Help with brisket prepping for a competition

[sarredon]

Hey everyone,

I got lucky and am joining a very good bbq team for an upcoming competition as the brisket guy. I’ve done tons of briskets, but never for a competition. I’m hoping y’all can share some of your wisdom. I of course am speaking with the rest of the team, but this is my #1 source for nearly all things BBQ. I also did this on a drum, never used a drum for brisket before, but I know they are popular at competitions. I also thought it might shorten my cook time and help with time management.


Here was my method,

13.8 lb brisket (not graded as this was my first go), aggressively trimmed down to 9.8 lbs and split into flat and point.

- Injected with beef broth, salted with Morton’s kosher salt (~1 tsp/lb). Placed in fridge overnight.

- seasoned with holy cow (will use my own home made one for the comp) then put on drum running @275-280 for 4.5 hrs

- wrapped with butcher paper and tallow

- pulled when tender at 208 and let to rest in a warming drawer until served, which was 2.5 hrs


My thoughts on the cook.

Not bad taste. I don’t think I’ll use holy cow for a comp, it was too sweet for me, but perhaps that’s what judges want?

It was little dry on the edges, and probably a little over cooked. This is probably for a few reasons.

- First, I used lower grade brisket. I didn’t want to go for my typical prime or wagyu cut just yet.

- Second, I wrapped very late because I got distracted by a work call. Then the fire got away from me when I left the lid open while wrapping. The temp skyrocketed to 400. I didn’t realize it and over shot my target temp by a few degrees.

- Thirdly, a few of the edges were basically jerky. I probably should have put the flat away from where I started the fire, I just don’t think it can take too much direct heat. The vortex may have mitigated some of this.

- Lastly, my trimming skills need work. A better trim would have helped overall. My intention is to do burns ends at the competition, hence the split. But, it was harder than I expected to trim. This is one area for sure I’ll be watching a lot of videos on.

The result wasn’t as good as on my offset, but way better than my first offset cook. The smoke flavor was surprisingly good. Not as prominent as the offset, but very clean and almost sweet.


Overall, I’m pleased with my first effort, but have a few things I want to work on. Any suggestions from yall?

[TripleB]

I've done a couple of briskets in competition over the last 5 years. But I really don't do briskets. They're not my thing. BUT, when I was at the Texas Meat Up back in May, I talked with the Brisket pitmaster at Terry Blacks. He did not go over what rub they use, but just how they smoke it. So I am passing it on for you to chew on.

1. Smoke brisket at 225d to give heavy smoke for 1.5 hrs.
2. After 1.5 hrs, bring smoker up to 250d. Then after 4 hrs, bring smoker temp up to 275d.
3. Smoke until internal temp hits 180d.
4. Pull brisket and wrap in butcher paper, back on smoker and bring internal temp up to 193-200d (about 10 hrs).
5. Pull butcher paper wrapped brisket and wrap in foil (foil over butcher paper).
6. Hold for 10 hrs. at 140d.

By the way, your brisket looks great. Good job

[sarredon]

Thanks for sharing, Terry Black’s does have some amazing brisket.

[tstalafuse]

Your flat looks like the trimming was good, but you want to get as much of the silver skin off as possible. Do the best you can to make sure the slices are uniform in size (thickness and length) so that it fills the presentation box, which might lead you to trim further to get the uniform size you want. Forgive me if you did, but from looking at the before/after pictures it look like you cut with the grain instead of across the grain? I apologize if my mental gymnastics got it wrong from the pictures. I never was very good at fold and unfolding the box from pictures. For the burnt ends, trim as much excess fat off as you can and square it up for cubing. If the burnt ends aren't great, leave them out since the judges can't judge what isn't in the box. Texas judges prefer SPOG rubs on brisket, but it is a crap shoot. KCBS has training for the judges, but the small Texas bbq associations just take anyone off the street, so you never know what they will like.

Best advice for your first comp cook is to do a test run in the backyard. Make your list of everything you thing you need, check it twice, and take everything out to the patio. Make a time line of when and what has to happen with a hard deadline for turn in and stick to it. Once you have everything outside, no going back inside for anything. Do everything as if you are at the cook. If you forgot something, either do without or go the store since your kitchen won't be at the cook. Yes, actually go to the store as those kind of things can wreck your time line. Keep track of everything you use and don't use, add/subtract from your list as needed. Practice building your turn in box. Keep track of your time line as you only have 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the turn in time. Have someone at the back door with the clock. Take time at the cook to time how long it takes to get to the turn in table because 2 seconds too late is too bad. Finally, remember to have a good time and meet the other teams as the will bail you out if you forgot something small.

What association is sponsoring the event? KCBS, IBCA, Outlaw, Lone Star..

[sarredon]

Thanks for this awesome advice. I definitely didn’t think about filling the presentation box. I probably need to get a template to help with that for my trim. All the slicing was done against the grain. Some of my cuts weren’t super clean, which is why it’s kind of tough to tell in the pictures. I have a granton slicer I’ll use for the event.

