Man, do I need brisket camp!

Thatgrimguy

I went out on the comp trail again this weekend. We are still just getting our feet wet while we await the arrival of my trailered offset from Shirley Fabrication.

I had my best showing and worst showing all in one.
I made $500! Got 4th in Ribs and 4th in Butt!!

But... I got damn near dead ass last in brisket. (I was 2nd to last  )
We are cooking on UDS while we wait on the smoker trailer (too much trouble to drag my XL out for comps once/twice a month)  So, for Brisket fest this weekend I order a Snake River Farms Wagyu brisket and I'm bringing my UDS and hopefully will figure out all that went wrong.  The worst thing is, just one weekend prior I made the best brisket I have ever eaten.

I know one thing that went wrong was the cut. It was a super thin, pre trimmed choice brisket that looked like a flat but was marketed as a whole brisket. (my partner said he would have us a prime packer but he fell through) The other thing was the injection. I used too concentrated of a mix and I think it was a mix of the wrong stuff. So I ordered some "butcher's Prime" injection. My last critique was on the wood. I think we loaded the UDS with too large of splits and they smoldered. I'm going back to using chunks. (My partner was convinced using whole splits was the way to go, I now believe I was right and they aren't able to combust and instead just smolder)


See ya'll this weekend!

lousubcap

Congrats on the showing for all but the cow.  Sounds like you have nailed the major factors, and I would bet the cut of brisket was the largest contributor.  Bringing SRF to brisket camp will definitely skew the entering argument.  Hard to recreate your comp cook with SRF as the star.  But there will be great eating all-around.

BTW-nice set-up you have and enjoy the camp.  Sounds like it will be quite a party.

Thatgrimguy

You're right @lousubcap... I think I will actually bring both of my UDS and get another one of those choice pretrimmed things from the same store and see what happens then.  Do the wagyu in one and the choice in the other and prep them exactly the same.

nolaegghead

Congrats on the non-brisket stuff....we'll get you dialed in.  Scott, is your bread-makin' buddy gonna be there? 

DMW

Wait, we're actually going to cook while we're there?  

Thatgrimguy

nolaegghead said:

Congrats on the non-brisket stuff....we'll get you dialed in.  Scott, is your bread-makin' buddy gonna be there? 

Yeah, we are going to throw some ciabatta. (well it's not really ciabatta it's our creation that is more sourdough than ciabatta)

Thatgrimguy

nolaegghead said:

Congrats on the non-brisket stuff....we'll get you dialed in.  Scott, is your bread-makin' buddy gonna be there? 

Will we have a commercial oven to work with?  Otherwise I'm throwing tiny loaves on my small egg.

nolaegghead

We don't have a city gas hookup but we could probably rig propane up to one of these...regulate the pressure down to make up for the increased BTU overy natural gas.

Or we could use the oven at my house which is 100 yards away.

Ladeback69

@Thatgrimguy, glad to  hear you made some money and it sounds like you found some things to change that may improve for a better outcome.  Sounds like the deck was stacked against you on the brisket, because you couldn't get the cut you wanted.  I take it you were hoping for at least a prime one with good marbleizing.  I have been helping my brother in law's brother do some contest and he uses plain Kingsford or Competition Kingsford for his main fuel and a few chunks of his wood of choice for smoke flavor in his UDS.  He uses his to cook his chicken mostly.  Did you use lump with the splits of wood?  I think you are right about it smoldering.  Wish I was coming to brisket camp, but I am doing some cooking for one of my wife work outings.  I will be cooking brisket by the way.  

My brother in law was 14th out of 38 in one contest I helped him in and it tasted great to me, but it's judges choice and who knows how good their taste buds are.  He also won Grand Reserve Champion at the Jesse James Festival.   I helped him at the American Royal last weekend and he finished 311 out of 608 for his first time.  That was fun and quite an experience.  Looks like you had fun and did you recoup your entry fee and more?

Good Luck on the next contest.

Thatgrimguy

All good, we will make it work. 

Dondgc

nolaegghead said:

We don't have a city gas hookup but we could probably rig propane up to one of these...regulate the pressure down to make up for the increased BTU overy natural gas.

Or we could use the oven at my house which is 100 yards away.

You may want to run that one by the attorneys ahead of time

Thatgrimguy

@Ladeback69  

We broke even on the weekend! Covered all food costs and entry fees! And if I had just done as well on brisket as Chicken (which was still 21/26) I would have been in 8th overall! Oh well.

For future comps we are going to use the competition briskets from Snake River Farms, when ordering at least 4 you get them for $89 and hopefully they will be a good median between price and value.

As far as loading up the UDS we filled about 1/3 with lump, threw in a fireplace sized split and then filled up the rest of the basket with lump.  It was definitely not the thing to do. I'm going to try Briquettes and definitely going to just under fist sized chunks like I have always done.

blasting

@Thatgrimguy   congrats on the competition - sounds like you know what you want to do next time on the briski.   Here's hoping things turn out the way you want next time.

NPHuskerFL

Congrats on the Comps!  I'm certain you'll pick up some good pointers at camp. 

caliking

@thatgrimguy I really think a UDS works best with briqs.  No shame in that.  Plenty of people turn out great grub that way.  I personally prefer Stubbs or Kroger briqs in a UDS . You just have to kick the basket at some point to shake the ash off. 

SGH

Thatgrimguy said:

Yeah, we are going to throw some ciabatta. (well it's not really ciabatta it's our creation that is more sourdough than ciabatta)

Whatever it is called, it is f'ing incredible!! Best bread that i have ever ate. And congradulations on the comp brother.

SGH

Your title says, "Man, do i need brisket camp!". I feel your pain brother Grim. I rolled into the Kodiak Deepwater Project on 8-2-15 and have had only one night off since. These long hours have really about got the best of me. I need a few days of just sitting back cooking and relaxing. Im getting to old for 12-16 hour nights. If the Brisket Gods are kind, Brisket Camp will be a much needed and long over due break for me. 

byrne092

Congrats on the comp placing! The cow might have been a chick fil a activist.