La Barbecue Smoked Brisket

[m-fine]

Yep, kinda like there's nothing stock about the cars the race in NASCAR...

Yep. The best cars that an enthusiast driver would love to take on a road trip would suck in a NASCAR race, but no one in their right mind would want to drive a NASCAR stock car on a road trip let alone their daily commute. Except as a novelty maybe.

 

[LTG]

I have come to the conclusion that good BBQ and winning competition BBQ are mutually exclusive.

So you are not a competition cook.

 

[sudsandswine]

So you are not a competition cook.

Pfft...come on. Who really wants to eat a big ol plate of bbq that is injected to the nth degree with some hydrogenated salty mixture, with a thick candy coating of bbq sauce and honey and brown sugar and parkay "butter" and who knows what else, carefully trimmed to be exactly uniform in size and appearance, otherwise it goes in the trash?

Can competition BBQ be good? Sure. Can BBQ that wouldn't score well in a competition be delicious? Yes.

 

[m-fine]

So you are not a competition cook.

No, and not interested in ever becoming one. I cook for my enjoyment and others, not for awards, prizes, recognition or whatever it is that you get from competitions. I get why others compete, and I recognize the skill needed to consistently place well, but I have about the same desire to eat that kind of food as I do vegan BBQ.

 

[ChrisBarb]

PURELY HYPOTHETICAL question here...

If Franklin cooked his brisket and turned it in at a KCBS competition would he win?

Competition 'que has nothing to do with real life restaurant or home/patio cooking. So, who knows?

 

[WareZdaBeef]

Those are turkey slices.

Who did he have cook it,this lady?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPM7jGD4t9s"]How to smoke 3 chickens on Masterbuilt Gas Smokehouse - YouTube[/ame]

 

[TonyT]

I hear legends like Johnny Trigg and Ray Lampe say there's good eating bbq and good competition bbq, but have only ever tried/made competition style ribs (sugar, parkay, etc). First bite and I thought "wow, that's a lot of flavor", but could only eat 2-3 more bites before it was too much. I get it, you only have 1-2 bites to show the judge how much flavor you can pack. For home eats, the rack was kind of ruined for me. I've tried Chris Lilly's "World Championship Pork Shoulder" at home and it's hands down my favorite way to do PP at home.

Other than ribs, how are things like briskets, chicken and pulled pork cooked differently?

 

[LTG]

No, and not interested in ever becoming one. I cook for my enjoyment and others, not for awards, prizes, recognition or whatever it is that you get from competitions. I get why others compete, and I recognize the skill needed to consistently place well, but I have about the same desire to eat that kind of food as I do vegan BBQ.

Have you ever tried it? Balanced flavors win. You might be surprised.

 

[m-fine]

Have you ever tried it? Balanced flavors win. You might be surprised.

Compete? no. Taste? Yes. (I wouldn't even say eat because all I could handle was a bite or two at a time)

I was certainly surprised. I was naive and thought top competitors food would be much better than backyard and restaurant BBQ and I could learn a lot. It was not good let alone better, and I have since learned why.

 

[qnbiker]

I have nothing but respect for competition cooks. I cook my barbecue to my tastes and for the enjoyment of my guests and me. I can't imagine trying to guess what a judge will like and trying to cook to HIS tastes. I'll bet if a top competition cook invited me to his house for barbecue, I would enjoy it immensely.

 

[IXL]

Adding to this thread derailment :tongue:, I remember seeing an interview with Johnny Trigg, where he stated that he would never subject his family to the competition-winning ribs he cooks for contests. He further stated his competition ribs were just too much of everything to be enjoyable for more than a bite.

 

[m-fine]

I have nothing but respect for competition cooks. I cook my barbecue to my tastes and for the enjoyment of my guests and me. I can't imagine trying to guess what a judge will like and trying to cook to HIS tastes. I'll bet if a top competition cook invited me to his house for barbecue, I would enjoy it immensely.

A comp cook isn't just to the judges taste, but to his taste amongst all of the other samples he is tasting, in the context of the judging guidelines. How a savory rib tastes will be perceived quite different if it is the only rib you taste or if it follows 5 sweet ones.

It takes a lot of skill to win comps consistently and much of that is transferable to making consistent BBQ for a restaurant (or backyard), but the recipes might be completely different.

I don't want to bash competition cooks, just saying what they do and what Franklin and LA do are only slightly comparable. See the car analogy. A car that wins a NASCAR race is an amazing vehicle, but you wouldn't want it as a daily driver on the public roads around here, especially if you have kids to drive around. It would be horrible in the wrong context.

 

[qnbiker]

A comp cook isn't just to the judges taste, but to his taste amongst all of the other samples he is tasting, in the context of the judging guidelines. How a savory rib tastes will be perceived quite different if it is the only rib you taste or if it follows 5 sweet ones.

It takes a lot of skill to win comps consistently and much of that is transferable to making consistent BBQ for a restaurant (or backyard), but the recipes might be completely different.

I don't want to bash competition cooks, just saying what they do and what Franklin and LA do are only slightly comparable. See the car analogy. A car that wins a NASCAR race is an amazing vehicle, but you wouldn't want it as a daily driver on the public roads around here, especially if you have kids to drive around. It would be horrible in the wrong context.

Continuing the analogy, I wouldn't mind a NASCAR mechanic working on my engine.