Ran into a guy at a gas station in Austin who gave me the best brisket advice

I was fueling up my truck last fall and saw a guy loading a huge smoker into a trailer. I asked if he was a competitor, and he said he'd been cooking for 30 years. He told me, 'The secret is to wrap it in butcher paper when it hits 165, not at a set time.' I tried it on my next cook and the bark was perfect. Has anyone else had a random tip from a stranger that really worked?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sam13d ago

Has your buddy @wesley_hart ever tried the pink butcher paper from a restaurant supply store? A friend of mine out in Lockhart was using some random craft paper he got from a hobby store and his bark kept peeling off like sunburn. Then some guy in a parking lot told him to try the 50-pound roll of Reynolds pink paper and he said it changed everything. He wraps his brisket tight at 165 and swears that's the only way to get that dark crunchy shell without steaming the meat. That paper handles the moisture way better than anything you grab at a grocery store.

wesley_hart1mo ago

My bark always looks like a meteorite hit it, maybe I should stop wrapping with old homework. What's your go-to paper brand?

grace_fox31mo ago

Ever tried the cheap stuff from the drugstore? It's thin but it sticks way better than notebook paper. Makes a huge difference.