That Saturday in July when everything went right on the smoker

Back in 2018 I had this one Saturday where I fired up my old Oklahoma Joe offset at 5 AM. Was doing 3 pork butts and 2 racks of spare ribs for a family reunion. The wind was perfect, the charcoal lit in one match, and the hickory was splitting clean. I didn't have to fight the temp once. By noon the bark on the butts was like black glass. My uncle who's been doing competition BBQ for 20 years took one bite of the ribs and just nodded. Said nothing. That was better than any trophy. Has anyone else had a day where the smoker just seemed to read your mind?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_stone11d ago

You mentioned the bark being like black glass, and I gotta say that got me because bark that dark usually means you ran a little hot. I did the same thing once and thought it was perfect until a buddy pointed out that real competition bark should be dark mahogany, not black. Black glass bark can taste a bit bitter from the sugars burning. If you had a flawless cook, maybe that worked for you, but I've found aiming for that deep reddish brown makes the meat taste cleaner. Try pulling your next batch off about 25 degrees sooner and see if you like the texture better.

james_ross11d ago

That dark bark is exactly what wins competitions around here.