Smoke Time

[John Furdyn]

To those of you that cook butts etc untill done without foiling "while on the cooker". Do you think you get "more smoke taste" than if if you cooked to 190 ish, then foiled and cooked to 200 ish. Assuming you will foil and put in a cooler in both cases as usual. I guess I'm wondering at what point do you no longer benifit getting the smoke in the product, or does it always continue the smoke to penetrate the meat ? John

 

[David Lohrentz]

The smokering formation stops when you get up to 140ish I think (not sure of the exact temp) but smoke flavor continues to penetrate the meat.

However, usually by the time that a butt has been on the smoker for 8 hours, it should have plenty of smoke flavor, so I wouldn't see any harm in foiling after it gets to 190.

I do like to use the visual clues to determine if it is done or not, so putting it in foil and just going by internal temp would make it a little harder to determine when it is really done to your liking.

 

[John Furdyn]

David
Just foiled the butt I'm cooking right now (190), nice bark sure looks good. Used apple wood this time, don't know if it will taste any different, usually use oak. Sure smells good. John

 

[Paul H]

John, here is my unsubstantiated unscientific
explanation. I think if you foil, what happens is that you get less of a smokey taste. The fats and juices seep out and dilute the smoke deposited on the outside of the meat. I think this is also why smoke rings are less red in meat foiled for a long time than meat just cooked without foil. This is just from personal observations and as I said once before I slept in a Holiday Inn Express once

 

[Dale Perry]

Paul, what you said makes sense to me.

 

[r benash]

I would tend to agree with John that the juices seeping out could have an impact on diluting the smoke flavor a bit. But I do not think it has any affect on the smoke ring itself.

 

[John Furdyn]

Everything said here makes sense to me. The next time I make a butt maybe I try let on the smoker longer and just foil for a little while, I guess or are there those who take the butt off the cooker and maybe let it rest "Unfoiled" for a litle while then pull or what is the procedure ? John

 

[Paul H]

Ray, to further explain. I think it has to do with the "steaming" aspect of the cook more than just juices running out. Juices run out in a regular cook without foil also. I've done briskets with and without foil and found that the ones with out the foil have a deeper smoke ring color than the foiled.

 

[Bryan S]

Smokering stops forming at 140 as David said. But the meat will take on smoke as long as you put it on it. If you foil it will soften the bark up. So when you pull that perfect Butt off the WSM and wrap it up in foil, then the bark will soften up some. That said after 12+ hrs, the softening is not a bad thing at that point. My teeth aren't as strong as they once was. Well past jerky and beyond, after 12+ hrs on the WSM and no foil for the rest in the cooler. Glass comes to mind off the top of my head.

 

[dsitterson]

I always pull my butts when they hit 190. Do you get any benefit from going 200 or higher. I only foil when I want to speed upi the cooking and when I pull them to let them rest.

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dsitterson:
I always pull my butts when they hit 190. Do you get any benefit from going 200 or higher. I only foil when I want to speed upi the cooking and when I pull them to let them rest. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
You'll get firmer bark, and render more fat out of the butt, and some extra smoke, that's about it. With the firmer bark it'll hold up better in the foil rest. See alot of the time I have to hold the butts for 4+ hrs (take to work) so I like the harder bark. It's just a preference thing. I've done them from 190-210 and settled on 200 as being what I like.