark like you see in pics.

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            #7
            Hey Ahumadora you reckin' this is enough bark ???

            See the source image

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              #8
              1st don't worry about the difference between grate and lid temp. Since the lid thermometer is higher it will always read higher. Mine reads 20-30 degrees higher. As far as wrapping I don't do it until I put the brisket in the Cambro, where I hold it for 2 hours. I also smoke at 275-300.
              Last edited by mountainsmoker; May 27, 2020, 05:51 PM.

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                #9
                how much dalmation rub do you apply? Are you burning only splits?

                Comment


                • Khuegin
                  Khuegin commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Not sure how much tbh, feel like it's a pretty decent coverage but could probably try more. I may have to search around for seasoned briskets to compare notes.
                  I'm burning mostly splits, if fire gets low and I need to get flames going quicker I'll chunk into some pretty small bits.

                • texastweeter
                  texastweeter commented
                  Editing a comment
                  More rub and wrap later. Wrap based on bark like others have said.

                #10
                Given what it looks like I agree with the others that you need to wrap much later. If liquid is pooling on top you can prop up the meat with a wood chunk or something early on to allow the moisture to run off the sides.
                Last edited by Polarbear777; May 27, 2020, 07:21 PM.

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