do you wrap your Brisket?

Beaumonty said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

ibanda said:

The new guru of Austin, TX barbecue Aaron Franklin is advising to wrap in butcher paper halfway through the cook. I will be giving it a try.

he does wrap and several of the places down here do as well. Can't hurt to try but they do it because they cook hotter to facilitate their service schedule. He claims he does it to protect the bark from getting scorched, not to get moisture or texture. The texture comes from the rest in paper, not the cook

I read the article cited and my inexpert conclusion is that they are using smokers that are not as efficient at not drying out the brisket as Eggs are.  I think that's one of the reasons he does a "wet" smoke with a pan of water beneath it.  My two cents.  

I can't see how the paper is any different than a braise with foil.  Butcher paper will still hold a ton of moisture next to the bark.

That's the common belief and it does make sense. Those huge offset smokers have to move a ton of hot air to keep them warm. It's like blasting it with a hair dryer for 14 hours. The egg is so much more efficient that it barely moves any air to keep warm so the drying effect is so much less. All these tips and tricks on other bbq websites are for stick burners so they don't all apply to the egg. Like the 225 temp those guys all cook at. Way too low IMO for your egg. 250-275 is perfect. I'm all for trying it to see if you like it, I have been doing the best briskets of my life this past year and All I do is rub it and smoke it and let it rest.

caliking said:

Just to throw in my 2 bits - Cen-Tex's famed Salado Brisket was likely the best brisket I've had, so my eyes are on him. My goal is to get brisket done right without wrapping, foiling, or injecting it because I'm a lazy @ss, so the less I need to meddle with it while cooking the better. 

Leaves me more time for important stuff... like beer. 

I still like to play around with them from time to time but Like I told Cazzy yesterday- it's getting harder and harder for me to get excited about changing anything. Feels like I'm getting it dialed in pretty good. I'm sure I'll wrap one soon. I have a whole roll of that paper sitting in my garage for 4 months. Just hard to do one different when I know I can nail it the simple way. and beer is good