Hickory Bark Baby Backs

[straightupnobs]

Doing some Pork Loin Back Ribs (assuming thats longhand for babyback) tomorrow. Me & my family have always used hickory bark when just doing normal grilling to give it that lil bit of smoky flavor (pre soaked of course).My question is what do you guys think of using the bark instead of , or to cut down on the hickory chunks i usually use to do a full on smoke with.Will probaly go through alot more charcoal to keep heat up since there wont be as much "fuel" minus the chunks.... but whaddya think??

btw- plannin on 1st q view w/ these tomorrow, cant wait. ( gotta track down the damn digital cam tonight)

 

[athabaskar]

The only times I have used chunks with bark attached I felt like it gave the meat a bitter flavor. If the chunks have bark on them I knock it off with a hatchet and split the chunks into smaller pieces.

If you are looking for a milder smoke you might try pecan wood. Hope this helps.

 

[meandmytwodogs]

I agree with this post. I normally remove as much of the bark as I can regardless of what wood I am using. The hickory bark by itself gets waaaaay to smoky from what I've seen. I've never personally used it but watched a friend use the bark alone for his smoke once. Hmmm come to think of it, I've never gone back for more of his Q either.

Good luck!

Dave

 

[straightupnobs]

do you know if he pre soaked the bark or just threw it in dry?

 

[bbq engineer]

You want to use the wood. Now I'm not saying that you need to remove bark from wood pieces that you have, but don't use only bark. I also use wood "dry" without soaking in my rig...It is charcoal fired and chunks are added as flavor wood.

I don't think you will use appreciably more charcoal since the wood chunks are primarily used as flavor in your setup. Remember, for charcoal fired smokers;

Charcoal is heat. Wood is flavor.

 

[straightupnobs]

Yeah i had to learn that one the hard way on my 1st few smokes. Man i made some bad stuff.... one brisket i made i gave peices to the dog every night (she loved it,lol). Will use the chunks . I had just got the bark yesterday for normal grilling ( peice or 2 for burgers or steaks grilled) & was curious if anyone had ever had succsess w/ it smoking. Thanks for the heads up ,all.

btw BBQ Engineer- what is your reasoning behind using only dry wood? i have always used & been told to soak wood , because it lasts longer & adds a bit of moisture to process.

 

[bbq engineer]

Hey Str8upnobs,

The only reason I can see for it to last longer is that the wood will have to dry out before it starts producing smoke. I have a separate water pan in my setup that acts as a heat sink and to introduce moisture. I want smoke from my wood, not moisture.

I also have a very good adjustment on the air intake of my smoker, along with it being air tight. This allows me to control the burn so the wood doesn't just burst into flames.

I am attaching a link for your viewing pleasure that talks about smoking woods, and shows a chunk of wood that has been soaked overnight...very little penetration on the wood chunk. I thought it was interesting.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/woods.html

Happy smokes!

 

[straightupnobs]

Thanks for the info BBQ .... it was definitely a good read. I may still experment w/ the bark ....just not on these ribs , since there for a family gathering. i'll save the experiments for my own personal enjoyment (or displeasure).