To bark or not?

[vw addict]

Going to make some butt this weekend, the two other times I made it I foiled at 160° and cooked to 190°. Interested in trying the bark idea, I have a propane smoker with water tray. My question is do I ditch the water tray @ 160° to get a good bark, should I mop or spray the meat at all? Do you guys keep adding chips for the entire time or stop after a few hours of smoke? I was also interested in trying the pre-rub mustard method, will this help the bark or just skip it?

[k.a.m.]

vw addict, first off I like a lot of smoke so I keep the smoke going all of the cook, but if you know how much smoke you like go with that. Now on to the bark I love bark so what I do is when my Wsm or offset get to temp I prep the Butt, rinse it off pat dry and then add my rub, and I love a mustard slather, it makes a great bark. I slather the Butt with plain yellow mustard and add more rub. Then onto the cooker, I do not wrap my Butts and bring them to 195° to 200° internal, I do not flip them either they cook fat side up the whole cook, if you want to wrap to speed up the cook thats ok I used to do that, then when up to temp you can unwrap place back on the cooker and firm up the bark.

[Toga]

If you want to get a heavy bark use a rub that contains a good bit of brown sugar in it. The sugar will help create a heavy bark.
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[vw addict]

Thanks guys! My house rub has a good amount of brown sugar in it, so that should work well. What about the water tray? Should I leave it in for a few hours, then remove it later in the cook to get a good bark? I usually put garlic cloves, water, and a touch of beer into the water tray. I will smoke with apple and alderwood.

[k.a.m.]

vw addict, I use my water tray everytime I smoke, some people change to sand or clay trays, I have found in my WSM the best way to smoke is water in the tray we have really mild winters here, the bark still comes out great, if you wrap to early that will reduce the bark, that is why I stopped wrapping just about everything except chuck roasts.

[zski]

Not trying to still a thread, but if you mop or spray do you do it on the fat side or do you flip meat over mop or spray and then flip back to fat side up. Or is it even necessary to mop or spray?

[Pit Boss]

I don't know...but I think the water try and other heat sinks are overrated. I don't have a bullet smoker so I've not run any tests with them...but I do know that North Carolina pitmasters have been cooking over direct coals for centuries. With this method you'll want to flip the butt when it reaches 160 or so. If you can get one with skin on it, the skin will crisp up after you flip it.

No need to foil...no need to spritz or mop unless you just want to.

There are many different ways to cook bbq.
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[chilepeppa]

Have you tried sand in your waterpan?
The main purpose of the water is to manage pit temps.
The sand will act as a barrier and hold the temps as well as the water and it doesn't evaporate.
Cover it with foil foreasy cleanup.
Bark is good!
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