gavin_hill27•2d agoProlific Poster

TIL that old timer's advice about wrapping brisket in foil was dead wrong for my smoker

I been chasing the perfect brisket for about two years now and finally hit a milestone last weekend... got a clean bite through on every single slice at a cookout in Nashville. The secret was ignoring what a guy named Earl told me at a competition back in April. He swore by wrapping in foil at 160 degrees to push through the stall faster. I tried that for six straight cooks and every time the bark came out soft and the fat cap was greasy. Finally I switched to butcher paper on a whim from some YouTube video and the difference was night and day... bark held firm and the smoke ring went deeper. Has anyone else found that the old foil method just doesn't work on an offset smoker compared to a pellet rig?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_patricia2d agoMost Upvoted

@cooper.phoenix nailed it. That old foil advice is like a curse passed down from pitmaster to pitmaster without anyone stopping to think. I made the same mistake for months because some guy named Earl at a competition swore by it. Butcher paper is the real deal for offsets, lets the bark set while still pushing through the stall. Foil basically steams the meat, which works fine if you're after a pot roast texture but not a proper brisket. Honestly the only thing that matters is testing things yourself instead of taking someone's word as law, because every smoker and every piece of meat is different.

the_parker2d ago

Dude yes, I fell into the same trap for way too long with my WSM. I finally switched to butcher paper after watching a Franklin BBQ video and the difference was night and day, my bark finally stayed crunchy instead of turning into soggy leather.

cooper.phoenix2d ago

Man I swear this whole foiling thing is just one of those pieces of "wisdom" that gets passed down without anyone questioning it, like how everyone used to insist you gotta sear a steak to "lock in the juices." It's the same pattern you see everywhere, people cling to techniques that worked on some random setup thirty years ago even though the equipment and science have completely moved on. For me it was realizing that a sharp knife makes way more difference than any trick I learned from an old head, lol. Once I stopped treating their advice like gospel and started testing things myself, my cooks got way more consistent. Foil is fine for a pellet smoker or an oven if you're braising, but on an offset where you want that crunchy bark it's basically sabotaging yourself.