Tried a salt block on my pork butt last weekend and got a weird crust

I threw a 8 pound pork shoulder on my offset Saturday with a Himalayan salt block under it for the whole smoke, thought it'd add some mineral flavor or something. Instead the bottom came out almost leathery and the bark was way too hard to pull through - totally killed the texture for me. Has anyone else messed around with salt blocks in a smoker or am I just doing it wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabeth4381mo ago

Ive had better luck using the salt block as a preheat plate under the grate, direct contact wrecked my bark too.

the_joel1mo ago

The preheat plate idea makes a lot of sense actually. I was thinking the salt block just acts like a heat sink underneath, trapping all that moisture and steam right against the meat. That leathery layer probably came from the bottom getting braised instead of smoked. I might try putting it up on the top grate next time, just to let the heat circulate all around and see if that mineral taste comes through without wrecking the texture. Or maybe set it off to the side, not even under the pork, just somewhere in the smoker to pick up that flavor from the air.