Pitmaster Secrets to Crafting Exceptional BBQ Flavour – Part 2!
A Three-Part Series Packed with 15 Flavouring Tips that Elevate Your BBQ Game!
In this three-part series of Pitmaster Secrets, our goal is to share 15 BBQ flavouring steps for a Pitmaster – a competition-circuit BBQ master or a motivated backyard cook – to contemplate and help create your best-ever BBQ. It is not intended for a cook to include every step in a cook plan; however, considering each option and adding one or two steps might completely change your BBQ game.
In the first part of this three-part series, we covered six foundational flavour steps to take before you put the meat in your smoker. Those initial steps are base layers, and now we move on to considerations for when the meat is in the smoker.
As you cook, consider adding some of these five flavour layers to your overall plan. Each of these steps can contribute to texture, moisture, and, of course, flavour.
Sidebar: Shoot for Your Flavour Goal.
You Have a Goal, Right?
One of the differentiators between world-class competition BBQ Pitmasters and backyard cooks might simply be having a goal for the day or for the dish being cooked. A competition Pitmaster will work towards crafting top-notch flavour, perfect texture, and gorgeous presentation for their BBQ. Very few steps are ever overlooked to remove any reason for a BBQ judge to discount their effort and award a perfect score. A backyard grill master might want to achieve good flavour and a juicy eating experience, which may not necessarily be on the same level as a world BBQ champion.
A competition Pitmaster understands that, as they cook, there are steps that can add layer upon layer of flavour. Each layer or step that is added to the cooking process contributes to the final “masterpiece”. A mildly salty brine, a nice sweet BBQ rub, an acidic mop, and a shiny, sweet glaze all contribute to the complex, multi-layered flavour goal. We have cooked in many contests with seven, eight, or even more steps as we prepared our entries for the day, while trying to ensure we had a great day with the judges. A backyard cook, in contrast, may do only one step while cooking, such as using only a BBQ rub. If the rub is really good, this will achieve some pretty solid flavour, but not anywhere as complex as a competition Pitmaster. Importantly, this might be perfect, though! And it all depends on your flavour goal.
Five More Flavour Enhancers that Happen WHILE You Are Cooking
Flavour Options as Your Fire is Burning! (Points 7–11)
The foundations of flavour for your BBQ masterpiece, such as the salty yet fragrant brine you used and the lovely, sweet rub you dusted on the trimmed roast, are now behind you. The meat is now ready to be cooked. It’s looking good. The fire is lit, the coals have settled, and the smoke is rolling. Perfect. It’s going to be a great day. Open the lid, place the piece of meat inside, and remind yourself of your anticipation and expectations for what you want to happen. At this point, the backyard BBQ officianado may say the work is done and that time is all I need. Meanwhile, the competition BBQ pitmaster says, “Let’s get ready for the next five flavouring steps”. Let’s go over five more flavour steps that may change your BBQ masterpiece.
Did You Read Part 1? Pitmaster Secrets to Crafting Exceptional BBQ Flavour Part 1
A. Flavour Options as Your Fire is Burning!
- 7. Add a Moisture Tray to the Smoker
Concept: Depending on the type of smoker you have and how it operates (always read your manual!), it may require or benefit from using a water tray. Meanwhile, some pitmasters have optionally added a tray of liquid to their cookers to regulate temperature, add humidity, and, of course, add some flavour. A tray of water in a smoker can help maintain a steady, even temperature throughout the cooking process and add some moisture as the water evaporates. Moisture or humidity inside a smoker can help develop a smoke ring, the conversion of nitrates into a pink hue just under the meat’s surface. Many cooks take pride in achieving a distinct smoke ring. However, a moisture tray can be more than just “bland” water; it can also provide flavour. Your moisture tray can contain flavourful ingredients such as apples, lemons, onions, cinnamon, vanilla, beer or even whisky. Any of these can add flavour to your BBQ meat.
Detail: If you add a foil tray of water or juice to your smoker, make sure you do not restrict airflow inside the smoker. Keep the tray away from the side and back walls so air circulates. Also, don’t let the tray go completely dry – burnt apple juice is not an attractive flavour for most people!
- 8. Spritz
Concept: During cooking, heat from the fire dries the air that moves through the cooking chamber. This dry air “sucks up” moisture that is expelled from the meat as it cooks. This can dry out your meat and take away from your flavour goal. Spraying the meat’s surface using a spray bottle as it cooks can maintain the humidity inside the cook chamber and add flavour to the meat’s surface. Adding sugars or acids to the surface can add colour and flavour complexity and even help develop the bark or crust.
