el crapo brisket taste scores

boogiesnap

boogiesnap

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i buy from restaurant depot. choice or their angus. look for marbling, grain, and flex. age in fridge @ 30 days. good stuff.

trim well. remove alot of fat so turn in isn't fatty, but not too much to lose all the flavor. good stuff.

inject with kosmos. good stuff.

rub with a bit of lawrys. then some beef spices(the usual suspects, fresh BP, fresh chili powder, garlic powder, etc., etc.) and some atlantic sea salt. not too much, not too little. good stuff.

use bbq'rs delight smoke stix. automatic sweet blue. cherry and some hickory. pecan from time to time. good stuff.

wrap and rest for a few hours. slice and dredge in pan/foil drippings(if not bitter) with a bit of sauce added. good stuff.

but my taste scores are terrible.

what am i missing?
 
Did you pay people to judges with tastes that ar the same as yours? If you didn't, it's still a crapshoot.
 
Taste is so hard to judge, perhaps there is some conflict in the seasonings, or perhaps between the smoke and the seasonings. Perhaps get a few fellow competitors or women together to taste test. I find that women are the best taste testers, they seem to taste more flavors and a wider range.
 
Yep, same here. If taste scores are the problem, start changing one thing at a time and see what happens. Too often, you change multiple things and then you have no clue what was good or bad. Just opinion bro.
 
landarc said:
Taste is so hard to judge, perhaps there is some conflict in the seasonings, or perhaps between the smoke and the seasonings. Perhaps get a few fellow competitors or women together to taste test. I find that women are the best taste testers, they seem to taste more flavors and a wider range.
Click to expand...

i agree. but what from my process would conflict? it's pretty middle of the road, for comp judging standards. not too spicey, salty, sweet, smokey, yadda, yadda...
 
If you could attach a few slices of your brisket to this thread I would gladly tell you what you are doing wrong.
 
boogiesnap said:
inject with kosmos. good stuff.

rub with a bit of lawrys. then some beef spices(the usual suspects, fresh BP, fresh chili powder, garlic powder, etc., etc.) and some atlantic sea salt. not too much, not too little. good stuff.

use bbq'rs delight smoke stix. automatic sweet blue. cherry and some hickory. pecan from time to time. good stuff.
Click to expand...

For me there seems to be a lot of flavors going here for brisket. Try simplifying things and start from there.
 
huminie said:
If you could attach a few slices of your brisket to this thread I would gladly tell you what you are doing wrong.
Click to expand...

how bout telling us what you did different than that to get 3rd in sacramento!

nice job btw.
 
You notice that? Aww, shucks. Thanks!

My point was just to point out that taste is hard to critique over the interwebs.

I will say that my brisket was very basic and "beefy". I did a lot of the same things as you describe, but my flavors focused on enhancing the beef flavor rather than adding new flavors to the party. I did some aggressive trimming, my injection was very basic, my rubs were basic, with a top layer of something I can get locally that I am testing out and I did not sauce at all. Everything I did just built on the beef flavor.

Not sure if that helps, but it is what it is.
 
huminie said:
You notice that? Aww, shucks. Thanks!

My point was just to point out that taste is hard to critique over the interwebs.

I will say that my brisket was very basic and "beefy". I did a lot of the same things as you describe, but my flavors focused on enhancing the beef flavor rather than adding new flavors to the party. I did some aggressive trimming, my injection was very basic, my rubs were basic, with a top layer of something I can get locally that I am testing out and I did not sauce at all. Everything I did just built on the beef flavor.

Not sure if that helps, but it is what it is.
Click to expand...

yeah, congrats for sure.

not sure if you posted it here, but i follow BBQBUG.

well, i guess thats my point. if i wrote i slather in a wasabi mayo paste, well, that might be the problem...

but i don't. pretty basic. thus the querry...:-D
 
What are your tenderness scores? If it dries out in the box and on the paper, your taste scores are really going to suffer. I have changed nothing to my brisket but when my tenderness scores high, the taste is right there with it.
 
This is a tough one, boogiesnap -- and there are some good suggestions here already. I'll chime in with what I consider the important flavor elements:

1. Underlying beef flavor of the meat
2. Tinge of smokiness
3. Tang of rub and/or sauce

These three need to have a BALANCE with none of the three being a dominant flavor provider. Obviously these components need to be somewhat "middle of the road" for competition where you must please a broad range of palates.

When I judge a brisket entry and score one low for the taste attribute it is usually because the piece is bland or one of the taste elements above is out of whack and is about all I can detect.

I also find (as both a cook and a judge) that moisture is quite critical. Although this is a texture attribute, it "combines" into the judging experience. A dry, mealy often correlates to a low taste score because there is not as much to carry the flavors.

Good luck -- I hope you find the changes that will kick your scores up.
 
While components of your recipe may be "good stuff" in and of themselves, they may not be "good stuff" when combined with the other components. For example, banana pudding is good stuff, and chili is good stuff, but if I stirred a bunch of chili into my banana pudding, I don't think it would be good stuff.

If it were me, I'd switch to a commercial rub that has a tried and true track record, there are plenty to choose from, and start from there. No sense in reinventing the wheel.

...but that's just me.
 
My first thought was the "fresh chili powder". What kind of chili powder; what kind of chilies? I have found with some chili powders, the taste can have a bitter finish and totally ruin an otherwise great brisket. I have had issues with some chipotle chili powders, while others don't produce that note.
 
What you've mentioned is just the start...

1) Try adding some additional beef flavor into the liquid in your injection process. Consumme, beef broth, etc.
2) Make sure you're re-seasoning just before boxing too. Think beefy layers of flavor that blend well. Use your pan drippings as a base... if it's flavor is good. A last minute sprinkle of salt before boxing helps brighten all of the residual flavors that you've built up during the process.

Good luck! :thumb:
 
thanks everyone. great feedback!

i was thinking along those exact lines, but wasn't sure.

bovine bold and some beef stock!

thanks again!:thumb:
 
Capn Kev said:
What you've mentioned is just the start...

1) Try adding some additional beef flavor into the liquid in your injection process. Consumme, beef broth, etc.
2) Make sure you're re-seasoning just before boxing too. Think beefy layers of flavor that blend well. Use your pan drippings as a base... if it's flavor is good. A last minute sprinkle of salt before boxing helps brighten all of the residual flavors that you've built up during the process.

Good luck! :thumb:
Click to expand...

how bout a VERY light sprinkle of say...oh i dunno...Accent?
 
heres what i would do.

First.. Smoke Stix? in what cooker, and how much? those can be strong if you use to much. I would try with just fuel. (wood, lump, charcoal, whatever.. leave out the smokestick.

if thats not the issue, switch up the rub, either go commercial, or just try a salt/pepper/garlic.

and like they others have said, let someone else be your tasters. Give them a blind test. I did some significant changes over the winter. Used the family and a few neighbors to blind test the products. Went to a local BBQ joint, bought a lb each of brisket and pork.

Used that in the blind test. Not comparisons, but to make sure they were judging blind.

Thank god each time i scored higher, if I cant beat famous daves, im taking up baking.
 
thanks poobah.

it's a WSM.

i do try to keep smoke flavor on the lighter side. i use about 4 1 inch discs.
 
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