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Foil while smoking?

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FanOfFanboys
FanOfFanboys Posts: 2,615
edited September 2012 in EggHead Forum
So I'm doing a couple pork butts tomorrow. I've done 5-6 before so I'm getting pretty comfortable with process. My neighbor got some good rub from Tennessee other week and offered to me to use. Much appreciated. But then he told me the way to smoke it is to cover the butt in foil the entire time and once it's almost done then remove the foil to crisp it. I've been on this forum awhile and don't recall seeing anyone do that. Thoughts on that process?
Boom
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  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    edited September 2012
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    No need to foil during the cooking process (and I don't know anybody who does).  Take it up to an internal temp of 190-195. If you need to hold it for a few hours after you pull it, foil is fine then.

    Packerland, Wisconsin

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  • bertscampers
    bertscampers Posts: 136
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    How would the smoke get to the butt if it is in foil?  I am also new and trying to learn.

    Cheers
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    No, no, no. Tell him thanks for the rub and invite him to dinner after you cook it your way. He will be glad you did. Why not just do it in the oven if you are going to foil it the whole time?
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • FanOfFanboys
    FanOfFanboys Posts: 2,615
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    Ok great. Thanks guys. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy or missing something.
    Boom
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
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    The bark doesn't develop very well under foil.  The only time I foil butts is if I need to speed up the the cook time and cranking the temp is just burning it.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited September 2012
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    The Cen-Tex Smoker said:
    No, no, no. Tell him thanks for the rub and invite him to dinner after you cook it your way. He will be glad you did. Why not just do it in the oven if you are going to foil it the whole time?
    +infinity.  

    I never understood why folks would foil stuff for the sake of of foiling it.  Very little, if any smoke would get deposited onto the meat if you kept it foiled the whole time.  Plus, foiling would essentially trap the moisture escaping from the meat, thus causing a sort of "steaming" effect.  Any bark which developed prior to that would become moist (picture what happens to crispy skin or breading when you reheat something in the microwave).  

    I can see foiling in certain circumstances - for instance, wing tips if they are getting burned, or if you're trying to keep a certain part of the meat from getting overcooked relative to the other parts.  

    But foiling just as a way of cooking it, to me, is not BBQ, and as Cen-Tex said, you might as well cook it in the oven.  

    JMHO,
    HH
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
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  • Dave in Florida
    Dave in Florida Posts: 1,157
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    Not much reason to "smoke" your pork butt if you are going to cook it in foil.  Might as well cook it in the oven and add a dash of liquid smoke.
    :-&
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Welcome to the Swamp.....GO GATORS!!!!
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
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    Dave in Florida said:
    Not much reason to "smoke" your pork butt if you are going to cook it in foil.  Might as well cook it in the oven and add a dash of liquid smoke.
    :-&
    +1, well said. Years ago I had a neighbour that used to foil ribs on his gasser, open for sauce the last 30 minutes only. The intent was to keep them moist, which they were. All the while they cooked the neighbourhood smelled great, you could smell the smoke from his smoker box, sometimes mesquite, sometimes apple/hickory. There was not one hint of smoke on the rib, the only thing you could taste was the BBQ sauce. I could never convince him he was using smoke like a potpourri. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • tnbarbq
    tnbarbq Posts: 248
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    Wrapping the butt in foil the whole time makes no sense to me.  You might as well cook it in a crock pot.
    Scooter 
    Mid TN. Hangin' in the 'Boro. MIM Judge
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  • SamFerrise
    SamFerrise Posts: 556
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    Taking a shower with a wet suit on!


    Simple ingredients, amazing results!
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  • GreenhawK
    GreenhawK Posts: 398
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    The only time I wrap anything is when it is done to keep it warm.
    Large BGE Decatur, AL
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  • gte1
    gte1 Posts: 379
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    I have foiled to push through the stall, but it doesn't make sense to foil from the start.
    George
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  • MaskedMarvel
    MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,142
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    "The Texas Crutch" - makes sense if you're doing it in your kitchen's oven...  No business on the Egg, IMHO..
    Large BGE and Medium BGE
    36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


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  • FanOfFanboys
    FanOfFanboys Posts: 2,615
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    I skipped the foil. It was some of the best pork I've had and def the best I've made. I had two bottles of sauce on counter for the 15lbs I cooked. Less than 1/2 of one bottle was used. Everyone ate the meat straight, which I viewed as a compliment.
    Boom
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  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,194
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    I foil at 165. I like bark, not too much though. This allows me to get the smoke I want, a little bark, and stop it before it goes too far. This is only when I do L&S butts. The hot and fast I skip the foil.
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