Texas Crutch and Brisket

XF15Loader

I've only done one brisket and didn't wrap it...I thought it was great.  What's the advantage of wrapping it or better yet, the downside of not wrapping it.

Thanks,

-J

Foghorn

Wrapping gives juicier meat, but costs you bark. I prefer butcher paper as a balance of both. 

Wait until you are happy with the bark before you wrap. 

You can try it different ways and decide how you like it. 

lousubcap

If you liked the outcome then you are in a good spot.  Here's a link to an Aaron Franklin video that helps shed some light on the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnRRDSYgdmw 
Bottom-line wrap or not depends on a few things; if the bark is where you want it, then butcher paper is the choice to preserve what you have as the cook continues; foil is used to power the cook thru the stall but will soften the bark (you can remove the foil once clear of the stall to help reform the bark); or nekked for the entire ride.  Your call- FWIW-

XF15Loader

Thanks, gents!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

The only things I take into consideration when deciding to wrap or not are:

1) Is my bark getting to dark or crusty
2) Do I need to speed up the cook

I can’t say that I have noticed juicer meat when wrapping but I have heard a lot of people say it affects the moisture and/or texture. I haven’t noticed a big difference

Paper will speed up your cook almost as much as foil so if you are in a hurry, paper will crutch you through much like foil will. I rest in paper too but many do the FTC (foil, towel, cooler) thing. I’m a PC (paper, cooler) guy for the most part. I use extra wadded up butcher paper to fill the cooler if I need a long rest. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

One more thing- I always wrap and rest so I guess I wrap them all at some point. I don’t wrap every brisket during the cook though.