Let's Talk BBQ
General => General Discussion & Topics => Polls => Topic started by: Ron D on October 12, 2012, 04:13:13 PM
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How about it. Fat Cap up or down.
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What are you cookin' in Ron?
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Electric smoker
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I always go fat side down. Heat shield/more bark/I'm too lazy to trim. ;)
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I used to cook them always fat cap up, but anymore I've gotten to to where I trim most of the fat cap off and cut the butts in half. That seems to give me more surface area for bark and smoke penetration.
There's still plenty of fat marbling inside to keep the butts moist.
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Electric smoker
I an electric - I don't think it will matter. You will not be developing any real bark.....
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I always go fat cap down. My reason is when you pull the butt off the grill, frog mat, ect. The fat cap will stick to the grill, frog mat ect. and not the meat. Also the fat cap offers heat insulation on more direct heat from below.
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Ron - at Memphis in May a couple years back a friend reported seeing a famous BBQ champ render the pork fat and inject it into a beef brisket - pretty sure you could do the same with the pork meat...just saying. 8)
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Electric smoker
I an electric - I don't think it will matter. You will not be developing any real bark.....
Tee, I will have a very good bark. Just wait and see.
Here is one I have done before with a nice dark bark
(http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee492/rhdsc/IMG_2712.jpg)
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With an electric smoker I don't wrap in foil and I have also gotten a bark.
I have started taking the fat cap off and I have seen no difference in the internal moisture of the butt......and......more rub and smoke coverage!! 8)
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I always go fat cap up, Gravity, Newtons law and all that stuff ;D
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I may be confusing the issue via flawed terminology kids....
When I think of bark - I am not considering the merely smoke darkened exterior.
When I think of "bark" - I am talking about the slightly hardened, drier exterior that a lot of folks will cut off to make burnt ends with. I have not found electrics to perform making that kind of bark. I do get a nice color and flavor...but not bark like one can expect from a 'coal or stick burner.
Did I make a bit more sense this time? :)
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I can still get that on mine Tee as I do not wrap it in foil anytime and it gets a nice crisp.
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The last Butt I did in the Tex for -18- hours had a crispy bark...my unit tends to run drier than my neighbors Smokin-It.......
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I've also gotten good bark in my electric smoker. I do fat side up. Just out of habbit. ;)
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Hmmm. then it may b where I am...Let's see...I live in a temperate rain forest...80 plus inches of rain per year. The second highest rainfall in any county in the U.S. :D :D :D
Another example of the moisture retention of the Smokin Tex, Masterbuilt and Bradleys that I have owned: It is not possible for me to obtain a "bite-thru" skin on chicken. It is rubbery. Tastes great, never dry....but not ideal texture either. On the pellet grill, or on charcoal, or stick burner - no problem.
So - when we examine the reason for this - you kind of are forced to look at the tiny air intake, and small exhaust hole in these units, and reason that if you can't push much air thru them ( part of their ability to hold heat is low air-flow, i.e. - b.t.u. containment via low air exchange rate.
So - what else do we get from low air thru-put? Moisture retention! It's a good thing - right? Except when I want bark that I consider REAL bark, which requires a drier/higher air thru-put.....and - I have not gotten it from any of my electric cabinet smokers. It is just me....maybe ;) :D :D :D :D
T
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i trim my fat cap off. bark, bark, bark. ;)
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I leave the fat cap on.
I know this is not good for you , but I foil pan mine about 160F & when I pull or chunk I make sure all the fat in the bottom of the pan gets mixed in.
I don't tell my Dr. About this recipe ::)
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I leave the fat cap on and up. I do however cut crisscross pattern on the top through the fat cap
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd237/tenpoint5/071212141652.jpg)
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Hot and fast butts, I take it off and cook in a pan. (350), uncovered and covered. Brisket in a pellet smoker, fat cap down, always. In a UDS, back and forth. I guess I'm on the fence! ???
OD
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I trim my fat cap then score it. Remember Im cooking with infrared so time for the cap to melt away is not there. If I were smoking in a real smoker I would score the cap only nd let the fat melt off
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Actually, both. I start with it up, heavily rubbed and turn it over about an hour into it. Like the bark, baby!
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For at least 30 yrs. I have done any roast with a fat cap, fat cap up, thinking I was basting the meat. They discussed this on another forum and there was an article that scientifically proved that was not so the fat just renders and rolls down the side. It also showed where fat cap down insulated the bottom from more direct heat and kept meat juices in. I now do fat cap down and I think it is better. I don't usually trim butts and I usually wrap in foil at 150 deg IT to get thru the stall faster. I usually put the fat cap up when I wrap. This way also gives me a softer bark, I am not a great fan of real crispy bark in my pulled pork. If you like the crispy bark I would say to not wrap. I pull the pork in strands about finger size and then do a coarse chop. Just my thoughts on this, whatever works for you is the way to go. Smokin Don
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It depends on how much fats cap there is for me. I trim some of it and then scored the meat to add more flavor. I also put the fat cap in a 1/4 sheet pan with chopped up onions and add beer underneath the meat for moisture. Also add gahhlick and a couple of jalapenos. This can or can not be added in later. I add them. I usually use a dark beer too. This is my own recipe. Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.
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I've become a huge proponent of "fat side down" on briskets but for butts I've tried every direction and found it didn't make a difference via my approach.
Hub
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As far as logic goes, muebe and Smokin Don are on the right track in my opinion. I read the same or a similiar article as Smokin Don and it made a lot of sense. As muebe says it helps to keep the meat of the butt form stickin. I do trim some of the fat from the cap and don't foil in my MES. An additional advantage of the fat down is/when you baste the baste goes onto the bare meet and not onto the fat cap. Dee
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[T]here was an article that scientifically proved that was not so the fat just renders and rolls down the side. It also showed where fat cap down insulated the bottom from more direct heat and kept meat juices in.
Yup. Also, a highly regarded competitive BBQer wrote that he doesn't see the point in rubbing a butt and then allowing the rendered fat to wash the rub away.
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Well this weekend when I smoked my first butt in my TCS I went cap down instead of up like I normaly would. All good found no difference in it. Guess it does not matter after all
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