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I finally get why some pitmasters swear by wrapping their brisket in butcher paper
I was talking to a guy at a comp in Kansas City who's been smoking for 20 years. He said, 'The foil steams it, but the paper lets it breathe just enough to keep the bark from getting soggy.' I always used foil because it was faster, but I tried his method on a 14-pound packer last weekend. The bark was way better, and the flat wasn't mushy. Has anyone else switched from foil to paper and noticed a big difference?
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murphy.mason7mo ago
Honestly, that whole "paper breathes" thing is kind of overblown. Foil gets the job done way faster, which is a huge deal when you're feeding a crowd and the meat is stuck in the stall. Sure, the bark might be a bit softer, but you get a more tender result in less time. A lot of the old school guys I know still swear by the Texas crutch with foil because it just works. That extra hour or two you save matters more to me than a slightly crispier bark.
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joel_clark377mo ago
Wow, I was a total foil guy for years too. That exact soggy bark thing is what finally made me switch, and the texture is just way better. Never going back.
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caleb_fisher447mo ago
Guess we found the one thing more stubborn than a brisket stall.
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diana5124mo ago
Right there with you on the bark issue. I spent a whole summer trying to perfect a pork butt and kept getting that soft, steamed crust with foil. Switching to butcher paper was a game changer for me, even if it takes a little longer. @joel_clark37 summed up my exact frustration with the foil texture, it's nice to know I wasn't the only one struggling.
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