I read all the information I could find on "bark" in the forums, but I am still left with a question. The shoulders we cooked in the restaurant on a wood burning pit came out the color of dark honey and glossy too. Many of the BBQ cook books I have show similar looking product coming from the pits of wood burning restaurants as well, but when you see one of the competition BBQ shows on Food Network, the shoulders/butts come out looking like something that fell from space and had a firey re-entry. The one's I cook on my Smokette look like cinders also. They taste great, so it's not an excess of smoke or anything and I'm not complaning at all, it's just that in my small mind I would tend to think of the honey colored bark as the "gold standard" so to speak, since it is arrived at by a traditional cooking method. I'm not looking to duplicate it necessarily, I'm mostly just curious about how the current fascination with bark came about, and why it seems to favor the dark and cinderized over the shiny amber variety. Please do not cast arrows and ill will at me. I am merely seeking knowledge from the learned amongst you.
Original Post
