FOOD NEWS
What Are The Advantages Of Smoking Meat In Butcher Paper Vs Tin Foil?
By C.A. Pinkham
Many chefs swear by wrapping your meat before smoking it, either in tin foil or butcher paper. As it turns out, there are significant benefits to both materials.
Butcher paper helps keep the food moist without damaging the crispy outer layer (crucial for brisket), while tin foil allows food to cook faster and more evenly.
Wrapping the meat traps the liquid and braises the meat in its juices, creating a juicier result. The downside is that you may introduce moisture in the process in unwanted ways.
The thick crust, or bark, that forms on smoked meat is made from the spices you've rubbed on, combined with the chemical reaction from the meat being exposed to heat and oxygen.
Tin foil and butcher paper both affect this bark since they don't allow much airflow. Butcher paper allows steam to escape, but tin foil traps more moisture and softens the bark.