British BBQ Society Forums

Afternoon Again everyone,

Apologies for asking but why do some people / recipes say wrap meat up in foil after being on the smoker after a certain period of time?

I've watched episodes of Man v Food and Drivers, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Which made me buy a Smoker) and i very rarely see them wrap meat up in Foil.

Would this not prevent the meat from being smoked properly?

Sorry for asking but i've tried looking in up and not really got a proper answer.

All The Best,

Si

With ribs it allows them to fully cook without drying out as they need to reach a high internal temperature and aren't all that thick. They'll absorb plenty of smoke beforehand and adding a little apple juice or something when you wrap them just makes them all the more succulent.

For larger pieces like brisket and pork shoulder it's not entirely necessary as such a large, fatty cut doesn't stand such a risk of drying. However there's a phenomenon called the stall which only occurs at low temperature cooking. Basically it's when the amount of heat energy applied during a cook becomes directly proportionate to the amount of heat lost through evaporative cooling. This usually happens when the meat reaches an internal temp somewhere between 150 and 160F (from my experience) and can last for hours, I've even seen a pork shoulder drop a few degrees during a cook. However wrapping the meat bypasses that stall, at the expense of losing out on some of the bark. The choice is entirely up to you!

Oh and to answer your question about the meat not being smoked properly, usually the larger cuts are wrapped after about 5 or 6 hours, by then they'll have absorbed more than enough smoke

I always foil my meats now, it can be a personal preference but I've found it better for me plus I find it holds some the meat juices from the meat.
Sunday I had a bbq and served the pulled pork in the foil it was cooked in, was a nice bit of juice in the bottom to dip the meat in.

I first foiled when I hit a long stall, coming up to 2 hrs and friends due shortly I foiled it and watched the temp start to rise again quite quickly.

hi
Look for a thread "to foil or not to foil" this was the definitive debate on the subject, if ever a bbq topic can hav a definitive answer!

I am a foiler, I don't find the bark is compromised and it knocks hours off cooks and gives plenty moisture, the only con for foiling I ever read about is a softening of the bark, as I don't seem to get this then for me it is "why not?"

Cheers
Tiny

BaronVanDuck wrote:I've watched episodes of Man v Food and Drivers, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Which made me buy a Smoker) and i very rarely see them wrap meat up in Foil.

The guys in the restaurants are using well insulated pits costing $20k+ and also the way that restaurants cook BBQ is very different to how you'll want to cook it at home.

BaronVanDuck wrote:Would this not prevent the meat from being smoked properly?

Meat will only take on smoke up to 134f internal temp'. When foiling the meats should be between 150f-165f so they wouldn't take on any more smoke anyway.

Personally i foil and recommend it to anyone i speak to. If cooking briskets from British cows i would always recommend foiling as they don't have anywhere near the amount of fat as US beef and will have a tendency to dry out if not foiled. Also pork that you buy from the supermarket has been bread to be leaner and doesn't have a huge amount of fat as most of the public want lean meat. But foiling it will still keep the meat moist and you can turn out some good pork.

What Ed said

Yes what Ed said and what Ed has said in the past. I think this should answer your question.

http://www.bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.ph ... t=backyard

Tiny wrote:...the only con for foiling I ever read about is a softening of the bark, as I don't seem to get this then for me it is "why not?"

Tiny, do you have any method for ensuring the bark isn't softened?

Foiling creates a hot, moist atmosphere - effectively you're steaming the meat. It's tough to understand how encasing a bark in a steam bath for several hours won't make the bark go soft.

Do you un-foil (de-foil?) the pork to dry the bark out for a while at the end? Or does it just stay hard despite the moisture?

Cheers.

Steve W

I think it depends on how tightly you foil it. I have no scientific insight or competition experience, all I know is 'I've tasted some of the best bbq around from people who are adamant about foiling and it seemed to have a bark, it tasted like it had a bark.