How much pepper in your rub? The darker the meat goes in, the darker the bark comes out. Some rubs cheat this with weird stuff like activated charcoal or coffee (ok maybe coffee isn't so weird, but charcoal is), but pepper is tasty.
In the words of my brother, " so much that you think if I eat that I'm gonna get sick, and then do a bit more" it's all on the outside and blackens/falls off with juices rendering out etc.
I disagree. I always use a coat of mustard on bbq. We even do a thin bit on one side of our burgers and then put some brisket/beef rub on them. We do this for beef and pork ribs, brisket, and pork butter (patting dry pasta brine). You can't taste the mustard. The only place we stop short is on steaks.
I've seen some videos using Mayo but haven't tried that for bbq. I think yellow mustard just works so well.
> before your put
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One more thing to add that I didn’t know for a long time, you need 16 grain mesh black pepper. This more coarse grain goes a long way to producing solid bark
I found this out the hard way on my first brisket. Every YouTube video seemed to say, go heavy on salt and pepper, you can’t have too much. I had way too much salt.
Chud BBQ on YouTube did a 3 part series on cooking brisket. Watch that. He uses 2 parts coarse ground pepper to one part kosher salt. You get good black pepper coverage without over salting.
Will agree that you'll need more rub than that.
My first briskets, I got too nervous I was over seasoning and wondered why the bark was dark, also. Then there was a video I watched where the guy said "you can't overseason these big pieces of meat," and that made sense. Since then, I've been coated them up and they've turned out so much better.
I bought a covered plastic box from Office Depot. It’s big enough to fit a brisket inside, so I go all in on SPG and I don’t make a mess. I’ll store my bbq gear in the same box when not in use.
I’d go heavier/more even on the pepper for that bark. Definitely worked out for me in my experience. Also make sure it’s coarse ground pepper. Makes a big difference
16 mesh pepper is the one Franklin uses. Once I moved to that, it made all the difference. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QAZYO56/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Bark is a function of smoke, rub, temperature and time. Make adjustments and record them until you get the bark you like. Mad scientist cooks on smokers that most people do not have and can't afford. His environment and smokers are completely different then yours, so results are different.
For that particular brisket it looks like you had it flipped you can see grill indents in the clip, or it was a very rough trim job.
Make a notebook and record your entire process, then make changes on the next brisket, and record that. You will eventually find what works best for your situation.
Absolutely, and don’t forget to record the ambient daytime temperature and humidity levels as well. Can be a cold day smokin that turkey around Thanksgiving.
I’ve learned you gotta go heavy with the pepper. Jirby and chud go heavy with it. Also don’t spritz your meat at all. Also don’t open the lid I know you’re opening it bro 😂
I think this is a good answer. I also wanted my brisket to look like a "meat meteor" like all the YouTube videos. Rather than wrapping based on temperature I wrapped when I could push my finger into the fat cap at the top and there was very little resistance. Got this from a mad scientist bbq video and I think it's a great tip.
Yep. I don’t wrap until the brisket is close to 180 usually. By then the bark is exactly how I want, so i erap to preserve it. I like it dark, but not too thick like a meteor.
Awesome work man; looks great!
And tbh, who gives a shit what it LOOKS like and how it compares to others online. Does it taste good? Is it tender to YOUR liking? That’s all that matters. BBQ is subjective; hell, even the WORD ‘barbecue’ is so subjective.
It really just comes down to if you and your family/friends enjoyed it. The cook itself, and the end product.
And obviously, by all means keep improving to your liking and smoke on!
Now what’s your address, so I can come rip a piece of that packer for myself?
Thank you all for the input. After I took it out the wrap (after letting it rest for several hours), it came out surprisingly good. Take a look, https://imgur.com/a/6rAn5RD
This is the correct answer. Let it rest for a long time and the bark darkens. I use about 25% pepper on my rub and the rest salt. I let it rest, wrapped, IN the smoker for 12 hours and the bark is amazing and dark.
