Best smoke flavor yet... And I don't know Why!

[pork eater]

I've just smoked the best Pork Shoulder yet, and I am perplexed.  I did several things different.  Please let me know what I've been doing wrong for the last year.  This was two bone-in 6-8 lb. shoulders 6 hrs of smoke at 230 degrees in my Digital 6 rack.  There was a dramatic difference in the color and aroma.  The bark was black, whereas before, the most I achieved was a dark reddish brown.  I used a rub on the meat, or course.

#1  I used Hickory bisquettes.  I have mostly been using oak, but I bought a variety from the amazon.com 4-3 sale.

#2  I put in 6 hours of wood and set the smoker to smoke for 8 hours to make sure they all burned.  I usually end up with 2-3 unburned pucks in the stack for a 6 hour smoke.  My smoke unit does not always advance the pucks every time. (is this a warranty issue? It happens about once every 3-4 puck advances.)

#3  This was the first time that I haven't started with a shiny clean "V" drip pan.  I had just done a couple racks of ribs for dinner, and then put the shoulders on overnight. 

#4  I made my own rub that I have been using for a while.  I made a new batch, and it was too spicy, so I cut the spices with a 50/50 mix of brown sugar and kosher salt.  The rub started out as 1/3 sugar, 1/3 salt, and 1/3 everything else.  Could it be the extra brown sugar?


You guys are great, and I got all my questions answered by searching prevous posts, so this is my first post.  My guess it is #2 or #4 making the difference.


Thanks,

Pork Eater

[KyNola]

Best flavor on a pork shoulder?  Easy answer for me and just my opinion is hickory. I would be really concerned about your DBS not advancing the pucks as it should.  Your homemade rub may have something to do with how pretty the bark was on the shoulder.  Whatever, remember what you did and let us know.

Smoke on!
KyNola

[pork eater]

The shoulder tasted just like my how my grandpa's bbq that I grew up with, but here in California, he only used oak in his homemade brick pit.  I think something else must be wrong.

Pork Eater

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Pork Eater and welcome to the forum.

I think you pretty much have it pegged. I would bet the added brown sugar created more bark. You didn't indicate the size of your butts in your previous smokes. I prefer to do larger butts. They seem to turn out better to me. The other thing you didn't indicate the amount of smoke on your previous attempts. Amount of smoke is kinda a personal taste thing so maybe your taste buds prefer a little more. I use a fair bit of Hickory on butts & ribs, I like it.

If your smoke generator is skipping a beat every once in a while I wouldn't hesitate and I would call Bradley right away. By the looks of your profile you have been a member since July last year so your 1 year warranty is probably still valid.

Mike

[pork eater]

Thanks Mike, I'll give them a call.  The size and amount of smoke has all been consistant, with the exception of having pucks left over.  I just pulled a cross rib roast off to make smokey French dip sandwiches.  May be good, may be not.  Maybe BBQ sauce on the sandwiches instead of Au Jus. 

[FLBentRider]

I have used hickoru for all my butts, with different rubs they all come out black. But then I have been using what I have been told is more smoke than I need ( 6 to 8 hours ) My bark has always been great, as well as the bite.

[Gizmo]

Pork Eater,
Are you using an independant digital thermometer to show your box temp?  The outside temperature and therefore the inside temperature of the box may be quite different from previous smokes.  The built in temperature readout ma not show the variation in temperature as much.   

[Habanero Smoker]

Pork Eater;

Welcome to the forum.

Smoke is only one flavor in smoked foods, though there for my taste there is big difference in flavor between hickory and oak. I now mostly use pecan; which is similar to hickory but a bit milder. I generally use four hours of smoke. I agree with Mike that the more sugar you add the more bark and the darker the color will be, but also will change the flavor of the final product.

[HCT]

I agree with Mike and Habs about the brown sugar giving you that brown bark and added taste.

[winemakers]

welcome to the forum!  I love conversations about the best butts ::)