What is really needed to make bark ?

[Cliff H.]

First a testimonial :

I spend a lot of time preparing raw meat for the smoker. I put on a pretty heavy coating of rub, especially on pork butts. I spend a lot of money on very high quality rubs. After the meat is smoked I either have a nice crunchy bark ( No Foil ) or a soft bark ( Foil ).

Either way, I always mix in some additional rub to the finished product. I feel that this does as much for flavor as any other step in the preperation process.

The Question ?

What is really needed to make bark ? Notice that I didn't say GOOD BARK. Just bark. Bland bark. Brown Sugar ? Do you really need anything at all to make a bark

I have about decided that I like what adding rub to the finished product does for the flavor so much that I am going to put on a minimum amount of rub for bark.

I am thinking brown sugar is really all that is needed for pork and not much more than that for brisket.

What do ya'll think ?

 

[blues_n_cues]

i've done both pork butts & briskets plain & they still get a bark. i think it's just the fat cooking out of the outer meat rending the natural sugars into carbon or something like that. i'm sure it gets scientific but the more i cook the less i know.....:icon_blush:

 

[bigabyte]

I agree. Plain meat gets a bark too. If you just add salt and/or sugar, it will just absorb right into the meat and you still get a bark from the cooking of the meat. The thick crunchy barks are from the ingredients in rub that do not get absorbed into the meat, which is pretty much everything excepts salts and sugars which the cell walls in the meat absorb. Black Pepper would probably be the simplest thing to add to get some additional texture on the bark besides just what the meat offers.

--Edited to add that if you use large crystal salt or sugar, like sea salt or turbinado sugar, that it will not get completely absorbed unless you let the rub rest on the meat for a really long time. So you could just use larger crystals of sugar/salt along with the regular kind to get a thick crunchy bark.

 

[SpammyQ]

I always get bark when my dog sees a squirrel or rabbit in the yard...:mrgreen:

Seriously, I think the bark is more a result of carmelization during the cooking process than anything else. Adding a rub just increases the thickness and flavor.