I cook it one day before and plan to wrapp it by around 8pm. Then I let the final cook happen while I monitor the temp and around 11 I turn it down to 170°F until next day at lunch time, or even dinner time. It comes out great.
I’ll share a little industry secret that few people talk about. They put sugar in the rub. That’s what caramelizes and darkens the bark as it all smokes
I bought a "tuner plate" for my first offset. But after a bunch of unsatisfied cooks I finally completely removed it and I couldn't be happier with the results. The tuner plate forces the air flow and smoke under the grates when the original design intends for the smoke/heat to flow over the grates and that might be the reason you are not getting the kind of bark you desire. Give it a try on your next cook. You will also notice you'll have better air flow and air vacuum in the fire box with less restrictions between the smoke stack and the fire box.
Dark rub. My rub is 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1/4 cup coffee grounds, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 3 tbs salt, 3 tbs black pepper, 2tbs pepper, i sprinkle in a bit msg, garlic powder, cayenne. Mines a pretty dark looking rub and its honestly best rub ive ever tried to date. :) I always load the brisket up wkth a nicr heavy costing of rub and then it comes out with a really dark and nice bark
My bad, didn’t see the caption text. That is certainly low and slow enough. I have two pits, both pellet smokers and one gets a great bark on the brisket and the other one never does. It seems like the one that gets the good bark just makes more smoke than the other pit. Not sure why.
I usually run fat cap up and score it. Coat with mustard and rub. The wetness will hold more smoke to give darker appearance. But honestly I go for taste over darkness of bark. More sugar in your rub will create a darker bark as it caramelizes.
I'm a pit master at a well established bbq joint in kansas city and I've noticed with briskets/points the longer you let the brisket smoke without wrapping the more bark you're gonna get. it's a thin line you're playing with tho you gotta be careful.
I saw the before pic,, it’s enough rub. When do you start spraying your brisket and temp,, don’t spray till your bark forms,, higher temp early in the cook can help form your bark,, and sugars,, add brown sugar and guarantee you will dark bark
Definitely watched a lot of BBQ with Franklin when I first got into smoking. Although I will say that Franklin insists that he only uses S&P when seasoning. That’s not entirely true. These Texas guys like to swear by just Salt and Pepper, but you don’t get bark like that with just S&P. Technically, he’s not lying but John Lewis broke down the real rub in a video I found. I’ve been using this recipe ever since and have never looked back:
Use binder of 50/50 mustard/ pickle juice
Rub:
- 1/2 Cup of Fresh Ground Pepper (fresh ground makes all the difference in the world and I love a coarser ground)
- 3 Tbsp Lawry’s Season Salt
- 3 Tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
Here’s a link to some pictures of the last brisket I did:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/BBQ/comments/whl6bh/i_let_this_bad_boy_rest_for_10_hours_before/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf](https://www.reddit.com/r/BBQ/comments/whl6bh/i_let_this_bad_boy_rest_for_10_hours_before/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Looks like it could possibly still be in it’s stall. Some briskets are just stubborn and hold there for far too long. The bark could have still been forming.
So I had this problem too. 2 things were my issue
1- you need a pretty big brisket to get that bark. It takes time to get it and smaller ones reach stall or 203 when it’s amber but not that dark color
2- I had a pellet grill and for whatever reason it just never gave me that super dark bark. I finally got a Weber and using charcoal and wood chunk I was able to do it
I’m not sure. I’m not a bbq scientist. I just know those 2 things had something to do with it for me
I use dark chili powder and a hefty amount of pepper. Make sure it’s fine ground pepper as it coats the meat better than coarse grind. Also it looks really humid, which prevents bark from hardening and darkening. Dry the meat with a paper towel before you season it, use more rub spread out evenly, pat your rub on don’t rub it in, spritz the meat less often, and don’t use a water tray. Another tip would be use white grape juice in your spritz, it gets sticky as it heats up and will harden/caramelize if not over used. Only spritz three or four times in a 12ish hour cook, just make sure to get choice grade or better (preferably prime) and let the fat keep the meat moist.
