Texture or so called smoke flavor? : Poll

Both are important, but I am not a fan of heavy bark. A little crispy on the outside is nice, but like with creme brulee, the crunchy should be fine and thin. Dickey's ribs for instance often have too thick a bark for my taste.

As far as texture I'm really more interested in the tenderness and succulence of the meat under the bark. Too much bark usually equals dried out meat.

I think that you really can't have one without the other and I want both, even though I voted for bark.

I suppose that you're right, but I always seem to get both.:-D

I think you are talking about two different things and one does not preclude the other. BOTH are important. If I'm going to the trouble of SMOKING something, it's because I want the SMOKE flavor. If that flavor isn't present, then it defeats the purpose of smoking in the first place.

Take something like Prime Rib or a whole tenderloin. There are any number of ways to prepare it so that it has a crispy crust from the Maillard reaction. I can sear it on a flat top or cast iron then throw it in the oven to finish. Or, I can blast the oven to 550 degrees at the beginning or end of the cook to achieve much the same thing. In either case though, while the texture will be there, the smoke won't be.

Now, if I had to choose between oven roasted prime rib/tenderloin that had a nice crispy crust but no smoke, or one that was smoked at 200 but doesn't have a nice crust, that's a hard call. If I was wanting SMOKED prime rib though, I'd have to choose the latter.

I'm pretty sure that we're all talking about meat on a smoker, not in an oven or on a griddle. :wink:

pitbossJB said:

I'm pretty sure that we're all talking about meat on a smoker, not in an oven or on a griddle. :wink:

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Kind of makes my point. If the "end all, be all" was texture, it wouldn't matter what you cooked on or in. Since we are discussing using smokers, my presumption is that it's because of the desire for SMOKE.

The "bark" of a brisket is a crunchy, sticky, somewhat fatty layer on the exterior of the meat and it is where 95% of the flavor of the brisket is. A thin layer of fat has rendered down to marry up with the spices in the rub and then has been kissed by a good loooooong smoke. Texture and smoke flavor,... the best of both worlds!:wink:

Fwismoker said:

Yea I gotcha...also a matter of sematics of what people consider smoking. I consider true smoking the lower temps you describe...some don't

Most of the time i just want to encrust some good flavor on the outside of the meats and worry less about smoke. Non stick burning I'll still toss in some some smoking wood but i'm not worrying about having a pronounced smoke flavor.

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I guess I'm somewhat confused then. Few (if any) of us are smoking meats in order to preserve them. If I use a SMOKER, it's because I want a nice smokey flavor for my meat. If I didn't, I wouldn't bother with the smoker. I would fire up a grill, a flat top, an oven, or a stove.

Granted, I don't want the smoke to be overpowering, but if I can barely taste the smoke, then I consider that to be a failure.

Fwismoker said:

Egg plant parmesan has been popping in my head lately...cheese bubbly brown under the broiler. :hungry:

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Now you've done it ... I haven't had that in soooo long! Not that hard, either.

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