A Beginners Guide to Competition Brisket
by Nathan Dexter of Grey Street BBQ
Brisket; despised by many on the BBQ Competition trail and intimidating to lots of backyard cooks. If you are one of these cooks, no worries, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, a very delicious light!
First and mos
t obvious task…buying the brisket. Don’t waste your money on the high end Wagyu briskets until you have mastered a cheaper brisket. Although we compete with Waygu, we still practice with choice grade. Trim your brisket to your preference; YouTube is a great reference for different techniques. There are numerous methods for trimming at home as well as for competitions.
The next important step in the process is choosing the best injection, marinade, rub, and sauce. Inject with the injection of your choice (if you inject at all), and apply the rub(s) of your choice. You can do a simple salt and pepper or a single brisket rub. Many cooks will even layer several different rubs to achieve their desired flavor profile. Keep it simple at first.
Now is the time for you the cook to decide when the brisket is perfectly cooked. Simply insert your Thermapen or temperature probe down into the brisket flat. You want the brisket to “probe like butter.” If the brisket has resistance or has a rubbery feel to it, keep cookin’! Again, there is no magic number. We have had briskets probe tender at 195 and others at 215. If you cook your brisket right, you have already won the big battle.
Once the brisket is done let it rest and open your foil so it does not continue to cook. We vent our briskets until we can no longer see steam coming off them which ensures the cooking process has stopped. Seal the foil back up and put in the Cambro until its ready to be sliced.
At this point, you should have a perfectly cooked brisket. Remove from the foil and slice against the grain of the meat. You can sauce your brisket if you prefer and/or dip in or brush with au jus that has collected in the foil.
Keep practicing and experimenting with different flavor profiles and you will be getting your name called at competitions and eating well at home in no time! Click here and follow Grey Street BBQ for more great tips, recipes, and the occasional giveaway!