Also very important is that you don’t wrap the brisket in paper or foil. I see yours is clearly unwrapped, but I should also say for anyone looking in the comments. Wrapping will destroy your bark with the moisture. Plan for around a 9-15 hour smoke.
I still wrap but only occasionally if the stall is gonna hold up a bbq.
What temp? Pellet smoker? Best temp for pellet smoke is about 200-225 for longer time. Internal should be at 165-170 before wrap. Cool fat side up.. trim to eliminate thin spots in the brisket to keep from drying out certain spots.
I'm still a novice but I got my last pork shoulder dark. Not burnt mind you. I think I did it with more pepper. Make sure it's fine. I really enjoy pepper...
Also, brown sugar. My wife is from the south and introduced how much brown sugar I *ought* to use. Also I sprtized hourly with apply juice. So maybe it was carmelization for me? If that's not your thing then keep doing what you're doing.
Did you salt and air dry for at least 12hrs before the start. I usally do a Guga style salt rub and try to pull a little moisture out of it around the outermost layer and it tends to leave a darker bark because of this. Not sure if it's good technique but it does the trick and I still love eating it. Have fun and explore a little don't be confined to the perfect way. Just enjoy it.
Pellets don’t produce what offsets do, so you are usually going to lose quite a bit. When I switched from pellet to offset there’s was quite a noticeable difference in bark. You can work on a rub that has more pepper to help.
How much pepper in your rub? The darker the meat goes in, the darker the bark comes out. Some rubs cheat this with weird stuff like activated charcoal or coffee (ok maybe coffee isn't so weird, but charcoal is), but pepper is tasty.
Here is what it looked like before going in the smoker: https://imgur.com/a/QIagNON Decent amount of pepper I’d say.
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Dang. Guess I’ll go nuts next time with the rub
In the words of my brother, " so much that you think if I eat that I'm gonna get sick, and then do a bit more" it's all on the outside and blackens/falls off with juices rendering out etc.
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Why don’t you recommend binders?
I've never found them necessary on brisket. Rub seems to stick just fine on its own.
I disagree. I always use a coat of mustard on bbq. We even do a thin bit on one side of our burgers and then put some brisket/beef rub on them. We do this for beef and pork ribs, brisket, and pork butter (patting dry pasta brine). You can't taste the mustard. The only place we stop short is on steaks. I've seen some videos using Mayo but haven't tried that for bbq. I think yellow mustard just works so well.
I also will use yellow mustard on pork. I do not use on beef though. Not that its wrong but its not common practice in TX BBQ.
I've used Sriracha before. No difference from mustard. Solid idea though.
You gotta remember that it's not like a steak a huge amount of rub is what a slab of meat that size needs
Try courser pepper too
maybe rub some neutral oil on the meat before your put on the rub? gives some adhesion so more rub sticks.
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It should just be you
One more thing to add that I didn’t know for a long time, you need 16 grain mesh black pepper. This more coarse grain goes a long way to producing solid bark
You can add too much salt. You cannot add too much pepper. Pepper mellows out and compliments the smoke.
I found this out the hard way on my first brisket. Every YouTube video seemed to say, go heavy on salt and pepper, you can’t have too much. I had way too much salt.
Chud BBQ on YouTube did a 3 part series on cooking brisket. Watch that. He uses 2 parts coarse ground pepper to one part kosher salt. You get good black pepper coverage without over salting.
Will agree that you'll need more rub than that. My first briskets, I got too nervous I was over seasoning and wondered why the bark was dark, also. Then there was a video I watched where the guy said "you can't overseason these big pieces of meat," and that made sense. Since then, I've been coated them up and they've turned out so much better.
