To Wrap or Not?


 
M

Mikek

New member
I know this topic has probably been beat to death, but what's the expert opinion on the contest circuit?

That is, is it always allowed, and even if allowed, is it frowned upon by the experts are have they started to accept any benefits of wrapping?

Also, what is the general concensus of when to wrap, 1/2 way through? 1 hour left? 1/2 hour left? etc.

Thanks!
 
as far as I know, it's always allowed on the circuit. There are some folks (ala paul kirk) who call it a crutch, but most folks use it on some level.

As to your question about when to wrap, it totally depends on what meat you are cooking and how you are cooking it. Ribs, brisket... totally different beasts (literally). In general, though, never wrap it until it has gotten a lot of good smoke and good flavor. Once it goes in foil, it's like it is in the oven - no more smoke will get into it and your bark will cease forming any more. just some things to keep in mind. For more specifics, let us know what kind of meat you are thinking of. There are lots of discussions here on when to foil...
 
what are you wrapping?

ribs, sure almost always.
pork, sometimes when deemed necessary, always when done and resting.
brisket, all depends on grade, marbling and how the cook is coming along. always when done and resting.
chicken, never.
 
While I occasionally do pork roasts, chicken, or fish, I generally stick to the staples Joe McManus mentioned, ribs, pork butt, and brisket.

As far as when to wrap, I would always wait until at least 1/2 way done...but I'm now wondering if that's still too soon...and if so, when then should I put the wrap on, and also when then might it be too late to bother (and would essentially be a waste of time)?

Thanks!
 
Mike,

Ribs - I've gone to wrapping ribs to obtain a very consistent result, mostly for competition purposes. When to wrap, that's sort of a judgement call. I look mostly for color of the ribs and some pull back of the meat from the bone. The next judgement is how long to leave them in foil. Typically its 45-60 minutes. BTW I cook mostly loins.

Brisket - I've only recently begun breaking the foil out here. In trying to maintain juiciness, I might foil when two things occur, 1) color is where I want it, and 2) the meat has come out of the first plateau. Its not really a prescribed time, it just a feel for when to wrap the thing. Results have been promising. Having said that, I'm looking forward to a cook sometime this fall after competitions are over where I'll just coat w/ salt and pepper and let it rip.

pork butt - in all honesty, I don't have all that much experience wrapping when cooking on the WSM. I'm not sure I would. I'm moved to cooking comps with an FE, and part of the process I've adopted there is to use foil. Again looking for color and sufficient completions and some textural signatures.

Some folks call it a crutch, others a tool. I can say for me, I'm able to achieve more consistent results with foil, but when I'm cooking to feed a bunch of folks, forget it, its not worth the effort or the money.
 
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