Burnt end and slices question

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Smoke&HoneyBBQ

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Doing our second tournament and our brisket score sucked ass on our first competition. 95% of that was on me but it got me thinking about the flavor score.

We used our day to day beef rub which is very simple but a house hit (zero sugar).

The question I have comes around burnt end. When we do them at home we toss them in BBQ sauce and back on the smoker. They are a treat for those who show up before dinner to have a few beers.

The slices do not have any sauce on them.

Are we screwing ourselves by including burnt ends that are sauced and slices that are not or does it go down to it is a total crap shoot any weekend and quit over analyzing and open another beer?
 
I have come to the conclusion that even though there are defined standards each judge has a different opinion on how BBQ should look, taste and feel. Sauce is one of those gray areas that can either help or hurt but that depends on which table your box lands on that day. If you want to be conservative, leave the sauce alone. If you want to gamble a little bit, hit it with some sauce. Be careful how thick the sauce is because that's another one of those areas where a variety of opinions could hurt you.
 
That is how I would do them. Sauce the ends not the slices. Keith
 
I started scoring a lot better when I quit putting burnt ends in. I live 20 miles south of you. I'm practicing ck n ribs this Saturday. Your welcome to drop down if ya want to talk comp Q n have a few libations. I don't keep to many secrets.
 
I am of the opinion that the second you cut that brisket it starts to dry out on you. Once you box it and send it on its way there could be as much as 30 minutes before a judge sees it.
I might suggest that you play with sauce thinned with some of the drippings and let it sit 15 to 20 minutes and see what the slices looks like.
 
INmitch said:
I started scoring a lot better when I quit putting burnt ends in. I live 20 miles south of you. I'm practicing ck n ribs this Saturday. Your welcome to drop down if ya want to talk comp Q n have a few libations. I don't keep to many secrets.
Click to expand...

Sweet!!

I would love to but we have a gig on Saturday so we are going to be at a house near me sitting around doing nothing.

However; we normally have the smoker or a grill going every weekend and have a 6 tap kegerator if you are thirsty and up in the area.

Are you doing the Plymouth or Franklin competition?
 
DriverWild said:
I have come to the conclusion that even though there are defined standards each judge has a different opinion on how BBQ should look, taste and feel. Sauce is one of those gray areas that can either help or hurt but that depends on which table your box lands on that day. If you want to be conservative, leave the sauce alone. If you want to gamble a little bit, hit it with some sauce. Be careful how thick the sauce is because that's another one of those areas where a variety of opinions could hurt you.
Click to expand...

Sweet I am running a trial brisket this weekend so on the trial I will play aorund a little bit. Maybe some of the juices mixed in with the sauce. Foil pans are cheap and I will have a lot of guinea pigs.

mobow said:
That is how I would do them. Sauce the ends not the slices. Keith
Click to expand...

Cool.

John Bowen said:
I am of the opinion that the second you cut that brisket it starts to dry out on you. Once you box it and send it on its way there could be as much as 30 minutes before a judge sees it.
I might suggest that you play with sauce thinned with some of the drippings and let it sit 15 to 20 minutes and see what the slices looks like.
Click to expand...

Good to know.

First comp we were very good about not slicing anything until we knew it was damn near time to start running.
 
I think you are doing yourself a large disservice if you do not at least but some Au Jus on your brisket.
 
Smoke&HoneyBBQ said:
Are we screwing ourselves by including burnt ends that are sauced and slices that are not or does it go down to it is a total crap shoot any weekend and quit over analyzing and open another beer?
Click to expand...
The answer is "no". The problem is if the BE is not equal to or better than the slice.

Last year I judged 22 contests and competed in 4. This year I will have judged 10 and competed in 12.

This past Sunday I judged and the last brisket box had slices and BE's. Looked great. I think I gave it an 8 or 9 in appearance. Tried the slice....it was EXCELLENT, both in taste and tenderness. The BE was hard, tough, and dry and had a strange taste. If the cook had left the BE out of the box he most likely would have gotten tripe 9's from me.

So, this is the extreme, but it proves a point. Why put it in the box?

