Talked to a old pitmaster who changed my mind about wrapping ribs

I've always been team no-wrap for competition ribs. But I was at a BBQ festival in Kansas City last month and this 70 year old guy named Carl who's been competing since the 80s told me I'm losing too much moisture. He showed me a rack he wrapped in butcher paper at hour 4 and the bite was perfect. His point about controlling the steam environment actually made sense. Has anyone else had an old school pitmaster flip their whole approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason28316d ago

Well it's ribs not rocket science. People been wrapping them in paper and foil for decades and they turn out fine. Carl probably just likes the sound of his own voice more than anything. I've had great wrapped ribs and great unwrapped ribs and honestly the difference is maybe 5% better on a good day. Not really worth rewriting your whole process over one conversation at a festival.

johnson.ryan16d ago

I get what you're saying man, that "5% better on a good day" part really hit me. I've been in the same boat where I thought wrapping was just a crutch for people who couldn't control their temps right. But then I had an ex-competition guy show me his way with paper and a little apple juice spritz and the texture was just different enough that it stuck with me. Even a small improvement counts when you're trying to nail that perfect bite. I actually tried wrapping my last two racks after years of going naked and ended up liking the wrapped ones better. Sometimes you gotta just be open to that 5% even if it feels like you're admitting you were wrong.