Butcher VS Parchment...

People often ask if they can use parchment paper rather than butcher paper for wrapping meat during a cook. The answer is yes, and no. And it depends on your intention. SHORT STORY: In a discussion of permeability and heat retention, butcher paper is the most permeable, and foil is the least. Parchment paper sits functionally in the middle. LONG STORY: I'd always heard people say that butcher paper allowed smoke to penetrate. But I was always skeptical of how measurable that would be. I mean heat? Sure. But how much measurable SMOKE (in a discussion of bark and visible smoke ring) would actually penetrate? So I set out to do a test. I cooked a small brisket (small, because I didn't want to blow a bunch of money on something that may or may not turn out well) on my mid-size, or what's commonly called a "backyard" offset stick-burner smoker. And had the meat paper-wrapped for the ENTIRE cook.

I found what i considered a fairly symmetrical brisket. Trimmed it up to be as close to a mirror image left to right as i could. Cut it lengthwise into two pieces. Seasoned each with my usual dry rub. No binder (i never use "binders" on brisket. but we'll discuss that in another post) Then wrapped one piece in butcher paper, the other in parchment paper.

Since I was cooking for the most measurable smoke effect, and "smoke ring" development stops at around 160ºF, I cooked them at an average of 220ºF to give as much time as possible for any ring to develop.

OBSERVATIONS: 1. The parchment-paper piece climbed in temp faster, and held temp longer than the butcher-paper piece. I'd imagine this is due to parchment being more like foil in it's conductive and insulating properties. 2. Very much to my surprise, BOTH pieces had nearly the same visible bark as my normal unwrapped briskets. 3. The butcher-wrapped piece had a SIGNIFICANTLY more pronounced smoke ring than the parchment-wrapped piece. I'd have expected this based on it being more porous. 4. Internal moisture was observably the same in each piece. 5. The parchment-wrapped piece had minor, but noticeable harder, overcooked, and broken off surfaces. This would seem counterintuitive. But could be due to the parchment being more conductive than paper and holding higher temps longer. This might call for another test cook to verify... CONCLUSIONS: While being functionally between butcher paper and foil, I wouldn't necessarily consider parchment paper to be a "best of both worlds" solution. If your intent for wrapping is a "Texas Crutch" (to speed the cook) it's definitely going to be more effective than butcher paper. I actually don't find butcher paper beneficial AT ALL in that aspect. Based on my cook and one I observed with a Ninja Woodfire user (hey, Kara!) parchment MAY negatively effect (harden) your bark, compared to butcher paper. One place where I think parchment could be useful would be in a long hold or rest. Many people use bath / beach towels for this. Which is a fine solution from a functional standpoint. But washing grease out of towels tends to leave a mess in your washing machine. Parchment would certainly eliminate that issue, while being more breathable and less likely to overcook than foil. As in all things BBQ, "your mileage may vary." I'd enjoy hearing others' experience and observations on the subject. Be well - W

Bark looks about the same on both pieces

once sliced, the butcher paper (L) bark looks softer, has a much more pronounced smoke ring, and the parchment piece (R) looks a little overcooked.

once completely sliced, the difference in smoke effect, and evidence of over cooking (broken edges) of the parchment piece becomes more evident.