wrap or not?

[twistertail]

I have done 2 butts so far and wrapped them both at about 145 and they turned out great but I would get one with some good bark on it. Seems like wrapping softens the outside, I love the tough chunks from the outside meat. So if I dont wrap it at all with it get too dry? I have read where some people dont wrap at all, do you spritz with juice more often?

 

[bbqlovinpackerbacker]

I have yet to wrap a butt. I usually don't even move it once it's on the grill. I do spritz with a mix of apple juice, grenadine, and a touch of rum. I also tend to spritz my mouth a lot with that same mix. I spritz about every 45 min to an hour, when I check the temps, and charcoal level.

I get great bark. Just wrap in foil when you take it off the grill (@200-205F), wrap in towels, and throw it in a cooler. Leave it there for at least an hour. There is usually about a 1/3 to 1/2 cup of juice in the foil at the end. I just throw the juice back on the pork once I pull it. I left two butts in the cooler wrapped for 2 1/2 hours once, and the stuff was too hot to touch bare hand when it came out.

 

[Dutch]

Twister, one of the reasons for wrapping the butts in foil is to speed up the cooking process. Sometimes when I do butt's I won't wrap them (usually cuz I got busy doing something else and forgot

or lazy or out of foil

) If you don't wrap you butts, you smoke time will be increased but the benefit of this is a nicer bark. Just my $.02.

 

[twistertail]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

 

[richoso1]

The steam created from wrapping tends to soften the bark and anything else within the foil, that's why it helps the cooking process. I use to wrap ribs in Saran wrap and then cover them with foil, the Saran wrap would steam the meat, and the foil would prevent the clear wrap from burning. I would then remove the clear wrap and finish them off totally unwrapped. But that was some time ago, when I was not using wood, just gas.