Pro tip: I wrapped my brisket in foil at 165 instead of waiting for 175 and the bark came out way better
Last Saturday I was doing a 12 pound packer on my offset and hit the stall around 165, so I panicked and wrapped it right there instead of my usual 175. The flat came out juicy but the bark stayed dark and crusty instead of going soft and mushy like it usually does when I wrap later. Has anyone else messed around with wrapping earlier on purpose, or am I just getting lucky with this one cook?
Did you happen to check the temp of the flat when you pulled it or just go by feel? I wrapped a 14 pounder at 162 last month on my stick burner for the same reason, the bark was already where I wanted it and I didn't want to lose that crust to the crutch. It came out with that dark, tacky bark I love, but the flat was a touch drier than my usual 175 wraps, so I've been going back and forth on it. One cook really ain't enough to call it, but I'm tempted to try early wrapping again on a smaller brisket just to see if the juiciness holds up.
Man, you did one brisket and now you're out here handing out pro tips like you cracked some secret code? That's one cook, not a trend. The stall is about when the meat decides to sweat out moisture, and wrapping at 165 vs 175 mostly just changes how long the bark sits in that wet heat, so yeah, wrapping sooner means less time steaming the crust. But calling it "way better" off a single packer is a stretch. Do it five more times on different briskets and see if it holds up, because I've had early wraps come out great and I've had them come out tasting like pot roast. Also, 165 isn't even a real stall temp for every piece of meat, sometimes it stalls at 150, sometimes 170, so the number matters less than what the bark and the flat are actually doing when you look at them.