question about bark....

[Big Sexy]

When cooking butts & briskets I get a real nice bark when I don't use foil.
But when I use foil, the bark isnt "barky" at all; almost soggy ... this happen to anyone else?

[BluesDaddy]

Foiling creates a moisture "pocket" around the meet, basically starts "steaming" or "braising" the meet. Consequently it softens the bark. If you don't want it softened, don't foil. Or foil till it gets to 180 or so and then put it back in the smoker unfoiled till it hits the 195 to 200 range.

[IamMadMan]

When cooking butts & briskets I get a real nice bark when I don't use foil.
But when I use foil, the bark isnt "barky" at all; almost soggy ... this happen to anyone else?

This is because the foil holds in water and keeps the meat at a constant level of saturation. The bark becomes steamed and soft.

I only foil if I have to hold a product for a length of time, otherwise I do not foil as I like the rough dry bark.

Everyone has to find what works best for them, there is no "cookie cutter" way to do things.

[caseydog]

foiling creates a moisture "pocket" around the meet, basically starts "steaming" or "braising" the meet. Consequently it softens the bark. If you don't want it softened, don't foil. Or foil till it gets to 180 or so and then put it back in the smoker unfoiled till it hits the 195 to 200 range.

+1

cd

[Big Sexy]

Foiling creates a moisture "pocket" around the meet, basically starts "steaming" or "braising" the meet. Consequently it softens the bark. If you don't want it softened, don't foil. Or foil till it gets to 180 or so and then put it back in the smoker unfoiled till it hits the 195 to 200 range.

I'm going to play around with this idea... try to find the happy-medium where I can use foil to push the stall & unfoil to 'rebuild' the bark.


Thanks for all the feedback.

[DirtyDirty00]

Ive been also thinking about foiling and putting it back on with no foil for the last hour or so.

Glad to see this works for others. Now ill try it out.

[Cook]

It'll happen every time you foil. Want bark? Don't foil.

[pinkelephant]

when you un-foil, the evaporation may cause your food temp to drop and stall. don't freak

[swamprb]

Bark is overrated. If you want it don't use foil.

[captndan]

+2 4 letters my butt

[Lake Dogs]

There are all types of bark. Some like hard thick bark. Some like crispy but thin bark. Others want bark to be almost as tender as the inside of the meat. I happen to like the crispy thin bark, but that's me. I/we foil with no apologies because with every cook we're practicing for competitions where we'll need that bark to not destroy our tenderness score, so it'll still be flavorful but very tender. Bark (like this) is better on a sandwich (IMHO) though...

Your choice.

[AUradar]

i love the bark, so when cooking for me I dont' foil.

when we cook for fund raisers though we foil and there isn't much of a bark. I think this pleases the most. People who don't like bark probably don't want a butt with bark on it. People who do like bark will still buy and eat a butt without bark.