If you’re using an aluminum pan, click here to jump to my method.
If you’re just using foil and no pan, follow the steps below.
1. If you’re using the heavy duty foil, lay out 2 overlapping sheets
I only had regular aluminum foil.
To compensate, I used 2 layers of an arms-length of aluminum foil (4 sheets total), and overlapped them in the middle.
Spritz the foil with water or beer, ACV, juice, etc.
Regular foil is cheap and has a tendency to tear – the extra layer is there in case this happens.
2. Place the pork butt at the top of the aluminum foil leaving around 8-12″ of foil above the pork butt.
3. Roll the layered sides over the top of the pork butt
Tuck the foil under the pork butt, creating a tight seal.
4. Fold the sides of the foil inwards, over the pork butt
Then crease the edges of the foil all the way to the bottom of the sheets.
5. Roll the rest of the aluminum foil over the top of itself.
If there’s a “tail” of excessive amount of aluminum foil, fold this on top of itself, creating a pillow to roll the pork butt onto.
Or tear it off.
Ensure all my sides are even and check for any signs of leaks.
If you detect a leak – don’t fret – simply restart the above process.
You’re not in a huge rush here. If you have to unwrap and wrap again, it’s not a huge deal.
7. Put the wrapped pork butt back on your smoker or in your oven.
Dylan’s Aluminum Pan Method
What you’ll need to wrap with an Aluminum pan (Dylan’s way):
- Aluminum Pans
- Butcher Paper
- Aluminum Foil
- Oven Safe Cooling Racks
- Liquid (Water, Apple Juice, etc.)
1. Fill an aluminum pan with enough liquid to cover the bottom of the pan
Then put an oven safe cooling rack in the center.
To comment on the oven safe cooling rack:
I personally find that the bark tends to turn soggier when it sits in its own juices and honestly the meat just tastes worse.
But the liquid helps us add humidity to the pan which helps push past the stall and the juices can be used later to add moisture to the pull.
2. Place the pork but on top of the cooling rack
3. Loosely cover the pork butt with butcher paper
The reason for the butcher paper is because aluminum foil tends to “eat” the bark when wrapped with aluminum foil directly – that’s my experience.
Just to prove this, here’s the butcher paper above after wrapping the pork butt above for 2 hours:
4. Lastly, cover the aluminum pan with aluminum foil and ensure there are no leaks
You then can place this aluminum pan back in your smoker or oven.
