I quit wrapping my briskets in foil and my cook times went UP, not down

Everyone at the contests around here swears foil is the only way to push through the stall. I ran foil for two seasons on my offset because that is what the guys with trophies do. Then in March I read an old writeup from a pitmaster out of Lockhart who said he never wrapped anything, ever. So I ran two 14 lb packers side by side in April, one foiled at 165 and one left bare the entire cook. The bare one came off at 12 hours and the foiled one beat it by almost 90 minutes. I figured that settled it. Then I did the same test three more times and the bare brisket won twice, and the one time it lost it was only 20 minutes behind. The bark on the unwrapped ones was night and day better too, no soggy bottom at all. I think foil is mostly a crutch for people fighting a pit that runs hot and dry, and my rig holds steady at 250 all day so I was just steaming good meat. Am I missing something here, or did the wrap thing just get passed around because it saves time on cheap cookers?

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wendy_perry6d ago

Ran the same test on my offset last summer and got the same thing. Foil gets you through the stall faster but you pay for it in bark and the flat comes out mushy every time. I switched to butcher paper for the ones I do wrap and even that slows things down compared to leaving them naked, but the bark holds up way better. What you're seeing is real, foil traps all that steam and basically braises the meat, which is why the bottom turns to mush. On a pit that holds 250 steady you don't need the crutch, you just need patience and a good water pan. Guys pushing stick burners that swing 50 degrees both ways are the ones who really need to wrap, they're just fighting their own fire.

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