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Brisket and your Rub (For the Funky Only)

barbefunkoramaque said:
I have ranted, bitched and moaned about how I felt brisket had gotten away from itself in competitions as more and more competitions started. I have receive some conmsternation due to my style and methods of getting it across.

Well I will say this.... this simple style.... this old school style that was a throw back to the days when only texans did briskets in competitions (or the neighboring states) well....

NO I HAVE TO GET FUNKY AGAIN...

I told Bigmista this once a while ago. Its 1982 and the Funky Sound was high in Hornz... you know... seawind horns with Micheal Jackson and the Off the Wall Album, Earth Wind and Fire, all them cats... along comes PRINCE... all the sounds of hornz are replaced by SYNTHS.... he made that sound and Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Janet Jackson all copied that sound....People ate 1999 Album era up. When he was recording When Doves Cry Agents of Warner Brother's said... you got to have a strong bassline in Black Radio. He NIXED the bass in the entire song......... BAMN Platinum!

Then when that got tired he switched to live hornz.... Sexy MF, Willing and Able, Samples even in Gett Off were hornz.

fast forward... today... all we get is prepackaged pop of people that can't even sang and hip hop with a techno sound (stealing from Prince's old licks)

Along comes Prince with a new Band, Horns and all, once again as funky but short of synths. 2004 he had the biggest grossing tour that year, even beat out Madona at around 95 million. In 2008 he played 21 Nights in London's O2 Arena, selling out 20,000 tickets each night in the same damn town. Best selling tour with NO RADIO HITS making the entire Recording Industry Irrelevant in one full swoop.

And if you think my logic only applies to the funk... what do you think Garth Brooks is gonna do when he is good and ready?

So... back to BBQ. Judges do get tired of tasting the same thing over and over, EVEN IF ITS PERFECT LOLOLOLOL, but now that so much about the brisket has been OVERTWEAKED for them.... the old basic Funk, that James Brown Vibe, Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson will seem like its pushing the envelope.
Click to expand...


What I take away from this is that competition BBQ is schizophrenic.

Here goes... BBQ has an initial accepted, conservative definition. The envelope is then pushed by some who refuse to be defined by convention (Prince), which is received with great acceptance, except for the purists (Industry).

Here's where I get confused...Does the new guard (Prince) become the old guard (Prince 2.0) by going back to the original convention once proving that the new convention worked? Or once the envelope bursts because of unskilled cooks seeking glory instead of purity (Prince Thieves) polluting the air with continual over tweaking, the purist (Ray Charles) is back in vogue? Or is it both. I was kind of lost on the innovation of Prince and then the stripping away all of the new innovations to take it back.

If either are true, then the only relevant standard in BBQ is what tickles the tongue "Right Now". If the old school "sound" is what is hip, then that is what you roll with. When that sound becomes passe, then you better start innovating (tweaking). At some point the tweaking also becomes passe and what was old is now new again.

Looking back through the history of KCBS comp BBQ (the only history I'm really versed in) there are many signs o the times (Did you see what I did there?) that had their day, but were more a flash in the pan.

Here's what I think... for what it is worth. Good is good. Complex and simple can both be good and work at a competition. You catch the timing right with either direction and you could walk away a hero. It is like an artist who was either ahead of their time... or behind. A strong foundation of your craft is key whether you are a pitmaster or a funkmaster. I'll be doing a S&P brisket soon to exercise my skills and bring it back.
 
Another thought in reflecting on your metaphor is that tweaking has only destroyed BBQ and Music by those who don't understand where the roots are and where they are taking their art. The evil is not the act of tweaking itself, but in its wreck less use.
 
Plowboy said:
Another thought in reflecting on your metaphor is that tweaking has only destroyed BBQ and Music by those who don't understand where the roots are and where they are taking their art. The evil is not the act of tweaking itself, but in its wreck less use.
Click to expand...

and that, I believe is where I was heading. :frown:
 
Seriously, no fooling. Probably the best essay I have read on this in quite a while. I wish I had room for this first sentence in my signature. Brilliant what you took away from this. Its both one and both. Like Miles David said about Prince can be applied to BBQ.... he is neither girl or boy, but both Bytch and Pimp rolled up into one. That's why I named James Brown and Little Richard as Brown and White Sugar repectively.

Plowboy, genius. Truly and intellectual angle.


Plowboy said:
What I take away from this is that competition BBQ is schizophrenic.

Here goes... BBQ has an initial accepted, conservative definition. The envelope is then pushed by some who refuse to be defined by convention (Prince), which is received with great acceptance, except for the purists (Industry).

