Practicing brisket recipe without brisket - probably sacrilege

[MeatStreet]

Tim,

I appreciate that. Do I have the time to compete? No. :)

But I make it. I do a couple of comps a year and my wife suffers for those two days. She also travels a great deal more than I do, so I spend much more time with the kids alone.

I'm not "neglecting" them in any sense. I spend most of my non-work hours with them. They're not golf or football orphans.

I like to bbq and I love competitions. I'm okay with spending my free time away from them for a couple of days out of the year. Keeps me sane.

Originally Posted by timzcardz

FWIW, I never wanted to compete, but did for several years.

Why? Because my teenage son wanted us to. When your teenage son WANTS to spend time with you, you take advantage of that. This was the story of our first comp: https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=53056

When my son was in college and doing summer internships my brother and I continued competing and my son would join us for a few hours. Haven't competed the last two years due to other things going on, and now my son has graduated college and is working 900 miles away in Atlanta. My competing days may be over.

This was a lead up to asking you a question, for your own personal thought.

With a wife and three very young children, and without even the time to practice brisket at home, are you sure that you have the time to compete?

Don't get me wrong. If your kids were a little older and wanted to do this and it was a family thing, that would be great! Without the free time to really get away from the family for 2 full days each competition, probably not so much.

Everyone has their own reasons, and each person should make sure that their reasons are what is best for them.

[eap0510]

Originally Posted by MikeJ65

Yes, cook time might be a little less, but you will still learn the right feel with the probe.

Are you wrapping? It might be possible to make jerky (tough and overcooked) if you don't wrap, but in foil a tight brisket simply needs more time. An overcooked brisket will fall apart when you try to slice, an undercooked one will have resistance to the probe. Some people misinterpret a tough brisket as being over, when it is actually still under.

Yes, I am wrapping with leftover injection in my foil pack. I just do not seem to have the feel for the correct tenderness. I am going to get a brisket cut it up into a couple of pieces and pull one when I think it is done and let the over cook another 15 or 30 minutes and see what happens.