Detail: Although you can spritz meat at any time during a cook, most pitmasters who choose to spritz will do so after the bark has fully set. Adding too much moisture early on will soften the crust and even wash off those wonderful spices you added with the rub. Spritz every 30-60 minutes as you learn how this step affects your cook plan and adjust the flavours to your overall flavour goals.
- 9. The Old-School Mop and Basting of Meat
Concept: Like spritzing and more often with much larger pieces of meat, such as cooking whole hog or full pork shoulders (not just the butt portion), pitmasters can apply a layer of flavourful moisture using a mop. It’s more than just a name for the technique since it has traditionally used a floor mop dedicated to mopping BBQ. This technique is more efficient for large pieces of meat and is applied in “bulk” rather than in a subtle, “thin” spritz. In some culinary regions, a thin, flavourful mop liquid (often vinegar and spices) is used to rehydrate the drying bark and introduce flavour as it cooks.
Detail: There are plenty of options for flavour when crafting a mop. Some are traditional with vinegar and spices, while other recipes use sodas such as root beer or cola (real stuff, not diet). The options are wide-ranging, and with some planning, a mop can add just the right layer to your BBQ masterpiece.
B. The Stall and Mastering Texture
As you cook meat, such as brisket, pork shoulder, or ribs, the temperature gradually rises and can slow or even stop rising around 160-170° F. This period is called “the stall,” and it can be challenging for new cooks. The cooking is nowhere near complete at this stage, but keeping the meat’s temperature in an upward direction takes time and patience. But this stage is also an opportunity to add more flavour as you move your cook toward the finished temperature. The following two flavour options, while you are cooking, involve changing the cook method from a dry environment (open and exposed) in your smoker to a “wet” environment (enclosed).
A key element in both considerations is that the bark or crust on the meat is already fully set. If you have a soft crust or one that is not fully set, and choose one of these steps, the crust can be washed off or softened beyond repair. To check your bark, touch what you are cooking… It should be firm or even hard, crusty like sandpaper, and fully stuck onto the meat. If you have achieved that, you are ready for the next steps in flavouring.
- 10. Give Your BBQ a Bath – Leveraging Flavour by Braising
Concept: Cooking meats partially submerged in liquid after the initial smoke period (e.g., chuck roasts, short ribs, or brisket) can help dissolve the remaining tightly bound collagen once the bark has set. The meat is not fully submerged in the liquid; only the bottom half or so is, leaving the surface of the meat above the liquid and still exposed to the dry air in the smoker. The “bath,” or braising liquid, can provide exceptional flavour to both the meat and any finishing sauces you use once the meat is done cooking. Braising helps the remaining tight collagen to dissolve while soaking up soy sauce, garlic, onion, or other ingredients in the meat. If the brisket’s presentation surface (the top side), for example, is above the braising liquid, the bark will remain completely intact and perfect throughout the braising process.
Detail: Braising originated in French cuisine, and there are many recipes and ingredients to consider for this tasty technique. For competition BBQ cooks, the time is limited to fully incorporate this step, but for home cooks, it could be the ultimate step in creating your “gravy” for your dish. A braising liquid not only moves the meat beyond the stall in less time than leaving it in a dry-cook environment, but also provides incredible flavour that can finish the task!
- 11. Wrap it Up!
Concept: For many cooks, waiting and remaining patient can be a costly endeavour. To help speed up cooking beyond the stall, wrapping your BBQ meat can reduce cooking time. Options are to wrap in foil or in uncoated butcher paper. The foil will allow more liquid to remain inside the foil and be captured during this step. Meanwhile, the butcher paper-wrapped option will keep the meat moist without soaking in liquid. Although there are commercial products you can include when wrapping your BBQ, you can easily craft your own with sugar, juices, honey, butter, tallow, liquor, or even soda. Again, as with other flavour options, the choice of ingredients can affect the other flavours in play. The ingredients need to complement the rub, marinade and spritz.
Detail: Choosing foil or butcher paper for wrapping depends on what you want to do with the liquid inside the wrap. There are many BBQ restaurants that wrap in paper; however, rarely, if ever, do they use the liquid inside the paper to mop, glaze or finish the meat. Competition cooks can, however, use the sugars, syrups, and liquids inside the foil wrap as the base for the finishing glaze. This leverages the flavour from one step into the next.
Consideration: The wrapping ingredients can be a fundamental part of the sauce or finishing layer. Choosing foil over paper can capture the flavour, and this liquid can be added to your finishing sauce.
Summary and Next Steps
In this article, we share five additional flavouring steps you can use while cooking to help achieve outstanding BBQ. These steps are in addition to the six foundation flavours you can apply before you start cooking. These steps add depth of flavour and enhance texture and moisture. There is more to come in the third and final post in this flavour series. The final article will focus on four steps to complete your perfect BBQ and includes the often-overlooked flavour agent: your smoker itself!
