[Fireburd]

There are work arounds for the soft bark issue but it will take some time learning your smoker first. If you want a harder bark always cook on a higher rack as that is where the higher temps are. Another thing I do is let the water boil off towards the end when my coals are losing their heat. what that does is let the cooker ramp up but not lose control since you aren't running a full basket of coals. Mine will hit 350-400 and ill run that for a bit at the end depending on what my cut is. That tends to firm up that soft bark everyone talks about. As a bonus you cook off the water which dries ouy the interior of the smoker. If you haven't read already ill let you know the bws have a rust issue if you don't take care of it. Metal + moisture is a bad combo which is ironic since that is exactly what this smoker is. So if you put it in storage with moisture still inside you run the risk of rusting. so by draining the water or cooking it off and letting the heat ramp up you make a drier environment for storage. Wouldmt trade my BWS for anything so I wish you all the best with yours.