thanks. The recipes I use are fantastic, I'll post them if people are interested.
Yes it does make the bark less crunchy.
However, I foil for several reasons. 1. After a certain point the meat literally can't take any more smoke. 2. The stall, foil speeds meat through the stall because the moisture the meat is giving off can't evaporate when its in the foil, thus evaporative cooling does not occur.
If someone has 14 or more hours to smoke a brisket, more power to them. I've got a 9 month old and my wife would be less than pleased if I were monitoring and getting up that early to do meat for that long.
The only meat I don't foil regularly is chicken & turkey, as they don't need the low slow to break down the meat. I'll foil them if they've gotten too much smoke and the skin is turning too dark. The second chicken posted above, I should have foiled, its a little too dark for my taste.
