Tim Chin is a professional cook and writer who has contributed to Serious Eats and America’s Test Kitchen. A graduate of The International Culinary Center, Tim has cooked at restaurants in New York and Boston, working at Rouge Tomate, Northern Spy, and BiSq.

Tim Chin

Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

Making great indoor barbecue is hard; purists argue that it’s impossible. Specifically, they argue that the bark, the iconic and elusive feature of nicely smoked meat, can’t be done without a smoker.For the uninitiated, “bark” is that almost crispy layer of deeply browned to blackened spice, meat, fat, and smoke that develops on the surface of smoked meat. And to a certain extent, we agree with the purists: Without a smoker, producing bark is mostly impossible. Mostly impossible.What if we told you that producing bark on indoor barbecue is possible? What if we told you that after 300 hours of experimentation in the ChefSteps test kitchen, cooking rounds and rounds of pork butt, ribs, and brisket, geeking out on pH, Maillard reactions, and alternative sugars, we’ve developed a product that can help you produce barbecue bark, no smoker required? Well, that’s what we’re telling you, right now!Introducing: Bark Builder, the secret ingredient for leveling up indoor barbecue.Whip up a batch and use it on any barbecue recipe that doesn’t require a smoker—just follow the instructions below for applying it. You’re going to love the results, even if they seem impossible.EDITORS’ NOTE: You asked, and we listened! We’ve updated this page to include a recipe for Bark Builder, so you can just make it yourself.

Bark Builder: The Secret to Better Indoor Barbecue