A New Competition BBQ strategy...

[Stewie]

I disregarded this team of competitive BBQers that do not slow cook meat, but smoke hot and fast.... UNTIL NOW!!! They just won their 4th Grand Championship in a sanctioned KC BBQ Society event. That's freaking impressive. Their team name is "Rubbin-It-And-Loving-It." They never start smoking before 7am the day of the judging. That means the meat is on the smoker no more than about 4-1/2 hours (including brisket), probably less. They say it's all in how they prep the meat. Man, I'd like to know their secret. It sure would save alot of time and charcoal/wood.

["Bob" Dobbs]

Damn, I'm hungry now.

[RJ]

Originally Posted by cdcox

I cooked the first 3 hours directly on the grate without basting. At the end of 3 hours, I would estimate that no more than 2 T of liquid was sitting in the bottom of the smoker. None had dripped out the grease trap at all. So a foil pan would not have done anything except block smoke. Internal temp of the meat was 150F.

I then wrapped it in two layers of HD aluminum foil. It came up to 195 very quickly, about 45 minutes. I didn't look at the smoker temp very much during this time, but I would guess it averaged around 250.

Once it reached 195, I wrapped it in a towel and put it in my playmate cooler. I left the thermometer in so I could monitor the temp. After about 40 minutes it had dropped to 175 or so. I boiled some water and put the pot on top of the brisket and closed the cooler. It was in the cooler for about 3 hours and didn't ended at 165.

When I pulled it out of the cooler to slice, I drained about 2 cups of liquid from the foiled brisket. This all came from the meat since I didn't add a drop of liquid. I'm going to save this smoky, spicy wonderfulness for some kind of soup or chili.

All of the meat had excellent smoky flavor. The smoke ring penetrates a full 1/4 inch into the meat. The point (what little there was) was cooked to perfection (tender, juicy, smoky). I've only cut up part of the flat. It has great flavor, adequate moisture (not juicy, not dry), and is fairly tender. In the past, I've cooked a brisket for 18 hours and the flat was just about falling apart. The brisket I cooked today still has most of it's connective tissue. I'd say the connective tissue in the flat is the biggest difference between this brisket and the 18-hour brisket. Considering I'm done eating and the 18-hr version would still have 9 hours or so to go, this was a pretty fair trade off.

Great info, cd. An excellent report, as I knew it would be.

Definitely save that juice. Another use could be BBQ sauce. I loves me some brisket drippings in my sauce.

I was planning on smoking ribs tomorrow but this thread got me thinking brisket.....so I'll do both, right?

No point in firing up a smoker if you're not going to use up all the smoke.

Might as well put some beans on there too.

[Buehler445]

Good report CD. I'm going to make that potato salad.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Stewie]

OK, I'm watching BBQ Pitmasters on Planet Green that shows competitions in detail. The best of the best use some no-nos in their preparation. Well, they're no-nos to most snobs, but it works for them.

1) Myron Mixon (greatest BBQ competition winner ever) uses lighter fluid to start his wood/coals. He said the people who say it's wrong can go **** themselves... I'll beat your ass doing it.

2) Johnny Trigg (several wins on the national stage) uses two commercially available BBQ sauces mixed with honey for his sauce.

3) It's not the cheap cuts of brisket that matter, Kobe brisket is popular among the big boys.

4) More when I find out more.

5) Edit: Pellet smokers seem to be doing well even though they're scoffed at in competitions.

[2bikemike]

Originally Posted by Stewie

OK, I'm watching BBQ Pitmasters on Planet Green that shows competitions in detail. The best of the best use some no-nos in their preparation. Well, they're no-nos to most snobs, but it works for them.

1) Myron Mixon (greatest BBQ competition winner ever) uses lighter fluid to start his wood/coals. He said the people who say it's wrong can go **** themselves... I'll beat your ass doing it.

2) Johnny Trigg (several wins on the national stage) uses two commercially available BBQ sauces mixed with honey for his sauce.

3) It's not the cheap cuts of brisket that matter, Kobe brisket is popular among the big boys.

4) More when I find out more.

5) Edit: Pellet smokers seem to be doing well even though they're scoffed at in competitions.

We have a wood pellet at work. It works well for maintaining a good consant temp without the fuss. However I don't think it add enough of that smokey flavor.

BTW I have always foiled and wrapped in towels and dropped in the cooler whatever meat I cooked on the Q after I have gotten my Internal Temp to the desired final temperature. That is my resting period. IMHO the meats just a bit more tender and juicier that way.

As far as the fast brisket method I have heard Myron Mixon say he does it that way. I would like to learn how to do it.

[KCUnited]

I did a couple high heat briskets over the Summer/Fall, cooked at 325+. It was certainly convenient enough for spontaneous cookouts, and I felt the meat was tender enough, but cooking with foil killed the dry rub I would use on a low and slow. Quality of the bark was undesirable.

I'll definitely keep doing them every now and again for the convenience, I'll probably experiment with a wet rub next go around.

[Great Expectations]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I did a couple high heat briskets over the Summer/Fall, cooked at 325+. It was certainly convenient enough for spontaneous cookouts, and I felt the meat was tender enough, but cooking with foil killed the dry rub I would use on a low and slow. Quality of the bark was undesirable.

I'll definitely keep doing them every now and again for the convenience, I'll probably experiment with a wet rub next go around.

This is my exact experience with it as well. Next time I'm going to do this method after work on a Friday, cool the meat in the fridge overnight and then re-smoke it on Saturday low and slow to make a new version of burnt ends.

[talastan]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I did a couple high heat briskets over the Summer/Fall, cooked at 325+. It was certainly convenient enough for spontaneous cookouts, and I felt the meat was tender enough, but cooking with foil killed the dry rub I would use on a low and slow. Quality of the bark was undesirable.

I'll definitely keep doing them every now and again for the convenience, I'll probably experiment with a wet rub next go around.

I'm still new to the smoking BBQ experience. What is the difference between a wet rub and a dry rub? Is it just ingredients or the process?

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by talastan

I'm still new to the smoking BBQ experience. What is the difference between a wet rub and a dry rub? Is it just ingredients or the process?

It's basically adding a liquid to your dry rub to create a paste. Like a combo of a dry rub and a marinade.

My dry rub becomes watery and bland when I cook a brisket at high heat due to the foiling process. I've heard some claim that a wet rub will bark up better during a high heat cook, but I've yet to try it.