I have smoked a few pork shoulders/butts now and am getting better flavor but have not mastered getting a good bark. I have not been using mustard or anything to adhere the rub, and the pork has typically been a little damp from taking it out of the brine when I rub it. I have not foiled the last couple butts/shoulders I have done which has helped the outside texture.

I am getting ok bark, but not really what I want. I have a big pork picnic shoulder I am going to smoke this weekend. I know I need to trim the skin and a lot of the fat from the outside, but my question is Should I rub the shoulder overnight and let it sit in plastic wrap the night before I cook, then reapply more rub the next morning? And should I take the shoulder out of the fridge for a couple hours before I put it on the smoker or not? I am wondering if the condensation formed on the outside of the pork when I sit it out is part of the reason I'm not getting a really good bark.

Any other tips would be appreciated. Aaron

I've never brined pork. Generallt has plenty fat content. Rub it 24 hours before you plan to cook. Also let it get room temp before hitting the smoker. No ketchup bassed sauces.

What kind of bark qualities are you looking for specifically?

if you're having trouble getting your rub to stick..guessing this is your lack of bark issue??? (brown sugar in rub = bark that other seasons get trapped in...got my mouth watering), use a yellow mustard layer first. you don't taste mustard once cooked and it gives the rub a medium to stick to.

yes on room temp before cooking, yes on night before rubbing though not necessarily plastic wrapped, in water pan use apple juice, apple cider vinegar, apricot nectar and or pineapple juice and water mix. can also put that mixture in a spray bottle and spray it anytime you open the door (if you're a peeker).

What kind of smoker are you using?

I use a lot of brown sugar in the rub, coat lightly with olive oil before applying for adhesion.

I always rub my pork down with yellow mustard then rub it down real generously with the rub seasoning. I let mine set overnight and then re apply rub the next morning before it goes on the smoker.
Always let it get to room temp before going on smoker.
I don't brine mine. I cook it on the grate fat side up for bout 4 hrs, then set it in an aluminum pan for the rest of the cook time. I always come out with a bark that I think is a good quality doing it this way.

If you want good bark don't wrap in foil, use a good rub and I like to cut crisscross on the meat then apply rub and let sit overnight and maybe sprinkle a little before putting on smoker.
For me I've gotten better bark with rubs that have a bit of sugar in them.

What is bark? I worked in a BBQ restaurant for 3.5 years after high school and I have never heard that term.

Thicker and crunchier bark is what i'm shooting for. I have had some bark but nothing like I normally get from a good restaurant's barbeque.
I do think some of my problem is not getting it to stick and form a really solid layer. I am going to try with mustard this time.

The first butt I cooked on a cheap vertical bullet smoker, the last one (which the bark turned out very thin and mediocre) I cooked on a barrel smoker with no firebox. I will post a pic here in a minute when I can upload one. I think i need to put more brown sugar in my rub as well.

Bark is the outermost layer of the butt/shoulder that sort of becomes candied meat/spice/smoke.

You guys are over thinking this. Take the butt out of ice box, let it come to around room temperature, rub it down with Worcestershire, then salt pepper and spices. Put it on at 250 to 300 for 5 or six hours without messing with it. I usually put a salt water, vinegar pepper garlic and what ever else I can think of bast on it the last couple of hours when I think about it. Take it off and eat it.
The secret to cooking pork is vinegar, Sugar can char and give the meat a burned taste so I don't put any kind of thick sugary sauce on it until it comes out of the egg.

I used to make a good sauce for the meat, but now most of the time no one wants a bar-b-cue sauce because the meat is so good plain.

That and make sure its getting smoke...wrapping it makes the juices flow, and 'washes' off the seasoning...get it barked then wrap it some if necessary...Like 3-2-1 ribs, having unwrapped first 3 hrs makes the bark...

If thicker, crunchier "bark" is what one is looking for, I would cook it over an open pit and not put it in a smoker. None of the BBQ I've ever eaten out of a smoker is near as good as open pit BBQ. And you don't have to rub anything on it to get good flavor. Just some good hickory or pecan wood. That's just my humble opinion.

^^^This. It's usually the stall that creates the good bark. If you wrap it in foil it gets done quicker but you don't allow your meat to hit that stall. At what temp are you smoking your meat?

I found this site some time ago and have really learned a lot from it. It has the tendency to peg the geek meter but if you're wanting to understand the science of cooking meat then this is a great place to start.

I agree with the Judge on this one.

Thanks for all the different opinions. I am still figuring out what I like and how to get what I want. When I smoked on the bullet smoker I was going about 300, I shot to keep it between 250 and 275 on the barrel smoker. I haven't had this smoker too long and have only cooked with it a few times. Here are a few pics of the smoker and some necks plus one with my goofy mutt.

If you are cooking at 225-250, it is going to take about 1 1/2 -2 hours per lb. of meat.

You want to cook this type of pork until it is 200 degrees internal temperature. This might sound counter-intuitive if you like a medium-rare steak. This is not a pork or beef tenderloin. You will get more tender and juicy meat by cooking it until it is 200 degrees. This type of muscle needs low heat and a lot of time to break down the tough muscle fibers. This is what all of the bbq experts will tell you.

Don't necessarily stick to a certain time for cooking for each cut of pork shoulder you cook. I've seen them weigh anywhere from 5-10 lbs.

Look online for homemade dry rub recipes containing ingredients like brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, etc...That will get you a good bark if you don't wrap it for too long.

Bark comes from heat. First of all DON'T skin or trim that picnic!!

If you start your meat at 400 plus degrees and let it cool to your cooking temp, you'll get bark on it. Slow cooking doesn't let you make bark unless you make it with the rub and that ain't bark, that's crust.

I take my butts and put them in a cooler and season them the evening before I'm going to cook them. I have an indirect smoker like a Texas style with a side fire box. I cook with pecan or some kind of dry seasoned wood. Start your fire and let the grill heat up to 500 or 600 degrees. Load the meat and close it up and my grill will come back up to 450 500 and I cook for about a half hour at that temp and then let it cool down to 300 or so to cook it the rest of the way. Usually takes 5 to 6 hours for large butts and that picnic will take less. When the butts are 160-170 inside temp I take them off and put them back in a cooler to set for a while. The internal temp will go UP to 180-190 and then the meat will relax. Usually a couple hours or more. This rests the meat and will let it just fall apart and you'll still have bark on the outside. Try it........

I use a heavy box smoker like you have except mine has a firebox on the left. I start a fire in the firebox with some good quality lump charcoal (not briquettes). I sometimes cheat with this part and load up my chimney and set it on my fish cooker (propane burner) and use that to get the charcoal going. This eliminates the possibility of having lighter fluid taste.

Then I dump the charcoal into the firebox and equal amounts of hickory and pear wood. Not chips, I have a log splitter and I will cut some pieces to about 10" long. I use hickory and pear, because I have alot of it on my farm.

I do not soak my wood. It needs to be dry, most of my cooking wood is at least 2 years dry.

I cook at about 225 for however long to get the temperature correct. On a medium sized butt it is usually about 7-8 hours. I usually do 4 butts at one time.

The bark is always dark red and about 1/2" tick. It is smoke that gives you the redish line and the smokey flavor.

Just my way, I am sure everyone has their own.