Brisket bark stuck to the foil

[andrewanderson]

Hey all,

I smoked my first brisket yesterday and the bark was fine when the meat was registering about 162. I wrapped it up in foil and put a little apple juice in and got it up to temp (204) but when I took it out after it finished resting the bottom bark was almost all burned and stuck to the foil so I lost a majority of it. Any ideas on what could have happened and how I can prevent it on the next brisket?

Thanks everyone in advance for your help!

 

[sandyut]

first things first, welcome to the site.

What were you cooking on and at what temp? I stopped wrapping mine a while back, BUT - I speculate if the apple juice evaporated and the sugars caused the sticking? I would think the fat would have rendered a decent puddle in the foil too. How did you prep the brisket - did you leave at least 1/4 of fat on the bottom? was it a flat or full packer?

 

[texomakid]

Welcome to the forum. On first thought sounds like it "burned" to the foil so what smoker are you using? If it's direct heat I recommend indirect. What temp you running this cook at? Rubs can definitely play a roll. Fat cap or meat side (did you do fat cap up or down?) I've seen burn on bottom of briskets too but my max loss was around 10 to 15% of the brisket at the most. I typically just trim up the good stuff and eat like a pig :)

 

[thirdeye]

The purpose of wrapping is three-fold. If your food is coming out too smoky, wrapping will stop that, in fact once you wrap you can finish in the oven because heat is heat. If your meat is getting too dark, wrapping will slow that down, however it will still darken a bit when wrapped. If you need to hurry a cook along, wrapping will shorten the remaining cooking time, this is accomplished by braising and this is why you add a few ounces of liquid to the foil.

I'm betting you just cooked the liquid dry and the sugars which had reduced at that point just burned. I don't use anything sweet when seasoning or when wrapping beef, and prefer a jazzy beefy broth but if there was not enough liquid (even if you used water or beer) you can cook the foil pouch dry. When I wrap I go fat cap down for the first hour. This helps render some fat, and helps the bark on the other face of the brisket. When I check after an hour, I'll turn the brisket fat cap up to insure tenderness. At that point I usually have plenty of foil juices but at least I get a visual and could add more if needed.

 

[daveomak]

Too high a heat.... Direct heat....
Foiling softens the bark making it mushy....
Try butcher paper...
............. Butcher Paper .........

 

[andrewanderson]

I'm using a Traeger Ironwood 650. I smoked it fat side down at 200-225 until the bark was looking how I wanted it (about 165) then turned it up to 250 during the wrap for the most part. It was gaining slow at around hour 15 still at 180 or so, so I turned it up to 350 for an hour, then turned it back down to 250 once I had the momentum.

I suspect turning it up to 350 for that hour is what did it, along with my choice of apple juice. My loss was about 10% if that as well, really just that bottom bark. I'm just want as much bark as I can get and hope to avoid the extra hassle next time around. (:

Welcome to the forum. On first thought sounds like it "burned" to the foil so what smoker are you using? If it's direct heat I recommend indirect. What temp you running this cook at? Rubs can definitely play a roll. Fat cap or meat side (did you do fat cap up or down?) I've seen burn on bottom of briskets too but my max loss was around 10 to 15% of the brisket at the most. I typically just trim up the good stuff and eat like a pig :)

 

[andrewanderson]

I wrapped because it because the bark was where I wanted it as well as to speed up that last part of the cook.

Your assumption sounds spot on. On my next attempt I'm going to use beef broth and check/flip during the wrap.

The purpose of wrapping is three-fold. If your food is coming out too smoky, wrapping will stop that, in fact once you wrap you can finish in the oven because heat is heat. If your meat is getting too dark, wrapping will slow that down, however it will still darken a bit when wrapped. If you need to hurry a cook along, wrapping will shorten the remaining cooking time, this is accomplished by braising and this is why you add a few ounces of liquid to the foil.

I'm betting you just cooked the liquid dry and the sugars which had reduced at that point just burned. I don't use anything sweet when seasoning or when wrapping beef, and prefer a jazzy beefy broth but if there was not enough liquid (even if you used water or beer) you can cook the foil pouch dry. When I wrap I go fat cap down for the first hour. This helps render some fat, and helps the bark on the other face of the brisket. When I check after an hour, I'll turn the brisket fat cap up to insure tenderness. At that point I usually have plenty of foil juices but at least I get a visual and could add more if needed.

 

[texomakid]

You may be right with the 350 temp at the end. I've had brisket stick to the grates, foil, and butcher paper. Lower temps and indirect heat (I use foil pans under my meat in the past - that worked well.)