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Submitted by: Bill

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Making the decision to smoke meat with the fat side on top or on the bottom can be a puzzler unless you know why you'd want to go one way or the other. In most cases you can't go wrong by positioning the fat layer on top. As the fat melts, the juices drip down and baste the sides and bottom of the meat. This helps protect the fat-free surfaces of the meat from drying, and adds flavor. Some cooks prefer to smoke meats fat-down, believing that it's important to protect the underside of the meat from the rising heat, mainly in vertical style smokers that have the heat source directly under the food. When I use one of my vertical smokers, I still keep the fat on top because I feel that the water pan over the charcoal or electric element is protection enough from the rising heat. Now if a smoker tended to run at higher than normal temps, I can see how smoking fat down could be preferred, especially for meats that take a long time to smoke like briskets or pork shoulders. But in my opinion, you can rarely go wrong smoking fat side up.

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