First Time Wrapping with Pink Butcher Paper

[jerrybell]

I smoked a brisket this past weekend and, for the first time, wrapped with pink butcher paper. I normally wrap with foil. This brisket was on the extreme long side of cook time for my briskets at 14 hours on the heat. My briskets normally need 8 to 10 hours to finish. I ran at 250 for the majority of the cook, increasing to 275 for about the last 1.5 hours. Anyway, it got me to wondering if the paper was acting as an insulator and therefore increasing the cook time. There's certainly more air pockets with the paper since it can't be pressed tight to the brisket the way foil can. Does anyone have experience wrapping in both foil and paper, and have you noticed differences in cook time? Do you try to minimize the number of wrap layers. I was happy with the results, just surprised with the cook time.

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm pretty sure it allows the brisket to breathe a little more and thus stall more/evaporative cool more, thus increasing the cook time to some degree. Longer cook times are common, if not the norm.

[captainlee]

I tried paper once on a brisket and never did it again for the same reason.

[RonB]

If ya had used copy paper, ya might have wound up with two briskets.

[fzxdoc]

Arrrgh. This is almost painful.


K.

[DaveD]

Whaddaya mean "almost"??

[bbqLuv]

Ditto
Repeat
Ditto

[Santamarina]

I’ve only used pink butcher paper, and I don’t wrap until after the stall and the bark is firmly set. I run my pit at ~250°F and a Prime packer has never taken more than 9 hours. Wrapping tightly is one thing that helps; sure, there are still air pockets, but with a tight wrap I feel it has minimal impact on time.

[Johnny Booth]

Have to agree. I cook with wood at 275F on an offset.

I wrap with foil if I want a lot of juice for a sauce, or paper for a ‘true’ TX flavor and texture. Sometimes no wrap for a crust. I wrap the paper very tight, no air pockets after it cooks for a bit. No difference in time that I can tell.

[fzxdoc]

I tried pink butcher paper. The only difference I saw was the mess it made. Not a fan. My mileage obviously varied (MMOV).

Foil doesn't negatively affect the bark, usually, if it's well-set at 180°ish, at least in my experience. In fact some times it helps to slightly soften some of those hard edges, especially at the thin end.

Kathryn

[Oak Smoke]

My thoughts are the same. It’s too messy and foil works better.

[Johnny Booth]

I agree paper is messy when you have to ‘un-wrap’ the meat with hot tallow dripping everywhere. It’s also a mess to finish in the oven if you hit bad weather, or some other minor catastrophe.

….but I do like the texture and flavor when I use it. I put the finished brisket still wrapped in an aluminum pan, and use scissors to cut the paper. Mess averted. 👍

[jfmorris]

I've always felt the paper would be a big drippy mess, and have just stuck with heavy duty 18" wide foil, not wrapping the brisket until it's past the stall - about 170 or more. Glad to know I'm not missing anything!

[Finster]

Somewhere (probably here at the pit) I saw that wrapping in paper and then placing it in a "foil boat" is the best of both worlds.
Speeds cooking time a bit, while also helping to preserve some of the bark. I tried it the last time I did a chuckie and it seemed to work. Have not tried it on anything else. I'm usually content using just the butcher paper.

[bbqLuv]

Mo Cason does the Paper the foil boat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU6CTDCJ530

[PipsBBQ]

I use Butcher paper myself. But my Box 50 runs about 325 to 350. So 6 to 8 hours is normal for me.

[TripleB]

As I mentioned in another Brisket post, the pitmaster at Terry Black's Wraps the brisket in butcher paper after 4-5 hours of smoke and leaves it in the smoker until it reaches around 203d. Then wraps the butcher paper brisket in foil and into a warming oven at about 140d for 10 hours. FWIW....

I don't have a warming oven that stays at 140d, so I bought a large electric turkey roaster the other day. It will hold a 13-16 pound brisket at 140d for 10 hours. Now I just have to smoke a brisket.

[jfmorris]

I used to have one of those big turkey roasters. I always questioned how accurate that temp knob really was. The lid isn't insulated, so I have a feeling the setting might only be accurate for liquids down in the bottom of the roasting pan. I'll be interested to know what temp it actually runs if you get the chance to check it with a real thermometer probe.

[texastweeter]

I have done both, prefer paper now. I go nekked till bark is where i want it and stall, then paper. Once probe tender I remove it and unwrap for a bit to stop it from overlooking and keep the carryover from making it crumbly. The what it paper and all in foil and hold either in a preheated cooler with towels, or warming oven/drawer set at 140° until service. Great bark, tender, juicy, not overcooked, and not pot roastey. Yes paper takes longer due to evaporative cooling, also why bark is better though; it's not braised.

[Johnny Booth]

Yes - almost exactly how I roll when I use paper. 👍👍

[Starsky]

I've tried butcher a few times and it seems to me that it absorbs much of the juice

[jerrybell]

Thanks everyone. The "better breathing" with paper is what made me want to try it. I thought it might have firmer bark than when foil wrapped. I'm going to experiment around with it more but if I can't find some big advantage that makes the increased cook time worth it, this roll of paper might get repurposed.

[texastweeter]

Team troll FTW Jerod Broussard

[jfmorris]

The trick when wrapping with foil is to not do it too soon. I never do it until the brisket is past 170, and out of all the stalls. I do it for two reasons: 1) To help reduce drying out of the flat and 2) to speed up the last couple of hours of the cook.

I then hold the brisket double wrapped in a second layer of foil and an old towel, in a cooler, for 2 to 6 hours, sometimes longer, in that foil. I think this helps a lot.

[Oak Smoke]

+1 jfmorris

[IdahoJim]

I wrapped a brisket in paper once, and when I put it back in the pellet grill, the temperature dropped for a good while. Kind of the opposite of what I expected.

[Mosca]

I did foil boat today. The brisket was jiggly as heck, and went into the cambro at 203° in the center of the flat, right below the point, after 8 hours.

[Oak Smoke]

There are a lot of ways to get good brisket. When you figure out the way that gets the brisket the way you and your family like it then you have it made. There are by the way several wrong ways to smoke a brisket. I’ve discovered a few of those on my journey.