Wrapping - butcher paper vs tinfoil

[Yelnoc]

As far as foil vs paper, I just don't do too many briskets and I do not care of my bark stays super hard and somewhat charcoaly because in a catering setting or where you feeding people that just aren't into the nuances may perceive it as burned....most of those are also in the has to be falling apart or off the bone school of done. I don't wrap shoulders but finish in a covered pan, I do use the crutch on ribs, but will try paper some time. And...some of we call bark outside meat
Also...Once upon a tour of the 17th St BBQ in Marion, IL (Mike Mills) operation I noted that the shoulders that they were reheating were wrapped in a clear plastic wrap of some sort which was obviously heat resistant. The pitmaster did not know where they got it and I should have but did not, looked at box it came in. Tried to find online but could not.

[flyv65]

I always used foil and had great results until I read the Franklin's book. So I went out and got some butcher paper and tried it on my next brisket-but I must've been holding my mouth wrong when I wrapped it because the butcher paper brisket and no moisture whats ever. I'm back to using a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil...

[TallTrees]

Interesting. Did you cook the brisket longer because it was in paper?

[Projectmansd]

I am using the butcher paper. I use it on brisket and beef ribs. I do sprits both with apple juice before I close the wrap. I've always had most meats and a bark as well.

[tongatim]

I have grown to prefer unwaxed butcher paper for brisket. There's nothing special about pink except that Franklin uses it (I suspect he snickers over the current pink paper rage). The trick is to wrap snuggly (see Franklin's PBS video) or it will dry out. There's something about the sticky succulent bark with this method that is really good compared to the greasier, runnier results I would get with foil. With briskets cooked naked, I find that I have an unmanageably narrow margin between tender and dry.

Butts are more forgiving, but when I do choose to wrap butts, foil seems to work better than paper to retain the juices which I add into the pull. I also prefer foil on the occasions when I decide to wrap my ribs.

And of course, much of this is dependent on your particular cooker and fire management.

[kabari]

I use parchment paper, then wrap that in foil. The paper soaks up a some of the excess steam while the foil keeps moisture inside the wrap. I wasn't a fan of the foil-only method since I felt it took away some of the flavors I was going for, and made the bark moist. But I also don't do 3-2-1, and more like a 3-1-1 at higher temps since I don't want to meat to totally fall off the bone, but instead still require a gentle tug.