I also really appreciate your suggestion about doing a dry run at home and not going back into the house. I’ll definitely be doing that a few times!

[CandySueQ]

Good advice above! Most important is to know the rules you're cooking under. With off the street judges, simpler is better. Sweet meat is a KCBS thing even for brisket (breaks my heart, but I've shared tastes with winning BBQ cooks and that beef was rolled in sugar!). Good luck and have fun!

[sarredon]

Thank you!

[au4stree]

I think your brisket looked good, can’t really speak to dryness, but it “looked” good. If this is a KCBS event, consider how you’re going to present the meat. That’s one of the scores, but your team members might already have thoughts. Are you going to serve just flat? Point? Some of each? Slices? Cubes? Etc.

Personally, I would serve some of each, pick the slices that showcase the fat render, smoke ring and don’t be afraid to “paint” each piece with sauce, as jus etc for presentation. Remember, they get one small bite to know your stuff, so wow them as best you can.

We never did well in briskets, but we always bought the best we could afford and find, which was Prime. Most competitors we knew were getting waygu. I was competing before online was a big thing. I guess I’m trying to say, inter muscular fat is your friend.

Good luck!

Oh! And I love cooking briskies on my PBC, they rock!

[sarredon]

I couldn’t believe how much less time and work cooking on a barrel was compared to my offset. I have a pit barrel too, but upgraded to a hunsaker for this completion. That thing is a beast. I still love my offset, that’s my baby!

[Alan Brice]

Hanging or laying on a rack?

[bbqLuv]

Happy competition no you.

[PGH_RAM]

Knock 'em dead!

[Sweaty Paul]

Looks great! Instead or spritzing I brush little rendered beef tallow. I render the fat trimmings from the brisket.

[sarredon]

Thanks for the tip!

[HawkerXP]

Sounds like fun! Best of luck!!

[Smoked Transistors]

I would suggest watching Harry Soo's YouTube channel. He has so much content regarding brisket not to mention he's judged many competions and also won many brisket competitions.

[Purc]

Harry Soo has won many Grand Championships on a WSM he bought from Amazon.

[bbqLuv]

Ditto
Ditto and
Ditto

[sarredon]

Figured I'd give yall an update. I'm 4 practice cooks in, and several hours of videos watched. Things are looking much much better. Last cook was my best yet. Trim is much better, and my burnt ends were really great. Just maybe one or two more things for me to tweak before competition time.

Here are a few observations I've made with my trial runs.

1. I have learned that no wrap is not great for the barrel. There is so much moisture in there, I figured why not give no wrap a try. I've done it on my offset with decent results (just takes for ever to break through the stall). But the direct heat is just too much for the flat. Every brisket I've wrapped has come out better, even with good rotation.
2. I tend to prefer butcher paper to preserve some bark, though I know foil will give me more of a softer competition style bite. The competition I'm doing is essentially local people volunteering to be judges, I'll stick with the butcher paper for the big day. Foil if its KCBS in the future.
3. The barrel cooks really well and evenly, but takes longer to get a good color or set bark. With my competition trim, if I wrap too early the color is not dark enough, and the bark is not set well enough. My internal temp is usually around 170 when I wrap. Much later than normal for me on my offset. Though it could be that I'm using mostly wagyu rather than prime which is my typical backyard choice.
4. The barrel cooks hot and fast really really well. My start to finish time for lighting a fire and putting the brisket in the oven to rest is about 6.5 hours. Normal time speng cooking can be as low as 4-5 hrs. Even at 275-300, my offset cooks a slower than that. Again, could be the competition trim, but it's delivering great results.
5. With my current process, I don't like injection or using phosphates. It makes my brisket taste like roast beef, and IMO takes away from the smoke flavor and rub spices.
6. MSG is pretty handy. A little mixed into the rub really helps for that once bite experience. I'll definitely use it in future comps. Though backyard rubs will probably stay MSG free.
7. A little sweetness goes a long way on burnt ends. Too savory is not as good for those bites.
8. Wagyu does not seem to benefit. It just comes out greasy. And can lead to an unpleasant bite. My guess is there is already so much fat internally. The extra tallow is not needed. My prime briskets, however, greatly benefits from the tallow. Not sure if I'll do wagyu or prime for the big day. I have cooked far more prime than wagyu, but the wagyu ones I made were pretty tasty! Just would be worried about having be too soft/fatty for the judges.

Thanks for reading! Here area some pictures from my last attempt this weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures from the actual competition which is at the end of the month!

[Oak Smoke]

You’re going to be just fine in the competition and almost anything else you try. You’re observant and analytical that will serve you well in so many areas. Good luck!

[dpearce]

Nice work, and good luck at the competition!

[captainlee]

I have no clue how to competition cook but the above looks fantastic. Best wishes and good luck. Keep us posted on your results.

[Jerod Broussard]

Very nice. Amazing how utterly opposite those muscles are with respect to intramuscular fat and muscle striations.