British BBQ Society Forums

I have cooked pulled pork about 4-5 times on the WSM and whilst the pork is the perfect temp internally, pulls beautifully and tastes great each time i have failed to get a bark on the pork and find that the outside of the pork is always wet or soggy if that makes any sense?

I cook the pork at around the 230-260 mark, water in the bowl with oak chunks, maverick thermometer and wait untill it hits 190. pulls great each time... but no bark

I haven't tried the clay saucer method would that fix it ?

iv tried the meat with mustard/ good dry rub. and another time with oil/ dryrub with the same results

so does anyone have ny suggestions?

thanks in advance

Mike / musicville

Are you foiling the pork to speed up the cooking when it stalls? That would soften you're bark.

If you're not foiling and still getting this problem, one suggestion would be to run the water pan dry once the internal temp' reaches about 175-180f as this will give the bark a chance to harden.

last time i didnt foil it to try and get a crust but still had the same problem will try it without water and see how that goes, my only other thought was the rub as i tend to put a lot put alot on as it tends to turn to a wet rub/ paste as it mixes with the oil/ mustard if that makes sense ?

What rub are you using?

Bark is dependant on the maillard reaction, get ths right and you can develop a wicked bark that will withstand foiling with only a little softening.

The reaction requires salt protein and sugar, pork shoulder will take a surprising amount of sugar without ending up overly sweet.

There may be multiple factors affecting your bark but I can cook in the range you are with water (although I never use water now) and foil but still get a good bark, although it will soften a little in the foil.

Let s know the exact process you are following and we can advise better.

Like Steve says - what are you using for your rub? I use water in the bowl rather than a clay saucer and pretty much always let that run dry towards the end of the cook.

Oh I've never needed to use oil or mustard to get a rub to adhere.

I inject... and I mean I REALLY inject and leave overnight. I rub not long before cooking and I keep the water pan nicely topped up throughout the whole cook and I've never had a soggy butt yet. In general I think my temps are a little bit higher than ideal at about 236 F these days in the big WSM but don't think that would make a lot of difference over an ideal 225 F. I'd be thinking of blaming the rub...

I use:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1 tbsp hot chilli powder
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp celery salt
1 tbsp onion salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
3 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
1-2 tsp cayenne

...rubbed liberally over not too much yellow mustard and have got a pretty good bark every time so far. My rub sticks with or without the mustard but I like to think it adds something to balance the overall flavour.

I can have that issue on the Backwoods also on the racks closer to the water pan I will run the buuts on the upper racks to set the bark and then bring down to the middle of the cooker. Not sure with the WSM but if you can get do sort of the same thing maybe run a little hotter to start low water in the pan ext as the others suggested. Not sure what your sugar contnet in your rub is that will affect it also and I also spary with a mixture of apple juice sugar and imitation butter a little tip for you guys that also gives it s nice bark and shine for the finished product.

try not let the water dry up in bowel last half hour of cooking

Just curious, if the butts pull great and taste great, why are you worried about the bark?

There are many ways to cook pork. I use a WSM with no water in the pan (only foil) and my Stoker System set for a lowly 216 degrees. The butts are always on the bottom rack and the temp prob is just below the top rack. I foil only when the rub has dried and even then, only after spraying with water at least twice. IMHO, spraying directly on the pork does help create a better bark than using water in the pan. The water in the pan is used to help control temp. After foiling, one can raise the temp to whatever temp they want to meet their deadline. I raise mine to 275 degrees and start checking the internal temp after about an hour. It usually takes about 2 hours but they have to be checked frequently after the first hour.

If I'm pressed for time, I cook at 250 degrees. The difference is, I start 3 hours later and finish at the same time.

Good luck,

Benny

Simple solution. Cook without any water in WSM pan (wrap in foil) and spray with water bottle once you see bark beginning to form on the sides. For an 8 lb butt, it should crust fully in about 6-7 hours @250 degrees F. Do not open WSM lid for 5 hours. Start spraying after 5 hours and every 1/2 hour with plain water. Once crust is formed as verified by the SYD scratch test, remove and foil and return to WSM.
Contest grade bark is guaranteed with this foolproof approach which works whether you inject or not. Just use a good rub like the following:
http://www.soupbase.com/Slap-Yo-Daddy-Rubs/products/42/
The Competition Hot rub works well. During contests, I mix this rub with some MSG, ratio is 18 parts rub to 1 part MSG
Good luck!
Harry