Screw Wagu, BBQ is all about making the worst cuts taste good!

[Karon Adams]

I judged a few BBQ comps and came to the conclusion that i DON'T like the competitions. they are taking the point out of BBQ. the high priced, pampered cows used to make the Q, the Cadillac cookers and the various and sundry injections and chemical tenderizers move what was served to me in a Styrofoam box so far from actual BBQ that I just gave up in disgust and went home. literally.

yeah, they go around and check the meat before the cook to make sure it hasn't been prepped. but they take a method of cooking devised by poor people to create something edible from leftovers and move it SO far out of the reach of actual humans that it defeats the purpose of BBQ. that is one among many reasons i love this site. the whole purpose is to put Q back into the realm of actual human beings.

injecting meat with various and sundry ~ites and ~ates and ~ones. that is what most of you organics crazies complain about. and while i understand the reason for timing a competition, the real secret of Q IS time. and there is no ~ite, ~ate or ~one that can replace it.

competitions are no longer about who can DO the craft of taking that crummy piece of meat and make it wonderful. it's about who can afford the high priced pig/cow, rig and chemicals. the point of competitions being to create a brand for a restaurant or sauce/rub/seasoning line.

oh well. for myself and my house, I'd rather hang here and spend my Q time with people who do ti because they love it, love the craft, love the food, love the process. what more can anyone ask in life?

[EPH]

Great points. As a (very) new convert to the ways of outdoor cooking who has daydreams about hanging with the big shots, the barriers to entry of a sanctioned competition are insurmountable.

[CeramicChef]

As was stated above, for my friends and honored guests, especially vets and active duty military, the sky's the limit. Price isn't even a consideration. I like Prime, but I don't have to have it.

[kingdarb]

Maybe contests should be divided into subcategories based on the grade of meat?

[Thom Emery]

http://www.kcbs.us/event/6570/the-kansas-smithfield-guinea-pig

There's your contest
Meat is supplied everyone cooks the same level stuff

[kingdarb]

Cool - that looks like just the thing that some folks are looking for!

[DWCowles]

I have cook Prime and Wagyu briskets for my family and friends but I have never had the great compliments that I had on the two Choices that I did yesterday. I even had to agreed with them because they were pretty dang tasty.

[Potkettleblack]

The brisket on a wagyu breed cow is still an inferior cut when compared to steakhouse cuts from the loin and tenderloin, as well as butcher cuts like hangers, exterior skirts and short ribs. I think the original post question is kind of wrong.

[boftx]

Yeah, I should have said "grade", not "cut".

[Potkettleblack]

I guess my point is this. Short of sous vide, no brisket is ever gonna be steak. It's always going to be a junky if you just throw it on direct heat or do a reverse sear.

[Karon Adams]

My Corned Beef resents that remark!

[PappyBBQ]

Great discussion. This is why I'm here. BBQ, like all forms of cooking, is a very personal thing. I revel in the variety of opinions, and of the respect shown herein.

[billg71]

I like watching the competition shows, they're entertaining. I just keep in mind that what I see bears little relation to what I cook at home. Some of the competitors will even say they'd never serve the stuff they cook in a comp to their friends or family(but you won't see that on the show). Think about it.

The foundation of American barbecue was based on meat markets cooking the cuts of meat they couldn't sell back in the days before refrigeration and boxed cuts became commonplace. Smoked meats would keep and could be sold over a much longer time than the raw cuts. It was an economic necessity for the markets at the time, if you bought a side of beef and sold all the steaks, roasts and hamburger what did you do with what was left?

I'd like to maybe someday cook a Wagyu brisket but I'm not holding my breath. I can buy an heirloom-quality knife or any number of other things that my children will be happy to inherit for what I'd spend for a SRF brisket. In the meantime, I can get local pasture-raised steaks like this one from my local Whole Foods for $22/lb:



Or a comparable brisket for $10.00/lb. I can live with that...

Gotta go cook that steak!

[johnsteen]

Any one can buy great wine....it takes an expert can buy great wine cheap

[Karon Adams]

something else i would like to point out, BBQ is made great by the FACT that it is an inedible cut of meat. with lost of inedible connective tissue in it. the process of cooking low and slow converts that connective tissue to gelatin, which is what MAKE BBQ, not the fat and oil. the gelatin. that's why I now ADD inedible meat, in the form of pig trotters, to my smoker every cook to get MORE gelatin to use as the basis of my sauce.