# Butts & Bark & Humidity



## Diva Q (Aug 6, 2007)

How much do you all think humidity plays on bark formation?? 

Today I did an 8 lb butt the same way I have done it for the last year. IT has always yielded good results (no Fab either) tender moist and good bark. I take my rub slather the butt with mustard and apply the rub. I inject with an apple juice based injection as well. Then I cook till the bone wiggles out easily. At about a steady 225 cooked on the Traeger. 

Today my butt sucked big time. NO it is so bad I am tempted to throw the entire thing in the garbage. I won't even post pictures because it is awful. 

The inside has no flavour today. Nothing nada zip zilch. IT has a greyish hue. IT is not tender either. NOt even close to being tender. My butt was very fresh too so there is no concern there. I always buy my butts from the same Butcher. Today it is not appetizing at all. Then there is the bark which is smushy. Not nice. Not even remotely palatable. 

I am very disappointed in this butt. 

So I wonder what role do you think humidity plays on bark formation?? ON the entire BBQ and cooking process. It has been very humid here for days. We need rain in the worst way. So lets discuss what we all think about this topic. Ideas opinions ?? expertise and wisdom would be appreciated here.


----------



## surfinsapo (Aug 6, 2007)

I don't think you did anything wrong. I think you might have got a bad piece of meat. It's always humid here on the gulf coast and people get good bark all the time. I know how you feel too.. Remember that brisket I did? I was bummed out. Do another one in the same weather and I bet it will be ok Diva!!


----------



## john a (Aug 7, 2007)

I do not think the humidity is a factor, the best butts I do come out of my Smokin Tex. It's sealed extremely well and retains a ton of the humidity created within it, that's why I bought the Traeger for ribs & chicken.


----------



## Captain Morgan (Aug 7, 2007)

Bryan S said:
			
		

> I'm going to go with a bad cut of meat also. Hey you can't look inside them. It happens, rarely but it does happen. I had 2 butts like that in all the years I've been doing this. Not your fault, or the butchers, sh!t happens. Chalk it up to a old hog that was past it's prime.  :?




yep, that's my guess


----------



## Diva Q (Aug 7, 2007)

Glenn,

I would not serve it. No way no how was I going to serve a piece of that mess. 

I am going to do another butt and brisket this week for practice and ugh more chicken. 

I have never had the experience like that meat before. I really did figure on the humidity playing factor into it. 

Maybe it was just a bad pig.


----------



## wittdog (Aug 7, 2007)

How was the marbeling on the butt? It's been humid here and I havent' had any issues...I'm guessing it was just a bad butt.


----------



## LarryWolfe (Aug 7, 2007)

Ditto on the bad piece of meat.  I had one I bought from Costco one time that was similar to your results and I tossed it as well.  Just get back and cook another to rectify yourself!


----------



## cflatt (Aug 7, 2007)

ditto on the bad piece of meat. I have had them before like that, nothing helps them. Its a sad thing after all of the time invested in one.


----------



## Diva Q (Aug 7, 2007)

wittdog said:
			
		

> How was the marbeling on the butt? It's been humid here and I havent' had any issues...I'm guessing it was just a bad butt.



The marbling was lovely as usual. 

Such a sad disappointment.


----------



## Unity (Aug 7, 2007)

I'm with the others, blame the meat. I'm sure you did everything right. One boneless butt did that for me once, it just wasn't good. Looked bad, didn't feel right when I pulled it, tasted bad. I pitched it. It _is_ disappointing when you give it all that time and care and it doesn't work out.

--John  8)


----------



## Puff1 (Aug 7, 2007)

Bad meat.


----------



## Bbq Bubba (Aug 7, 2007)

Diva good
Meat bad!! 8)


----------



## Nick Prochilo (Aug 7, 2007)

I'd bet bad meat also. That reminds me about a joke about Rock Hudson....


----------



## Puff1 (Aug 7, 2007)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> I'd bet bad meat also. That reminds me about a joke about Rock Hudson....


  

Diva......I enjoyed talking about your butt this evening


----------



## boar_d_laze (Aug 7, 2007)

I'll add my bass/baritone to the choir and guess "meat."  

High humidity is usually helpful for bark formation.  If you bake French, Italian and Spanish type loaves, you're familiar with spritizing the oven walls and the bread itself to promote crust formation.  Bark is just barbeque jargon for "crust."  

You cook with a WSM which gives you a fairly humid environment, even with a dry pan.  If from no other place, the product will supply a lot of humidty which does not escape because the WSM is so well designed and requires the lid be lifted only very seldom.  In any case, I've no doubt you've produced wonderful butts using water in the pan -- and you won't get a more humid environment than that.  

Your prep was "per usual."  The remaining variables were pull temp, humidity and the individual piece of meat.  We've eliminated humidity.  I'll note that a loose bone is not always an accurate sign of doneness, but it usually is.  In fact, odd pieces of meat can cook very unevenly, so there's a possible combined cause.  

The meat is the  most likely culprit, and a possible slight undercooking as a lesser possibility.

Rich


----------



## Nick Prochilo (Aug 7, 2007)

Puff said:
			
		

> Nick Prochilo said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You should go to jail for talking like that!


----------



## Puff1 (Aug 7, 2007)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> Puff said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You should go to jail for talking like that![/quote:2w7v2vqm]
She said she giggled everytime we talked about our butts [smilie=a_whyme.gif] 
Sooo......we can just talk about boy butts huh?  .......


----------



## Nick Prochilo (Aug 7, 2007)

Puff said:
			
		

> we can just talk about boy butts



You are a sick person. I'm guessing you've been invited to Michael Jacksons a few times!


----------



## Puff1 (Aug 7, 2007)

Diva....please excuse Nick.......(medication)


----------



## 007bond-jb (Aug 9, 2007)

I got 2 dogs that bark   If anything I would think high humidity would make a less crispy bark, but for baking bread it makes a more crispy crust


----------



## bigwheel (Aug 10, 2007)

Well think the chickens have come home to roost on this low and slow stuff.  Boost your temps up to about 275..suspect you have turned some perfectly good hawg meat into pork jerky here.  That whut happen to slow cooked pork. Now if you had a hawg which was skerred or apprehensive afore going to hawg heaven..that supposedly cause it to taste funky. Now cooking at 225 will turn it into Tasso.  As Big Jim down in Floriddidy say...You is trying to warm it to death.  Jack up the heat and kindly repoat back. 

bigwheel




			
				Diva Q said:
			
		

> How much do you all think humidity plays on bark formation??
> 
> Today I did an 8 lb butt the same way I have done it for the last year. IT has always yielded good results (no Fab either) tender moist and good bark. I take my rub slather the butt with mustard and apply the rub. I inject with an apple juice based injection as well. Then I cook till the bone wiggles out easily. At about a steady 225 cooked on the Traeger.
> 
> ...


----------



## wittdog (Aug 10, 2007)

Put me down with the 225* pork crowd..I cook it that way cuz I like the results.


----------

