Brisket Flat: To Foil Or Not To Foil?

Gnomatic · Dec 22, 2014

Okay. So I'm doing a brisket flat for our Christmas dinner. I must confess, I've only smoked hole packers before. I usually buy my brisket from Costco, and generally speaking you can get a hold packer for the price of a flat. However, my local Costco only has flats in stock this week. So brisket flat it will be.

I used to foil my packer briskets because I was always afraid of drying them out. After a lot of reading here, I decided to take a leap of faith and not foil my brisket. Boy, what a difference! The bark is incredible. I never foiled a brisket since.

Since I'm only going to be cooking a flat, should I foil for this particular cook? I want that good bark, but at the same time, I'm worried I'll dry this piece of meat out if I don't foil it.

Thanks in advance for the feedback. Since joining the Brethren community, my Q has been taken to a whole new level. :clap2:

Ol'Joe · Dec 22, 2014

Just cooked a 6lb flat on the WSM, no foil, pulled it off at 195, tented for bout 20min, tasted great, moist with a good bark.

dec7td · Dec 22, 2014

Each cut is different but generally my opinion on flats is to foil because the fat is usually trimmed away (at least at the big stores). The flats survive on a packer thanks to the point and the layer of fat between them. And my preference is towards moister/fattier meat with less bark. To each their own.

oldbill · Dec 22, 2014

For me, fat content would be the determining factor. If your flat looks to have some decent fat striations running through it and a thick fat layer (at least 1/4 inch to serve as a heat shield) then I'd try doing it without wrapping but if your flat looks pretty lean, then I'd probably wrap.
In the past I've gotten good results by smoking at 275 for 3 hours, wrapping in butcher paper and then probing for tenderness starting at hour 4, repeating every 1/2 hour until it probes like butter. :-D
P.S. If you wan't to try wrapping with paper but don't have any "butcher" paper then parchment paper will work fine or even a brown paper grocery bag will do. Wrapping with paper is not as destructive to the bark as foil but it will still soften it.

x1jett · Dec 22, 2014

As said above, I also wrap with butcher paper; the bark is preserved at the end of the cook.

BB-Kuhn · Dec 22, 2014

I have never been able to get a good moist flat without wrapping. Packer? No problem, but those flats are usually so lean it's just a safer bet to wrap em!

drumdawg67 · Dec 22, 2014

+1 on wrapping flat. I too worry about drying them out, especially on leaner cuts.

Gnomatic · Dec 23, 2014

Thanks for all the tips on smoking a flat. I was going to wrap in butcher paper.

However, when I stopped by Costco today to pick up the flat, I spotted a single whole packer sitting in the case. One beautifully marbled ~13lb US Prime packer! I felt like Clark Griswold after spotting THE perfect Christmas tree! :-D

No foil for this baby.

Brisket Flat: To Foil Or Not To Foil?

Gnomatic

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

Ol'Joe

is one Smokin' Farker

dec7td

Found some matches.

oldbill

is One Chatty Farker

x1jett

Knows what a fatty is.

BB-Kuhn

Full Fledged Farker

drumdawg67

Take a breath!

Gnomatic

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

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