Need Help Before My First KCBS Contest on October 1st...

rjoyer

So, I've had my Large BGE now for a little less than a month, and totally LOVE it.  A close friend of mine has talked me into doing a KCBS event in Placerville CA in a little less than 2 weeks, which I am very excited for.  He will be doing the ribs and chicken in his barrels, and we've decided that I'll do the brisket and butt in my egg.  I've done a few butts already, with this last weekend's batch being a total success...though I've yet to tackle a brisket.

Now I've read numerous posts on here of people getting successful results when doing both a butt and a brisket at the same time, which relieved me a bit.  However, I'm hoping to solicit some tips/tricks from the group prior to showing up with the "Big Boys"....so please let me know if you think I'm forgetting anything, or if you'd suggest I do something different, acknowleging the fact that I'll be doing the brisket and butt together, at the same time, in a competition setting.  Thanks in advance for the help!

Clean out the Egg and stack lump a la Elder Ward's suggestions
Light fire and place 1 fist-sized chunk of apple wood in the middle
Insert place setter (inverted), drip pan, grate and grate extender and stabilize the Egg's temp at ~250*
Season the meats as desired
Place the brisket, fat side up/down (depending on which camp you're in) on the lower grate, and the butt directly over it on the upper grate
Insert temp probes into both hunks of beefy/porky goodness
Smoke until the brisket reaches 202* and the butt hits 195*
Remove, double-wrap in HDAF, then towels and toss into cooler until ready to slice/pull and serve
Celebrate with numerous frothy, adult beverages and hope I don't come in last place

Shawn

Use kosmo-Q presoak and injection for pork and brisket!

4Runner

Good luck.

ChokeOnSmoke

Sounds like you have a pretty good plan.
The only things I'd add would be:

1.)  If you haven't cooked any/many briskets before, make sure you know the direction of the grain BEFORE you put the brisket on.  I always cut a couple inch size chuck off the corner so I know which way to cut the brisket "across the grain" when the time comes.  It's hard to tell after you have it off and it looks like a "meteorite".

2.) Don't skimp on the amount of time you spend preparing your turn-in boxes.  It's the easiest way to ensure you get maximum presentation points.

4Runner

Nice suggestions COS.

 

and please post pictures.....lots of pictures!

Squeezy

Nice suggestions COS.

 

and please post pictures.....lots of pictures!

Apparently that didn't happen ....  ~:>

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Your first time against the big boys of BBQ can be brutal. While competition BBQ is a lot of fun, it will put you  in your place really fast. LOL