Pork Butts - To foil or not to foil


 
S

Serge Carbone

TVWBB Member
I imagine this topic has probably been done to death over the years but bear with me.

Every time I smoke a butt on my WSM, it seems to stall for so long, that the meat actually dries out. I've taken to simply pulling the meat off and foiling every time which results in juicy meat but I do prefer the bark that comes with a non-foiled butt. My last cook was this past weekend. 6lb butt that I cooked overnight. WSM was steady at around 230. After 12 hours, it was still not probe tender at which point I foiled and finished in oven.

Do people typically get good results finishing in the smoker without foiling? Does mopping make a difference when it comes to moisture (I've never bothered with mopping)? Any other tips that you can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
I get good results both ways. I've probably foiled my last 3 or 4. I've done it without as well. For me it probably comes down to time. If I'm in a hurry or somehow pressed for time I foil. You might try butcher paper. It won't speed up the cook but it will help retain moisture.
 
Could be butcher paper your solution !!
Ive used once and I didn't like, but maybe You have to try it.
I do prefer no wrap. I love black meteor look and hard bark. I shredd the meat and I add some vinegard based sauce.
 
I would stick with the No Foil - I've done LOTS of them, and never really had a problem

Is the meat actually getting dry or is it crisp around the edges from rendered fat getting too hot and "deep-frying" outer portions?
(I sometimes get this happening if I try putting too many big sucka's on one grate, and the outer edge gets the hot air rising past the water pan.)

Are you using the Water Pan and keeping it full?
Are you using white sugar in your rubs? That sometimes burns. I use Turbinado Sugar, which is supposed to be less prone to burning

Just some thoughts that I hope are helpful for your next attempt
 
Here's how I do it, but in my situation it's different then most I'm 90% practicing for competitions. So I trim different,cook different, and try to make it look as good as possible. I cook mine tell around 160degs or the color I'm looking for unwrapped, then wrap in foil adding liquid to two layers of foil and finish it off that way. I really think it helps with tenderness.
 
I like butcher paper. I wrap as soon as the bark is set and I like the results. Better texture than foil, more moist than if unwrapped, and good bark.
 
I am NOT a competition cook. However, I have been extremely happy with my pork butts (as are family and friends). I use Harry Soo's method as outlined on this forum in his PDF. I am eternally grateful to Harry as his information (so freely shared) has "raised my game". The only thing I do different is moderate the sugar in the wrap and smoke at 275-300 degrees to make the time more manageable. I wrap (after the bark is set) at 165-170 degrees internally. I remove from the smoker when it probes tender (anywhere from 195-205 internal depending on the particular butt).

Things cook pretty dern consistently. I buy my butts when on sale at GFS or my favorite butcher in nearby Indiana (Indiana is famous for their pork). I keep pulled pork on hand in the freezer after vacuum packing (thanks to my "Sou Chef - SWMBO") so when I get the craving, it is immediately available. I ALWAYS do a couple of butts at a time so this is possible.

All smoked on my 14.5" or 18.5" WSM, of course:rolleyes:.

YMMV...

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I never mop anything. That just seems to slow down cooking. Flavors can be controlled with the rub and finishing sauce.

Foil seems to really help with pulled beef and poultry but I never do it for pork butts. Clearly it is possible to get great results either way, though. It definitely speeds up cooking to use foil. Maybe a few minutes outside the foil at the end of the cook would give you the bark your looking for.
 
Serge, you have received some great input above. One thing I want to ask is, how are you measuring temp in your cooker and in your meat? Have you checked the accuracy of your thermometers? I would want to rule out a thermometer that was not reading properly (probably low, since you are experiencing longer cook times than you expect) along with tinkering with the rest of the process.

Hope you get it sorted out! Pulled pork is the most forgiving thing that I have ever cooked that gets rave reviews every single time! Good luck!

Rich
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I get good results both ways. I've probably foiled my last 3 or 4. I've done it without as well. For me it probably comes down to time. If I'm in a hurry or somehow pressed for time I foil. You might try butcher paper. It won't speed up the cook but it will help retain moisture.
Click to expand...

+1000.

It all comes down to time.

BBQ has its own time/space reality.

In a perfect reality, bbq is done on time just as you planned.

If time is the constraint - then you wrap and gittir-done!

I'd rather eat a wrapped and done butt than go hungry and wait until nodding off for an unwrapped one.
 
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