Need Help with my brisket and ribs for comp

[TEAM PIG IRON]

Our contest season is over for my new team ... Team Pig Iorn did well I think for our first 3 contests... But Im not real happy with where we placed for brisket and ribs I Made the best Ive ever made and we placed low... I'm looking to move my "back yard ribs and brisket to the next level... Ive taken 1 class on competition bbq and used what i learned to take a first place in chicken and my pork im turning out is not bad... BUT i cant seem to do what i need to do for the other two... Team Pig Iron wants some Holla's next year ... so My brisket I injected with beef broth and fab a lite... and gotta tell ya it was moist and done about right... flavor to me was really good... but it is not what judges where looking for my buddys turned in a brisket that was dryer than mine and got a call... look Ive got ALOT OF QUESTINS and im really new to forum Im not really sure where to begin ... I even have box questions and garnish questions... I've spent time here reading and you can look forever and not have specific questions answered... with that said I do need to say that I have been bbq'ing for 15 years and learned alot in the past 2 years... the team is me and my wife and kids we love doing it... but its time to move to the NEXT LEVEL please help ... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE

[TEAM PIG IRON]

I realized i never mentioned the ribs... I trimmed the heavy fat and picked the ends off the bones ( the loose piece on baby backs) also bled them next to bone... they where good eating for a back yard but again not what judges where looking for... we are from niagara falls ny and well we go with a sweet and little heat in sauce for everything... i use the same sauce and rub on my chicken pork and ribs the brisket is just salt pepper garlic powder i did not sauce that

[Sledneck]

Originally Posted by TEAM PIG IRON

I realized i never mentioned the ribs... I trimmed the heavy fat and picked the ends off the bones ( the loose piece on baby backs) also bled them next to bone... they where good eating for a back yard but again not what judges where looking for... we are from niagara falls ny and well we go with a sweet and little heat in sauce for everything... i use the same sauce and rub on my chicken pork and ribs the brisket is just salt pepper garlic powder i did not sauce that

ribs: slabs.com amazing glaze

brisket: aujus from brisket foil mixed with a-1 sauce

[Smokin' Gnome BBQ]

Originally Posted by Sledneck

ribs: slabs.com amazing glaze

brisket: aujus from brisket foil mixed with a-1 sauce

sounds like a winner..thanks for sharing..

[boogiesnap]

for me, in my 1st 2 KCBS comps i made it more difficult than it needed to be. i tried to be too "expert". making my own rubs, sauces, cooking a couple categories hotNfast sunday morning, etc. i did OK, but middle of the pack overall.

i then, for 4 months straight, went to the basics. almost "standards" if you will, for lack of a better word. i cooked chicken twice a week, ribs at least once a week, etc.

after that, next comp i did pretty well.

use spares instead of BB. use a commercial rub. sauce with BHO and TR. wrap with some sugar, butter, whatever.

after you can nail the tenderness at will, tweak the flavor profile with minor additions and subtractions.

brisket? ask lakeside smokers, cuz i don't farkin' know.

[TEAM PIG IRON]

What is BHO and TR? ty so far. My chicken im pretty comfortable with and pork im ok with but man Ill be damned if i cant cook a rib... and brisket well i honestly thought it was ok... well let me ask this ribs WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THEY LOOKING FOR...I cooked my ass off and they came in 47th out of 58... same with brisket... my ribs and chicken came in 20th... and i was genuinely happy... it was my 3rd contest ever and we went up against 50 well seasoned teams...

[DickQ]

Wagyu Brisket. I've had a call everytime i use one

[boogiesnap]

blues hog original and tenessee red.

[CBQ]

What temp are you cooking the brisket at? When did you foil? When did you take it out? How long did it rest? How did you check for doneness? I have found this stuff makes a bigger difference than the recipe.

[Willie's Smokehouse]

As far as ribs, make them to where you think they are too sweet, and thats what the judges like!!

[lcbbq]

I am pretty new at this as well but I have learned so much from this link below. It's an older article but I think alot still holds true today. I will be entering my third contest this weekend and hope to see some improvement in my awful brisket performance. I will be using a lot of the tips mentioned in the link. Anxious to see how I do.

http://www.bbqbug.com/forums/bbq-con...n-brisket.html

[mwert]

For brisket, I would recommend researching two people, Paul Kirk and Smokey Hale. I have nothing against foiling briskets if you can make it work for you, but since learning to cook briskets without foil I've gotten two 2nd place calls in two contests.
With ribs, try to find fatty spares and trim them to saint louis style cut and think sweet. i.e. brown sugar, honey, apple juice etc. Also research, Johnny Trigg.

And , I'll second the "award winning competition threads" in the pickled pig forum. Very informative.

[TEAM PIG IRON]

Thank you all **** very much... I appreciate all advice

[mobow]

what is your chicken process? keith

[Outnumbered]

Although I didn't get a call, your experience sounds amazingly similar to mine. 15 years in the backyard and I did my first competition last month. My chicken was 16th and pork was 11th of 53 teams. My brisket was Ok, but not great. My ribs were among the best I ever cooked, I thought anyway. The judges didn't think so, however and I was very near the bottom in both of those.

Good luck with it. I'm even more inspired to go back and try again.