Brisket: pros & cons on foiled pan (and foiled pan with grate)


 
Mark R (LR)

Mark R (LR)

TVWBB Super Fan
I'm on a mission to learn a brisket method that I like and that I can duplicate fairly consistently. On the wrapping part, I've tried wrapping with aluminum foil, sealing in a foil pan, sealing in a foil pan with a grate in the bottom, and wrapping with butcher paper. My learning curve is still pretty steep, and I've had far too many variables between cooks to really make a fair comparison between these three methods. So far, I'm leaning toward a sealed foil pan with a grate on the bottom. On the 22.5 WSM, I can fit a full size steam table pan with minimal bending. It is big enough to hold a packer, and it does a very good job of collecting the drippings that are pure gold after passing through a fat separator. I'm completely winging it with the grate in the bottom, thinking that it might help protect the bark a little by keeping it up out of the drippings while still allowing the brisket to benefit from the steamy conditions in the sealed pan.

I've read several posts on the differences between wrapping in foil and wrapping in butcher paper, but I haven't seen much discussion on using a foil pan, and I haven't seen any discussion on using a grate in the bottom of a foil pan. I get the impression that a lot more people wrap with aluminum foil than use a foil pan, which makes me wonder if there are negatives to using the foil pan that I've missed or just haven't discovered yet. I would love to hear some of the pros and cons of using a foil pan and would also love to hear thoughts on whether adding a grate in the bottom of the pan might be a good thing or a bad thing. Thanks!
 
I use a regular foil pan, no grate. Just the disposable kind. A packer won't fit until it cooks, but it will after it's time to go in.

Packer goes on the top grate, foil pan goes on the bottom grate under the packer to catch the drippings. When it's time to foil, packer goes in the foil pan and gets tightly sealed with foil on top. I continue cooking until about 195F, then start poking. The bark doesn't wash off in the liquid, but it does soften up. I like soft bark, but if you want firm bark just take it back out of the foil around 190F and let it dry back out.
 
Thanks Dave. Yes, I'm using the disposable foil pans that I get from the local Sam's. I had been using the half steam tray size with the 18.5 WSM, but the addition of the 22.5 WSM allows me to us the full steam table size. I tried the foil pan on the bottom grate also, but the good stuff mainly just dried, burned, and caked up, leaving very little except just a little melted fat ... which I guess still might be worth pouring over the brisket when I put it in the sealed pan. I'm getting the really good drippings from the disposable pan in which the brisket is sealed.
 
Yeah, what ends up in the pan before the brisket goes in tends to be a little burnt up looking, but it's really just "reduced".

When I open up the brisket to start testing for doneness, it's got tons of yummy liquid in there.
 
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