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Competition Practice

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    Competition Practice

    My first really big KCBS competition is in Nashville March 11-12. Decided it'd really do me good to do a test run on the Jambo yesterday. Found a nice choice brisket at wally world, cooked a pork collar from SRF (very illegal in KCBS!), a rack of loin ribs and a rack of spares and a dozen chicken legs.

    Decided to cook hot and fast and all wood/charcoal. Started a charcoal fire in my 18" WSM charcoal ring, added a couple of pecan logs on top. Mixed it up pecan and cherry wood. Cooked about 6 hours total

    Trimmed up the brisket. Weighed the fat. 8.5 pound brisket -- a little over 3 pounds of fat. This was an Excel choice packer. Net result about 5 lbs of beef. It was the best of what I cooked.

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    Pork collar weighed about 4.5 lbs. Didn't trim. Just seasoned. It was okay -- IMO, pork just does better texture wise cooking low and slow.

    Ribs, I tried hanging with PBC hangers and some rods across the Jambo's microwave shelf brackets. Didn't like the drapy look. Took them off after about an hour and laid them flat. Tried a different recipe -- wasn't impressed!

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    Chicken -- wasn't good. Tried a brine with salt and molasses. Really funky. Way too smoky for my taste.

    Cleaned the cooker out real good on Monday evening. Ready to cook for real on Friday night!

    Finished brisket.
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    #2
    Oh my! Looks pretty stellar.
    Last edited by Jon Solberg; March 8, 2016, 04:25 PM.

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      #3
      To bad they don't judge the smoke ring

      Comment


      • CandySueQ
        CandySueQ commented
        Editing a comment
        You're right! Flat looks dry, but it wasn't.

      #4
      CandySueQ , what did you use to slice the brisket? In the last pic, the hunk left unsliced looks pretty uneven, almost like a saw was used (and i know that's not right). Excellent consistency in slice thickness! Proper!

      Comment


        #5
        I was too lazy to go get my 14" brisket knife (a Wusthof) from out of the RV! I used an 8" Granton slicer that really wasn't up to the task as the brisket got wider.

        Comment


          #6
          Do you prefer a hotter cook or slower for brisket, or is it 6 of one, half dozen of the other? CandySueQ

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            #7
            Looks good. I have to practice for the weekend but my practice is sides.

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              #8
              I truly think that pork butts like low and slow and I love my results there. I like hotter for brisket, but most of the time I'm cooking butts and briskets at the same time. That means low and slow, well about 240 degrees. I've been trying to figure a way with one cooker to achieve optimal contest results. I may crank the cooker up earlier in Nashville for the pork, then crank up the heat for brisket after 3-4 hours. Another factor -- it's going to be raining on Friday. Everything gets done faster in high humidity. That almost 21 lb. Snake River Farms Gold brisket is a monster. I'll trim it tonight and take some pictures. Bet half of it is removed fat!

              Comment


                #9
                Man I did not hear the dinner bell !!!! That looks like some goooood eaten.

                Comment


                  #10
                  The best Choice have LOTS of fat to trim off. I chalk them up to some Charolais that went down the alley way.

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