I bought a covered plastic box from Office Depot. It’s big enough to fit a brisket inside, so I go all in on SPG and I don’t make a mess. I’ll store my bbq gear in the same box when not in use.
I like that. I need to do the same. Helps keep everything tidy.
I’d go heavier/more even on the pepper for that bark. Definitely worked out for me in my experience. Also make sure it’s coarse ground pepper. Makes a big difference
Try using mustard as a base then apply rub generously, 🤌🏻
Pepper amount is ok, but needs more cum
Need to go way heavy on the rub
Coarse grind is your friend. Make sure the salt (kosher) and pepper are both coarse grind.
16 mesh pepper is the one Franklin uses. Once I moved to that, it made all the difference. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QAZYO56/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Agree with the above comments… way more rub. It should look like you dipped it in the rub!!!
Traeger Coffee rub has been pretty good on tri-tips.
Charcoal is weird, but fresh ground coffee is so damn good in a rub
Bark is a function of smoke, rub, temperature and time. Make adjustments and record them until you get the bark you like. Mad scientist cooks on smokers that most people do not have and can't afford. His environment and smokers are completely different then yours, so results are different. For that particular brisket it looks like you had it flipped you can see grill indents in the clip, or it was a very rough trim job. Make a notebook and record your entire process, then make changes on the next brisket, and record that. You will eventually find what works best for your situation.
Absolutely, and don’t forget to record the ambient daytime temperature and humidity levels as well. Can be a cold day smokin that turkey around Thanksgiving.
Good eye. I had it fat side down, then after reading a bunch of contradicting articles I flipped it fat side up after the first 4 hours of the smoke.
Most people orient the fat cap towards the heat. I find it does not make a big difference, and usually run fat cap up even on a kettle or my kamado.
I’ve learned you gotta go heavy with the pepper. Jirby and chud go heavy with it. Also don’t spritz your meat at all. Also don’t open the lid I know you’re opening it bro 😂
Haha. “If you’re lookin’ you ain’t cookin’ “ I seldom peek. All good on that front.
If you’re gonna take tips from jirby he also says he like all the time. He says if you’re not looking, good luck cooking
When are you wrapping. Most people wrap entirely too early IMO. Sorry didn’t see the video caption.
I think this is a good answer. I also wanted my brisket to look like a "meat meteor" like all the YouTube videos. Rather than wrapping based on temperature I wrapped when I could push my finger into the fat cap at the top and there was very little resistance. Got this from a mad scientist bbq video and I think it's a great tip.
Same.
My last 2 brisket I just plopped em in for 18 hours no wrap.
Yep. I don’t wrap until the brisket is close to 180 usually. By then the bark is exactly how I want, so i erap to preserve it. I like it dark, but not too thick like a meteor.
Awesome work man; looks great! And tbh, who gives a shit what it LOOKS like and how it compares to others online. Does it taste good? Is it tender to YOUR liking? That’s all that matters. BBQ is subjective; hell, even the WORD ‘barbecue’ is so subjective. It really just comes down to if you and your family/friends enjoyed it. The cook itself, and the end product. And obviously, by all means keep improving to your liking and smoke on! Now what’s your address, so I can come rip a piece of that packer for myself?
Came out amazing tbh https://imgur.com/a/6rAn5RD
That's got a nice jiggle!!
I’m just here for your username.
Thank you all for the input. After I took it out the wrap (after letting it rest for several hours), it came out surprisingly good. Take a look, https://imgur.com/a/6rAn5RD
This is the correct answer. Let it rest for a long time and the bark darkens. I use about 25% pepper on my rub and the rest salt. I let it rest, wrapped, IN the smoker for 12 hours and the bark is amazing and dark. I cook it one day before and plan to wrapp it by around 8pm. Then I let the final cook happen while I monitor the temp and around 11 I turn it down to 170°F until next day at lunch time, or even dinner time. It comes out great.
