To foil or not to foil

the butcher · October 2013

I've been watching a lot of television lately and seen more than a few competition chefs foiling their ribs and brisket part way through with some liquid. This is in contrast to the bbq restaurants, where its pretty simple; meat goes in smoker, baste occasionally and meat comes off smoker. What's consensus with the egg users on here? I kinda felt foil was cheating to get the meat to be moist but I'm slowly starting to change my mind. Whats wrong with cheating if the meat is nice and tender?

nolaegghead · October 2013

Foil turns the roasting into a steaming/braising - super moist environment. The bottom line is, it cooks super fast when the meat is foiled. There's nothing wrong with it.

Stoogie · October 2013

My take is that I will do what it takes to make my cooks on the Egg taste as good as they can. If that means foiling something, I'll foil it. If I feel during the cook that I don't have to foil, I won't foil. I always foil my ribs. My briskets I will only foil if I think I need to - that is done by feel. I never foil pork butts.

Everyone does it differently, but do what works best for you!

Dirkdaddy · October 2013

I am new to cooking on egg but wondered the same thing. My recent 1st attempt at ribs they were a little dry, but I was watching my football blow a 17 point lead and end up in overtime and entertaining so I never touched them once on the grill except to tweak temps. Afterwards wondered if I should have wrapped at some point in foil? I want to cook a briscuit soon too.

jtippers · October 2013

I always foil my ribs... Cheating is a harsh term. Cook them however you like and don't worry about what other folks think. The objective is amazing food. If that means foil is required, big deal. Just my 2 cents.

Scottborasjr · October 2013

There is no wrong way or right way, it just needs to work for you. I foil very rarely with any of my longer cooks, but there is a time and place for everything. If it works for you, great! If it doesn't then try another method. It also greatly depends on the quality of meat that you are able to obtain. That's my .01 cent. I know my opinion is worth less then that.

Sm62577 · October 2013

I never foil,, all it ever did is ruin my nice bark I had and steam my rub off into a big puddle in foil..

bicktrav · October 2013

The notion that foiling is cheating is so strange to me. How is cheating more than roasting, smoking, or searing? I guess the rationale is that foiling is cheating because it's not how people used to do it. Thing is, if you follow that logic, you could say using a ceramic cooker is cheating as compared to when folks used to grill over a blazing pile of logs. The only negative to foiling is that it softens the bark, but that's easily remedied by adding a last step to your cook where you throw the meat back on the grill direct at higher temperatures for a final sear. The bark is back, and your meat is probably more moist for having been braised with liquid in foil. There's a reason a lot of competition cooks do it. Three cheers for foiling!

Tixunau · October 2013

Foiling is not cheating. In my book, it is a technique along with others (e.g. searing, roasting, grilling,…) You just have to try both ways and pick the one that work the best for you. There are pro and cons in either ones so at the end of the day, it is really your taste that will dictate which technique to use.

Cheers!

Ragtop99 · October 2013

Foiling is not cheating and I've done it when in a time crunch, but it is steaming rather than smoking. Foiling makes more sense when cooking on something other than an egg and is hard to control or high airflow. On the egg, if I'm going to foil I might as well cook it in the oven unless it is the middle of summer.

jaydub58 · October 2013

I don't think foiling is cheating, but I don't foil ribs. I have tried it, but prefer no-foiling.

As stated above whatever really works for the cook.............................

GaryLange · October 2013

I foil mine also for about one hour but no longer. It makes them more tender and with the apple juice sprayed on them a lot moister. I go by what the wife says. If I get the "Oh These are Good" or "this pulled Pork is so Good" I have pleased the only one that really counts.

YEMTrey · October 2013

I don't foil my ribs, or anything for that matter, but I wouldn't call it cheating if somebody does. I cook to how my family and I like to eat. My wife prefers fall off the bone ribs, so I try to walk that fine line and make them come off the bone as easy as I can without just falling off. Not going to win me any bbq competitions, but I only have one judge in the house to impress.

Little Steven · October 2013

Dirkdaddy said:

I am new to cooking on egg but wondered the same thing. My recent 1st attempt at ribs they were a little dry, but I was watching my football blow a 17 point lead and end up in overtime and entertaining so I never touched them once on the grill except to tweak temps. Afterwards wondered if I should have wrapped at some point in foil? I want to cook a briscuit soon too.

Generally, dry ribs are undercooked.

henapple · October 2013

I foil and add a little honey. The guys on TV are cooking for a bite or two by the judges. I want pork and not candy.

nolaegghead · October 2013

Little Steven said:

Dirkdaddy said:

I am new to cooking on egg but wondered the same thing. My recent 1st attempt at ribs they were a little dry, but I was watching my football blow a 17 point lead and end up in overtime and entertaining so I never touched them once on the grill except to tweak temps. Afterwards wondered if I should have wrapped at some point in foil? I want to cook a briscuit soon too.

Generally, dry ribs are undercooked.

Xactly. If you had foiled them for an hour or two they would have cooked more for the same cook time and would have tasted more tender/moist.

henapple · October 2013

Try St Louis style. Cut your own if you can. If not at least make sure that the ribs are uniform... The same size even if you cut the last few off. 325 for 1.5 hrs, 1 hr wrapped with a little honey on them... 30 minutes uncovered with sauce if you'd like. This will produce fall off the bones or cut the first two steps by 15 for the tug ribs.

Try it...

To foil or not to foil

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