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[MooChewSooey]

We are a husband/wife team, and we both took the CBJ class but haven't judged a contest yet. We learned in the class all about the brisket pull test. Taste and appearance aside, we have cooked every brisket so far to what we thought was a great "pull". But we get the feeling that judges think that might not be quite done enough. The same goes for our ribs. When we have the perfect bite mark left, judges usually score it as not tender enough. Is everyone out there adhering to the recommended pull test/bite mark rule, or do you think that judges want their brisket/pork ribs a little more done than even KCBS recommends?

[Gadragonfly]

We are a husband/wife team, and we both took the CBJ class but haven't judged a contest yet. We learned in the class all about the brisket pull test. Taste and appearance aside, we have cooked every brisket so far to what we thought was a great "pull". But we get the feeling that judges think that might not be quite done enough. The same goes for our ribs. When we have the perfect bite mark left, judges usually score it as not tender enough. Is everyone out there adhering to the recommended pull test/bite mark rule, or do you think that judges want their brisket/pork ribs a little more done than even KCBS recommends?

Are you certain that the judges are scoring down because "your brisket is not quite done enough or your ribs not tender enough"? Did they provide you with that exact comment? Could the meat be dry or tough or chewy? The pull test is one of the ways - not the definitive method to test for tenderness in brisket. How far off are your scores?

Julie
MCBJ/CTC

[Lake Dogs]

Also know that what comes across the table has had 10-30 minutes to cool; the cooler the meat the more firm. If it were perfectly bite-through hot and at your camp site, the odds are that it'll toughen up a tad when in the clamshell for some time.