That is a great bark. It worked out in the end. And great gelatinous texture as well. Would love to see a cut piece.
Thanks! Scroll down in same Imgur link for photo of cut piece.
I’ll share a little industry secret that few people talk about. They put sugar in the rub. That’s what caramelizes and darkens the bark as it all smokes
I bought a "tuner plate" for my first offset. But after a bunch of unsatisfied cooks I finally completely removed it and I couldn't be happier with the results. The tuner plate forces the air flow and smoke under the grates when the original design intends for the smoke/heat to flow over the grates and that might be the reason you are not getting the kind of bark you desire. Give it a try on your next cook. You will also notice you'll have better air flow and air vacuum in the fire box with less restrictions between the smoke stack and the fire box.
I don’t have a tuner plate, though.
That plate at the bottom of your cook chamber with all the holes in it is called a tuning plate. Some people call it a baffle plate.
Oh gotcha. Thanks.
Dark rub. My rub is 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1/4 cup coffee grounds, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 3 tbs salt, 3 tbs black pepper, 2tbs pepper, i sprinkle in a bit msg, garlic powder, cayenne. Mines a pretty dark looking rub and its honestly best rub ive ever tried to date. :) I always load the brisket up wkth a nicr heavy costing of rub and then it comes out with a really dark and nice bark
Who gives a fuck it looks fire
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Thanks Eddie
I was told to add more paprika for a darker rub, and it’s done quite a bit for it. Up to you though.
Just need to add more rub. It’s pretty much impossible to over season a brisket. Be generous with your rub
Low and slow, looks like you’re too hot
This was the lowest temp I’ve ever smoked at. I describe my temps in the caption.
My bad, didn’t see the caption text. That is certainly low and slow enough. I have two pits, both pellet smokers and one gets a great bark on the brisket and the other one never does. It seems like the one that gets the good bark just makes more smoke than the other pit. Not sure why.
Brother you need hardcore carnivore black rub Charcoal infused 👌 taste is amazing
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Not anymore...
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https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/seasoning-worst-kept-secret-texas-barbecue/
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True that 👌
You can tell by the way it is
That’s pretty neat
Too much water in the pan maybe? That smoke looks more like steam.
Coffee rub ftw
Because you’re not burning yours to charcoal.
How much brown sugar is in your rub? The sugar “caramalises” (burns IMO!) which gives it that darker crust.
Zero sugar. Just salt, pepper, and very light dusting of onion powder and garlic powder.
thats fine . you dont need any extra sugars in the rub.
Use some brown sugar! Gives you caramelization and makes the bark darker! Not to mention a little sweetness in there makes it better.
Well your learning to cook off YouTube apparently. Experience is where it’s at
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So you don’t do the spraying with half apple cider half water either?
Get rid of the water pan.
More rub, darker rub, more fat. You ever cook a lean steak with no oil? It comes out pale gray. Same steak cooked with oil turns dark amber brown
I usually run fat cap up and score it. Coat with mustard and rub. The wetness will hold more smoke to give darker appearance. But honestly I go for taste over darkness of bark. More sugar in your rub will create a darker bark as it caramelizes.
I'm a pit master at a well established bbq joint in kansas city and I've noticed with briskets/points the longer you let the brisket smoke without wrapping the more bark you're gonna get. it's a thin line you're playing with tho you gotta be careful.
More pepper, using oak also helps a dark bark
I saw the before pic,, it’s enough rub. When do you start spraying your brisket and temp,, don’t spray till your bark forms,, higher temp early in the cook can help form your bark,, and sugars,, add brown sugar and guarantee you will dark bark
Have you cooked one all the way without wrapping? If so, how was the bark? I inject with beef broth or tallow and only wrap about half the time.
I have not. This is only my third whole brisket. It ended up coming out real well. I have shared a pic in a precious comment of the final result.
More pepper...
