Need an opinion what to use on the crutch, alum foil, paper or plastic.
My Wife went to Sam's today and picked up a giant roll of plastic wrapping. it's food grade and 18 inches by 3000 ft. Said she saw it on some of the Pittmaster tv shows where the competitors wrapped up their meats in clear plastic? So she bought it for me. I'm new to smoking and have been using aluminum foil. It seems to work out OK.
Haven't used a faux combo, maybe cause i don't know how to use it and or why it's used.
Appreciate all you-alls help.
OB One
If you're talking about the crutch, you don't want to something meltable like plastic wrap. Butcher's paper or foil seem to be the consensus. I don't wrap, so take it with a grain of salt.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I've heard of using plastic wrap, but like EdF says you want to make sure nothing's fresh-from-smoker hot when using it, to be safe. W/o doing a Google search I don't know the melting point of that type of Saran wrap. That knowledge will be extremely helpful before using! But, say it's good up to 250+ then you're good since only the meat's very surface will be as hot as the smoker's air temp, and that will cool quickly by the time you remove it and wrap it. But it will hold steam like nobody's business, which will be good for the faux cambro hold for things like pulled pork. Foil does work mighty fine for this too though, it holds in steam with a tight wrap.
From www.quora.com: "There are two major kinds of plastic wrap. LDPE wraps melt around 105 to 115C. PVC is more sturdy, and will go as high as 150C. Neither will melt from exposure to hot steam, but hot fats in a microwave can melt either one, and either will melt or burn in an oven."
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
When I do wrap. I use foil. But I am going to venture into the butcher paper realm this weekend. I saw the other night that Pit Boss wrapped his in both butcher paper and foil. I am guessing that was to stop the juices from leaking out. I am just gonna go with the butcher paper this weekend.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
When I do wrap. I use foil. But I am going to venture into the butcher paper realm this weekend. I saw the other night that Pit Boss wrapped his in both butcher paper and foil. I am guessing that was to stop the juices from leaking out. I am just gonna go with the butcher paper this weekend.
On a brisket? I did that a month or two ago as well, previously I was foil only. I found it didn't actually crutch the cook at all, went nearly as slow as nekked for all I know, and the bark was more crunchier. I actually liked it less than the usual foil, but I've only done one that way.
Spinaker I've never done an unwrapped brisket...it just went so long that it seemed as if it were. I'm sure it shaves some time off, but in my limited experience nothing like foil does.
I use plastic wrap all the time, just not when the meat is in the smoker. like Huskee says my experience also is that just paper wrapping seems like cooking a Nekkid piece of meat, if I crutch it is with foil. I have big rolls of both plastic wrap and foil.
Grill/Smoke/Roast = SnS Grills Kettle + SnS Deluxe Insert & Drip n' Griddle
Grill/Smoke/Roast = Hasty-Bake Gourmet Dual Finish with HB rotisserie and Grill Grates
Smoke = Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5"
Pizza = Blackstone Propane Pizza Oven (Stacy's, but she let's me use it sometimes)
Indoor Cooking = LG Studio 30" gas range
Camp Cooking = Coleman 2 burner white gas stove
Thermometer = FireBoard FBX2 with 2 ambient and 6 meat probes
Thermapen Mk IV = Light blue
Thermapen Mk IV = Black
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Auber 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 1 fan)
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Fireboard 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 2 fan)
Knives
Wusthof Classic Ikon set: 9" carving knive, 2X 8" Chef's Knife, 7" Santoku and three utility knives
Kamikoto Kuro set: 7" Santoku, 6.5" Nakiri, 5" Utility
Amazing Ribs Brazilian Steak knife set
Favorite wine = whatever is currently in the wine rack
Favorite beer = Sam Adams Boston Lager or Shiner Bock
Favorite whisky = Lagavulin Distiller's Edition 16 year old single malt
Best Cookbooks - Meathead's "The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", Chris Lilly's "Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book", Aaron Franklin's "Franklin BBQ"
Cookbooks to check out - Raichlen's "Brisket Chronicles" and anything by Adam Perry Lang.
Current fanboy cookbook - "Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant"
I'd never use plastic wrap, personally. Two reasons - 1. It's going to have melting issues when the meat surface temp is over 150 .... think of what happens when you put plastic wrap over a bowl in the microwave ... it gets soft, then melts ...wouldn't want that in direct contact with my meat. 2. It will trap all the heat, moisture, etc and you will end up basically steaming your meat. I think your bark will get very soft. Plus steamed meat is the anti-thesis of BBQ.
Also, I never crutch except for brisket. And for brisket I do one wrap of foil, using Kingsford BBQ foil, which is heavier/sturdier than typical aluminum foil at the grocery store.
Huskee I've used both.... Kingsford and Reynolds heavy duty seem pretty much the same to me. Definitely stand up well to wrapping a brisket. But I can grab the Kingsford at the same time as I pick up a 2 pack of KBB at the local hardware store :-)
I love that video. What I find interesting is even though he has to rank them, there's nothing wrong with any of them, according to the brisket man himself. Just differences. And "pot roasty" does not mean no good, it's just by comparison. I also love how he mentions the bark holds up well in the foiled one. So many will say foiling can ruin your bark, which is just not true IF you have good bark to start!
A lot of people have ventured towards the butcher paper wrap with mixed results. But a lot more people have stuck with good ol foil. I myself just use foil. Tried and true method. (If it ain't broke....). Now, I noticed a comment about a faux cambro and what it does. All it is is a hot box so to say. It just keeps the meat warm for hours until you are ready to serve. With a brisket, I recommend putting it in for a min of an hour to let the meat "relax" and put the moisture back into the meat. (I noticed with my meat it constricts then loosens like a sponge). Some cambros are very expensive. But a cooler with towels on the bottom then wrapping the pan of meat also with towels will keep it at a hot temperature for hours upon hours.
Let us know how the butcher paper turns out....but with pics
I've only tried paper once on a brisket flat. sped up the stall a bit, bot not as much as foil had in the past. The jury's still out for me and paper. Plastic wrap on butts and ribs, however, works like a champ for me. Once the meat comes off the smoker the last time and before it goes into the faux cambro, I wrap it in plastic then in fresh foil and into the box it goes. Haven't found any appreciable degradation in bark, but I don't mind less bark on a pork butt -- just want the flavor. Haven't' had any problem with plastic melting since I let the meat steam out of the foil for a few minutes after it comes off the fire.
I recommend you experiment. your cook will come out good, now to find your sweet spot on which merhod works best for you. Good luck!
Comment