Cooking meat in foil

mark9765

I just got my egg but I have smoked and grilled for years. Over the years I have heard that wrapping meat in foil to finish cooking is just a lazy/quick way to cook tender meat. I am not condeming the practice, I just wanted others opinion. I personaly have done this a few times and it does make the meat more tender. It seems that the steam in the foil does the tenderizing not the low and slow cooking.
Opinions?

stike

mark9765,
steam (water) is way more efficient than air at transferring heat. it's ok to foil. I used to, but i am a lazy SOB and just let the stuff ride longer, rather than muck around with foiling.

Unknown

Howdy Mark. I think the colagen breaking down is what tenderizes the meat. Foil just speeds things up. Foil is also a nice way to finish the meat once you get the color and bark you want. Without foil, you might end up with a tough bark by the time the middle is done. It is a nice tool to have up your sleeve, and doesn't always mean you are resorting to a lazy shortcut.

My first post on this side....still working on trying to activate my profile! Happy foiling!
CHris

fishlessman

mark9765,
i dont foil with ribs, pulled pork, or brisket but it really depends what you want from the cook, my idea of good ribs is different that what someonelses might be. for cooking a big chuck roll for pulled beef or a lamb leg for pull, you really need the foil or you just wont get the meat to pull right.

thirdeye

mark9765,[p]Many years ago foil got tagged with the nickname "The crutch" by some of the older hands who did not cook with it. Some-years later I heard "God made all pit bosses different, foil made them equal". Just last year, I think on one of the shows that covered The American Royal, they showed some 'ol boys wrapping a whole hog in foil. One of the quotes from the show went something like "... if you ain't using foil, you are either lying or loosing". My favorite is "It's a tool, not a rule".[p]~thirdeye~