Hey fellas just curious on everyone's wrapping techniques for smoked meat; people use tin foil, people use butchers paper, and I'm way out in left field with my Newspaper technique. I find wrapping in newspaper holds in that flavour keeps that bark on barking. And all in all when settling a nice set of beef ribs? Keeps the crispness and keeps that juice inside YUM!
My only concern with newspaper is ink coming off... it sure comes off on one's hands, I'd expect the same on the meat. I'm a butcher paper kinda guy thus far, but I have way less experience than most do here, and don't wrap terribly often in the first place.
Ahah :P I never had no silly putty effect on my meets. Though would be interesting to have the comics in my meat, bring me back to my silly putty youth, just kidding haha.
I definitely agree with DaveD about not using newspaper. My fingers are almost black after reading the paper, I’d also be concerned about the ink coming off. Plus, after it gets wet isn’t it a pain to remove in one piece? I’d think trying to remove newspaper after a few hours, would result in it coming apart in soggy pieces.
Anyway, some people prefer butcher paper, with the belief it helps in keeping your bark from getting too moist, it’s more porous than foil. Some people prefer foil. The latest technique making the rounds is to use a foil boat, instead of wrapping it all the way. I’ve used both butchers paper and foil, with a slight preference to butchers paper.
Last edited by Panhead John; July 3, 2022, 12:54 PM.
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Weber 22 and 26 Kettle.
Regular gasser with rotisserie.
Custom built horizontal stick burner.
Custom built duel fuel "whole hog" cooker.
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Just did this to two pork butts on the smoker now. 12 x20 deep ss hotel pan, apple cider, cider vinegar and pepper flakes broth on the bottom. Using wire screens to elevate off the bottom. AL foil sealing leaving temp probes in. I like the final dripping in the broth to pour on after being pulled. Today these two 8 pounders really didn't stall at 275. I just wrapped at 180 7 1/2 hours into the cook. I do the same method for brisket. Never wrap ribs
My wrap method for beef ribs since I prefer to do a dry rub, is to wrap it to let it settle, I find in my opinion letting my ribs settle wrapped in news paper, produces the juiciest outcome without sacrificing the quality of my bark.
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Foil for ribs, paper for brisket, a Dutch oven or pan for pork butt and cheesecloth for turkey. I have used paper bags for turkey and brisket, too. For turkey it works well. For brisket it makes a big mess. I would have no issue with newspaper other than the mess potential. I probably wouldn’t use the comic section because I wouldn’t want my food to taste funny.
I’m a foil guy, keep on forgetting to buy butchers paper....
If you want to use newspaper go to the local U-haul, they sell boxes of plain packing blanks of newsprint if your concerned about the ink
Like others, I've been using foil for pork butt and butcher paper for beef or anything I want to really preserve the bark. (I have yet to have a need for wrapping ribs on the PBC.)
A cool trick for butcher's paper that I picked up from Matt Pittman/Meat Church is to spay it lightly with water. It makes the paper much more pliable and easier to fold.
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