Same goes for pork...money muscle and chunks are VERY GOOD but pulled is not. It will hurt your score.

So maybe it is the sauce that is turning off the judges. Try leaving them out and see.

Now...have another beer. :wink:
 
INmitch said:
I started scoring a lot better when I quit putting burnt ends in. I live 20 miles south of you. I'm practicing ck n ribs this Saturday. Your welcome to drop down if ya want to talk comp Q n have a few libations. I don't keep to many secrets.
Click to expand...

Jan, your burnt ends kick ass!!.. I can't imagine a time you don't want to box them up.
 
Podge said:
Jan, your burnt ends kick ass!!.. I can't imagine a time you don't want to box them up.
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Haha! I remember that day n the look on your face..........'I thought I was the only one around here still using HC......what else did you put in there'..........THAT'S when I knew I better figure somthin out.:roll:
 
Uncle Buds BBQ said:
The answer is "no". The problem is if the BE is not equal to or better than the slice.

Last year I judged 22 contests and competed in 4. This year I will have judged 10 and competed in 12.

This past Sunday I judged and the last brisket box had slices and BE's. Looked great. I think I gave it an 8 or 9 in appearance. Tried the slice....it was EXCELLENT, both in taste and tenderness. The BE was hard, tough, and dry and had a strange taste. If the cook had left the BE out of the box he most likely would have gotten tripe 9's from me.

So, this is the extreme, but it proves a point. Why put it in the box?

Same goes for pork...money muscle and chunks are VERY GOOD but pulled is not. It will hurt your score.

So maybe it is the sauce that is turning off the judges. Try leaving them out and see.

Now...have another beer. :wink:
Click to expand...

No pull? Maybe that's been my issue with pork, hmmmm.....
 
sdbbq1234 said:
Heck, I might make the drive for that! :mrgreen:

wallace
Click to expand...

Perfect. I will PM you my number so we can try and meet up. I am usually near that are since I have relatives in Ossian and we camp in Bluffton a lot.

indianagriller said:
As with Jan when we went to slices only our scores went up. Feel free to sto by at a comp and talk.
Click to expand...

Definitely will! First comp we were more focused on everything that we never really ventured far from our ez up. This one we have a couple more friends with us and are a lot more relaxed. Heck doing a surf and turf Friday night if anyone is hungry.

Sawdustguy said:
I think you are doing yourself a large disservice if you do not at least but some Au Jus on your brisket.
Click to expand...

Dip the slices in?

Uncle Buds BBQ said:
The answer is "no". The problem is if the BE is not equal to or better than the slice.

Last year I judged 22 contests and competed in 4. This year I will have judged 10 and competed in 12.

This past Sunday I judged and the last brisket box had slices and BE's. Looked great. I think I gave it an 8 or 9 in appearance. Tried the slice....it was EXCELLENT, both in taste and tenderness. The BE was hard, tough, and dry and had a strange taste. If the cook had left the BE out of the box he most likely would have gotten tripe 9's from me.

So, this is the extreme, but it proves a point. Why put it in the box?

Same goes for pork...money muscle and chunks are VERY GOOD but pulled is not. It will hurt your score.

So maybe it is the sauce that is turning off the judges. Try leaving them out and see.

Now...have another beer. :wink:
Click to expand...

Make sense. The good thing was our burnt ends were way better than our slices. I knew the slices were overcooked and dried because I hosed up big time. If I could have gotten away with only doing burnt ends I probably would have.

When you say chunks do you have a picture representation of what you are saying? Our pork scores were not bad but I am always looking for way to improve. Unfortunately I do not have any pics of our turn ins.
 
A box with Money muscle, pulled and chunks

100_0594_zps0398980a.jpg
 
INmitch said:
I started scoring a lot better when I quit putting burnt ends in. I live 20 miles south of you. I'm practicing ck n ribs this Saturday. Your welcome to drop down if ya want to talk comp Q n have a few libations. I don't keep to many secrets.
Click to expand...

I'm on my way. Even at $4.00 a gallon, I like people that don't have an secrets!
 
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