Brisket wrapped in butcher paper?

Going by temp to determine when it's done is not an exact sconce. Probe the thickest part of the flat. When it slides in with very little resistance is done.

Dry and chewy is under cooked. Dry and crumbly is over cooked.

pjtexas1 said:

Probe the thickest part of the flat. When it slides in with very little resistance is done.

Dry and chewy is under cooked.

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I agree.......


Temperature is only a guide and does not tell you when it is done, only human interaction by probing will give exact reults.

Headgear said:

Then I saw some Franklin videos and tried smoking open to 160 and then wrapping in paper. I liked the bark flavor much better but it seems to take a long time to get done.

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can anyone confirm that wrapping in butcher paper adds to cook time? It would make sense that it would since the steaming aspect is out of the equation, but I dont know for sure.

It doesn't add to time vs not wrapping. Wrapping in foil or panning cooks faster than paper or no wrap.

smoke ninja said:

It doesn't add to time vs not wrapping. Wrapping in foil or panning cooks faster than paper or no wrap.

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This.

Wrapping in butcher paper will cook faster than no wrapping, but not as fast as foil. The butcher paper will preserve that precious bark for you during the cook, and not steam it as foil does.

turn up the heat 275 -300.

OCS said:

can anyone confirm that wrapping in butcher paper adds to cook time? It would make sense that it would since the steaming aspect is out of the equation, but I dont know for sure.

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Actually wrapping in paper helps to cut cooking time because like foil it stops evaporation of moisture on the surface of the meat. Evaporation is the cause of the stall (when the IT stays at about 155 to 165 or so for what can be hours) as moisture makes it's way from the center of the meat to the surface during a cook. It's a lot like when we sweat and the evaporating moisture on our skin evaporates, lowering our body temperature. The same thing happens to meat as moisture evaporates on the surface and cools the surface, which in turn keeps the IT from rising as well.:wink:
Here's a lengthy article from Meathead about the subject...
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html

darkoozy said:

This.

Wrapping in butcher paper will cook faster than no wrapping, but not as fast as foil. The butcher paper will preserve that precious bark for you during the cook, and not steam it as foil does.

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Exactly, the paper will help to get through the stall but it doesn't damage the bark as much as the steaming action of foil, it serves as a heat shield to help keep the flat from drying out too much on the ends and it'll limit the amount of smoke collection on the meat.:-D

I have been toying with the idea of going up to a 275 pit temp but a lot of times I will do ribs or a shoulder too and I like to do those lower.

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WHY ???275 is my lowest temp normally 300-350 for everything.

Headgear said:

Not sure I follow. Are you saying that it cuts cook time compared to a naked brisket cook or foiled? Because when I do the aluminum pan/foil thing, it runs about four to five hours less than paper. I am pretty green but I have done it with the same results four times.

I even cook fresh meat. A local shop butchers Thursday, I pick it up Friday and start the cook during the wee hours Saturday.

I hope I can get this down to a science because everyone who says that the paper peverves the bark is dead nuts correct in my opinion.

Thanks again

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Cuts cook time compared to naked. Paper does not cook as fast as foil. Foil super heats and creates a braising environment, and traps alot of steam. Paper breathes enough and bakes the meat as apposed to steam the meat.

Bludawg said:

WHY ???275 is my lowest temp normally 300-350 for everything.

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I fully agree Blu. We don't cook anything less than 275*. There is just no reason for it.

darkoozy said:

Cuts cook time compared to naked. Paper does not cook as fast as foil. Foil super heats and creates a braising environment, and traps alot of steam. Paper breathes enough and bakes the meat as apposed to steam the meat.

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This is only partly true. Inside the foil, your temperature is never going to surpass 212F. However, it's a complicated thermodynamic problem (you can read up on wet-bulb temperature if you really want).

To put it as simply as possible as you heat meat, the muscle fibers contract and squeeze out liquid. The heat evaporates this liquid into steam. When a meat is wrapped, the humidity inside the package reaches 100%. This has two effects. The first is that steam is much more efficient at transferring energy than dry air. Even though your cooker will be humid, it won't be at 100%. Because energy is being transferred more efficiently, the meat will heat up faster. The second effect is evaporative cooling. It takes a lot of energy to cause the phase change of water into steam. As the water is squeezed out of the meat, it will pool on the surface, and the energy of your cooker goes into creating steam rather than heating your meat. In fact, this process will actually cool the surface of the meat (it's the same reason you sweat to cool down). But as people who live in humid areas know, when it gets humid, sweating doesn't help. You can't evaporate water into a 100% humid environment. So you're not "wasting" any energy creating steam.

Headgear said:

Thanks for clearing that up for me. That makes a lot of sense. It does seem to act more like baking it and the bark is excellent because of it.



Well, I am doing a cook this Saturday with a brisket and a shoulder so I will give it a try. When I started, I mostly cooked ribs and I was afraid that temps much over 225 would dry them out but I have been reading a lot lately where people cook them quite a bit higher. I would guess it would be safer/more forgiving at lower temps timing wise but I will learn.

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How dry your meat is is directly proportional to how high the internal temperature is. The closer to 212 you get your meat, the drier it will be. Because of this, what temperature you cook at doesn't really affect how dry the end product.

That being said, the higher you cook at, the faster the temperature of the meat will rise. So the lower you cook, the bigger the window will be when the meat is still moist. Also, dry meat is masked by the gelatin that coats it. The gelatin is created by rendering collagen. Gelatin is rendered most efficiently between 160-180F, so the longer your meat stays in that range, the more gelatin there will be. So again, a lower temperature gives you a bigger window.

But on the flip side. Maillard reactions don't really take place unless the surface of the meat gets up over 275F, so cooking too low will rob you of an entire subset of flavors.

Bludawg said:

turn up the heat 275 -300.

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I agree 275 at the lowest. How did it turn out?

arbeck said:

How dry your meat is is directly proportional to how high the internal temperature is. The closer to 212 you get your meat, the drier it will be.....................

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Ummmm, no :tsk:

I saw this on Aaron Frankin's BBQ PBS show locally.

He did a test with three briskets, naked, foil and parchment paper.

Paper got the best all around results for temps and taste.

I haven't yet tried parchment style but have it ready to go along with the brisket I just saved up for....which is an investment these days.

Gulfbeachman said:

I saw this on Aaron Frankin's BBQ PBS show locally.

He did a test with three briskets, naked, foil and parchment paper.

Paper got the best all around results for temps and taste.

I haven't yet tried parchment style but have it ready to go along with the brisket I just saved up for....which is an investment these days.

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Parchment paper?