Here's where I get confused...Does the new guard (Prince) become the old guard (Prince 2.0) by going back to the original convention once proving that the new convention worked? Or once the envelope bursts because of unskilled cooks seeking glory instead of purity (Prince Thieves) polluting the air with continual over tweaking, the purist (Ray Charles) is back in vogue? Or is it both. I was kind of lost on the innovation of Prince and then the stripping away all of the new innovations to take it back.

If either are true, then the only relevant standard in BBQ is what tickles the tongue "Right Now". If the old school "sound" is what is hip, then that is what you roll with. When that sound becomes passe, then you better start innovating (tweaking). At some point the tweaking also becomes passe and what was old is now new again.

Looking back through the history of KCBS comp BBQ (the only history I'm really versed in) there are many signs o the times (Did you see what I did there?) that had their day, but were more a flash in the pan.

Here's what I think... for what it is worth. Good is good. Complex and simple can both be good and work at a competition. You catch the timing right with either direction and you could walk away a hero. It is like an artist who was either ahead of their time... or behind. A strong foundation of your craft is key whether you are a pitmaster or a funkmaster. I'll be doing a S&P brisket soon to exercise my skills and bring it back.
Click to expand...
 
Exactly. A Mistake all of us have made and might make. I left a highly successful BBQ competition team when I moved from Texas long ago to Tennesee. In the early 90's I was lost... no competitions even had Brisket round here. But I had a background in Kreuz, Angelos, even Walter Jetton Family. But what did I do... in my zeal to try and make my own path I ended up lost. I am about to cook 30 Briskets for an organization. It is STILL hard to forgo my Butt Glitter Sprinkle for ego's sake. But every time I reduce the complexity and stick within that salt and pepper range (plus I am hot and fast) everyone thinks I have done something special. And really I haven't... or have I?

So in essence... even those that understand the Funk, or George Jones can end up lost by tweaking too much.

Plowboy said:
Another thought in reflecting on your metaphor is that tweaking has only destroyed BBQ and Music by those who don't understand where the roots are and where they are taking their art. The evil is not the act of tweaking itself, but in its wreck less use.
Click to expand...
 
Tomorrow I'm slammin down the brisket so I need to start this riff at the top again.
 
barbefunkoramaque said:
Plowboy, genius. Truly and intellectual angle.
Click to expand...

I'm just amazed I understood what the hell you were talking about. :eek: Once I did, it was the food science theory that really got me thinking about how I treat brisket. At first I was like, "WTF is this?". But seriously... thanks for the thread.
 
Good stuff guys. I even understood most of the original post and then all of it when Plowboy wrote his. Even as just a backyard guy with buddies that think my Q is great I still miss the basic stuff I grew up with in KC but I did not know I was missin' it at all. Now I gotta get a briskie and give the basic funk a try.
 
Me thinks the basic funk is how I want to do my first ever brisky... gots to go grocery shopping.
 
Best flat I ever did...thanks Funk! :p

IMG_6762.jpg
 
My problem is I click on a link, and then I have to click through to 10 or 12 others to get some great funk/soul rollin....then by the time I am done listening, well, the brisket is out for that day ;)

But great thread, it is all about the funk. So I suggest you just feel the funk, and your brisket will too...Feel the Funk

or...Ah get born, keep warm. Short pants, romance, learn to dance. Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success Please her, please him, buy gifts - Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin' And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals Try to avoid the scandals
 
Next up, Grand Master Funk will cast vision of the perfect pork shoulder using the rise and fall of Russian civilization.
 
A ton of great advice and insight contained in this thread.
Looking forward to the Pork Butt/Russian thing.

Weiser
 
I learned the tri-level rub from Funkmaster South. I made a tweak of necessity (what I had available) and now I am making some of the best brisket I have ever done.

(And thanks to tony zipcode for his timely advice also.) Ain't salt grand?
 
I'm worried about to much salt, momma don't care for it much. Should I be concerned?
 
Thanks guys just seasoned it and fired up Half Pint.
 
HoDeDo said:
My problem is I click on a link, and then I have to click through to 10 or 12 others to get some great funk/soul rollin....then by the time I am done listening, well, the brisket is out for that day ;)

But great thread, it is all about the funk. So I suggest you just feel the funk, and your brisket will too...Feel the Funk

or...Ah get born, keep warm. Short pants, romance, learn to dance. Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success Please her, please him, buy gifts - Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin' And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals Try to avoid the scandals
Click to expand...


and it don't take a weathervane to know which way the wind blows:-D
 
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