If you’re one of those people who has been known to fight over the last bit of the delicious crunchy meat tip, then you’re probably addicted to bark just like the rest of us. Bark is probably one of the best parts of a perfectly-grilled brisket or pork butt. While forming bark on a piece of meat isn’t really rocket science, if you’re a true aficionado and want to increase the amount of bark, there are some easy tricks.
1. Add more surface
The more surface you have, the more chance there will be for bark to form. So, if you’re a huge fan of bark, don’t be afraid to cut a large pork butt in half and remove the bones. This will provide more bark to meat ratio. Yummy!
2. Avoid the Texas Crutch
By its very definition, the Texas Crutch will prevent the formation of bark. Of course, the trade-off here is that you’ll have to weather through the stall, but trust me—the end result is well worth the time.
3. Don’t put it in a pan
You’ll want your meat to have access to maximum air flow so that the bark can form properly on as much of the surface as possible. This means ditching the pan and placing it directly on the grill itself.
4. Remove the fat cap
The easiest thing you can do to improve the bark is to remove the fat cap from the meat. In fact, you should trim as much of the fat from the surface of the meat as possible in order to encourage the formation of bark.
5. Gash the meat
We’ve talked about gashing before, but if you gash the first 1/2 inch of your meat and get the rub deep in those grooves, you’ll be rewarded with little 1/2 inch squares of almost pure bark at the end. Doesn’t that sound like heaven?
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