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Charcoal vs. pellets show I did at my cousin's place near Austin
Honestly, I ran a side-by-side comparison last weekend with a brisket I got from HEB. The charcoal setup gave it a way deeper smoke ring and that bark was just crunchier all around. Has anyone else tried both and noticed a big difference in the crust?
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troyjackson22d ago
The smoke ring depth difference is mostly about the nitrates in the wood, not the charcoal itself. Charcoal burns hotter and produces more nitrogen dioxide which reacts with the meat to create that ring. Pellet grills run at lower temps and produce less of that gas so you get a thinner ring. But the bark crunch has more to do with moisture level and cook temp than the fuel type. I've gotten just as good a bark on my Traeger when I dry brined the brisket overnight and kept the cook at 225.
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the_vera22d ago
Oh come on now, you're telling me that bark crunch is all about moisture and temp, not the fuel? I've been cooking on charcoal for 10 years and I swear I get a better bark on my Weber than any pellet grill I've borrowed from friends. But maybe I'm just not doing the dry brine thing right, how long do you usually let it sit? And what about the fat cap, do you trim it super thin before you dry brine or leave it thick? I always thought the fat helped keep moisture in but maybe that's why my bark gets soggy sometimes. I've tried 225 on my charcoal grill before and it's tough to keep it steady for that long without adding more lump coal every few hours, so maybe pellets handle that part better.
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