Brisket wrap debate: butcher paper vs foil, what's your call?

I had a brisket on my WSM last weekend for a family gathering. I wrapped it in pink butcher paper around 165 internal temp, but two hours later it was stalling hard at 170. I switched to foil just to save time, and the bark got soft but the cook finished in 3 hours. The meat was tender but the bark wasn't as crispy as I like. How do you decide which wrap to go with, or do you avoid wrapping at all?

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.blake2d ago

Oh man, people REALLY overthink this whole wrap thing. Look, I get it, you want good bark AND a moist brisket, but is it really worth stressing over at a FAMILY cookout? Everyone's just gonna eat it anyway, probably with a ton of sauce. If you want the bark stay with butcher paper the whole way, or just don't wrap at all and let it ride in your smoker. But honestly, if your family liked it, that's all that matters, right? It's BBQ, not rocket science.

harperp312d ago

Right there with you. Last Fourth of July I spent three hours fussing over whether to wrap in foil or paper and my cousin just dumped Sweet Baby Ray's all over his slice anyway. I've done the full unwrapped cook where the bark is like crunchy leather and everyone still cleaned their plates. The whole "competition style" mindset gets way too intense for a backyard picnic where kids are eating hot dogs too.