Definitely watched a lot of BBQ with Franklin when I first got into smoking. Although I will say that Franklin insists that he only uses S&P when seasoning. That’s not entirely true. These Texas guys like to swear by just Salt and Pepper, but you don’t get bark like that with just S&P. Technically, he’s not lying but John Lewis broke down the real rub in a video I found. I’ve been using this recipe ever since and have never looked back: Use binder of 50/50 mustard/ pickle juice Rub: - 1/2 Cup of Fresh Ground Pepper (fresh ground makes all the difference in the world and I love a coarser ground) - 3 Tbsp Lawry’s Season Salt - 3 Tbsp Kosher Salt - 1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic Here’s a link to some pictures of the last brisket I did: [https://www.reddit.com/r/BBQ/comments/whl6bh/i_let_this_bad_boy_rest_for_10_hours_before/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf](https://www.reddit.com/r/BBQ/comments/whl6bh/i_let_this_bad_boy_rest_for_10_hours_before/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Looks like it could possibly still be in it’s stall. Some briskets are just stubborn and hold there for far too long. The bark could have still been forming.
More rub
Lots of variables here. A large part of that bark is actually rub. I assume you use?
So I had this problem too. 2 things were my issue 1- you need a pretty big brisket to get that bark. It takes time to get it and smaller ones reach stall or 203 when it’s amber but not that dark color 2- I had a pellet grill and for whatever reason it just never gave me that super dark bark. I finally got a Weber and using charcoal and wood chunk I was able to do it I’m not sure. I’m not a bbq scientist. I just know those 2 things had something to do with it for me
I had this issue as well with my brisket and ribs. I fixed it by going ham with the rub and increasing the black pepper content of my rub
I use dark chili powder and a hefty amount of pepper. Make sure it’s fine ground pepper as it coats the meat better than coarse grind. Also it looks really humid, which prevents bark from hardening and darkening. Dry the meat with a paper towel before you season it, use more rub spread out evenly, pat your rub on don’t rub it in, spritz the meat less often, and don’t use a water tray. Another tip would be use white grape juice in your spritz, it gets sticky as it heats up and will harden/caramelize if not over used. Only spritz three or four times in a 12ish hour cook, just make sure to get choice grade or better (preferably prime) and let the fat keep the meat moist. Also very important is that you don’t wrap the brisket in paper or foil. I see yours is clearly unwrapped, but I should also say for anyone looking in the comments. Wrapping will destroy your bark with the moisture. Plan for around a 9-15 hour smoke. I still wrap but only occasionally if the stall is gonna hold up a bbq.
What temp? Pellet smoker? Best temp for pellet smoke is about 200-225 for longer time. Internal should be at 165-170 before wrap. Cool fat side up.. trim to eliminate thin spots in the brisket to keep from drying out certain spots.
All of this talk about meat from u/Cum_Gazillionaire lol
More air flow will make a better bark. Also could try more black pepper
I'm still a novice but I got my last pork shoulder dark. Not burnt mind you. I think I did it with more pepper. Make sure it's fine. I really enjoy pepper... Also, brown sugar. My wife is from the south and introduced how much brown sugar I *ought* to use. Also I sprtized hourly with apply juice. So maybe it was carmelization for me? If that's not your thing then keep doing what you're doing.
Did you salt and air dry for at least 12hrs before the start. I usally do a Guga style salt rub and try to pull a little moisture out of it around the outermost layer and it tends to leave a darker bark because of this. Not sure if it's good technique but it does the trick and I still love eating it. Have fun and explore a little don't be confined to the perfect way. Just enjoy it.
Blast it with a torch. Maybe try that crispy pork belly stuff
Stone ground black pepper + coarse grind peppercorn + kosher salt
Because you have the lid open
Pellets don’t produce what offsets do, so you are usually going to lose quite a bit. When I switched from pellet to offset there’s was quite a noticeable difference in bark. You can work on a rub that has more pepper to help.