Backyard vs. Competition Brisket: What's the Difference?

one of the questions that i get asked most often by aspiring pit masters is what's the difference between a competition brisket and a backyard brisket we're going to try to point out the five major differences and show you guys something that'll help you make a good educated decision and help you decide if you want to step into the barbecue competition world and make that leap of faith all right barbecue the first point i want to discuss today between the backyard and the competition brisket is the selection of the brisket what type of brisket do you want to cook in the backyard and what type of brisket do you need to cook in the competition first of all in the backyard you're really just cooking to impress your family and your friends nine times out of ten you're trying to be economical and don't want to spend a bunch of money so a good choice is a good choice or a prime nowadays there's a lot of primes out there they're fairly inexpensive we buy a lot of our primes for somewhere between you know 50 and 75 you can get a really really good brisket in that price range for the backyard now some guys like to cook select if you're cooking for chopped brisket man get the cheapest one out there chop it up add a little barbecue sauce and have a ball when it comes to competition it's a little different game the level of competitiveness out there today is so close so tight you cannot likely get away with a cheap brisket a select brisket once in a while they may be labeled wrong you may have one that is a beautiful select or a beautiful choice that looks every bit as good as a high-end prime that does happen but in general that's just a lucky situation most of the time you want to look for a good brand name prime at the very least or a lot of guys nowadays are cooking prime certified angus briskets or 1855 briskets a really great choice from swift now the big big thing now is everybody's cooking wagyu too the wagu and the akashi seem to be taking texas at least by storm as well as the rest of the country outside of texas probably the number one brand out there is a snake river farms brisket they're well known for being really good marbled so those bridge kits generally are ready to go and that seems to be the standard outside of texas they're also starting to be very popular here in texas as well so the first point as i said is selecting the right brisket when you're comparing between a backyard and a comp brisket the selection is the difference between getting just a nice happy brisket at home and getting a winning brisket at a competition now i also want to add that you know a really good 1855 high-end prime or certified angus brisket a wagyu or an akashi all these high dollar high-end briskets are equally wonderful in the backyard if you can afford and want to spend a little bit more on a backyard brisket that's a higher end they do produce a really great brisket even in the backyard the reason they win in the competitions is because they are a better quality all-around brisket and if they win in competitions they can win in your backyard too because they really are great products so once again guys if you're in the backyard you can cook a less expensive brisket or you can still cook a really good high-end brisket with some excellent wonderful results even without injecting but if you are a competitor i can assure you you do need to spend a little bit more money on those better higher quality briskets in order to be competitive in today's cook-off community so remember again the selection process whether it's backyard or competition there is a little bit of a difference there actually a lot but if you're a competitor you definitely want to step it up spend a little bit more money if you want to be in the top 10 or in the top five on a regular basis all right now this brings us to point number two the next difference between the backyard and the cotton brisket is the trimming process the trimming at home in the backyard is fairly minimal you kind of just want to get about an eighth to a quarter inch of fat on the bottom and you want to trim the top get all the big heavy fat you don't necessarily have to take off all that membrane that super thin membrane i've cooked hundreds and hundreds of briskets without doing that with excellent results so it's not necessary however when it comes to competition trimming we are very aggressive on trimming all we want is about nine inches width and a little bit longer length all we need is nine slices in texas and of course all you need is a few slices i think a minimum of six and kcbs so it's a much smaller brisket you want it to look really really pretty before you cook it so you don't have to chop it up or make it look ugly by trimming it after you cook it you want it to look pretty before you cook it so that it looks really pretty when it goes into the box remember there are points for presentation so the better it looks going in the box the better your point the better your chances are of getting a walk or possibly winning the competition based on your brisket results one of the reasons we don't trim too aggressively in the backyard is because we're usually going to feed family and friends so you want to maximize the yield and get as much meat as you possibly can in the smoker and out of the smokers so you always want to have as much meat on the grill as you possibly can now not to say that you're going to throw any of the trimmings away on the competition brisket i sure don't i like to use those for beef stew for carnegie sada makes an awesome chili but my most favorite thing to do with trimmed trimmings off of a competition brisket is hamburgers have you ever had a waigu hamburger brisket oh my gosh you don't know what you're meaning until you try one so it does take a little mastery and a little bit of technique it's just applied a little bit different between the backyard brisket and the competition brisket that wraps it up for point number two all right now that brings us to point number three to inject or not to inject in the backyard it is pretty traditional and customary to not inject at all i can tell you for certain that at home my personal brisket that i cook for us to eat are not injected that's the way i like to eat it you know most top top-notch barbecue restaurants do not inject their briskets either really in my opinion it's not necessary you can do it to experiment with maybe a little different flavor profiles you can put a little salt and pepper and let it melt down or grind it down into a fine powder and and put some beef broth in there it will enhance the flavor some it will help some but in general it's not customary nor necessary to inject a backyard brisket if you're cooking it properly just remember guys that the brisket cooked in the backyard cooked at most traditional barbecue restaurants there's the brisket itself has so much collagen a lot of connective tissue it tends to break down somewhere around 185 degrees and you cook it like that long enough and at the right temperature it will break down that stuff and it's just going to be a really succulent delicious wonderful brisket that's the way most of us like to eat them that's the way most restaurants do it and so it just really isn't necessary to inject a backyard brisket but you can if you want to now the competition brisket is a little bit of a whole different animal at home we're cooking for enjoyment in the backyard we want to enjoy that brisket and eat as much of it as we can in a competition you're not really cooking for yourself you're cooking for a panel of judges in texas many many judges if it's a big event and it goes multiple rounds so what we're shooting for in a country's biscuit is that boom one bite flavor there's a balance there you don't want to overdo it you want them to like your brisket you want them to give you a good score but there is a point of no return where you kind of overdo things but the reason we do inject and we add injection powders and other ingredients is to maximize that one bite flavor that enhances the experience of the judge while he's at the judging table hopefully you did it right and you get a great score and you're able to move on to the next round or make the top 10 top five possibly even win in the brisket category by injecting your competition briskets i can tell you guys nowadays they pretty much if you want to be competitive in barbecue competitions anywhere in the country it is necessary to inject without question many of us that are well-known top pit masters not only in texas but throughout the country have indeed tried cooking a really good backyard richard competition i can tell you that 10 out of 10 times the non-injected brisket is not going to make the cut the injected brisket is going to win 10 out of 10 times guaranteed and that's especially true when the judge only gets one bite to sample your brisket that brings us to point number four on the difference between competition and backyard brisket when it comes to the backyard brisket it's not really any different there are no right ways or wrong ways when it comes to rubs but basically the traditional and old school way of briskets was just basically salt and pepper nowadays there's so many great rubs on the market that contain way more than salt and pepper that are wonderful they're excellent they create a little bit better flavor profile than just salt and pepper although you can never go wrong with salt and pepper i personally like them myself but there's so many other good ones out there now you can enhance the salt pepper with a little bit of garlic a little bit of onion a little bit of paprika a little bit of new mexico chili powder my personal favorite there's just a lot of things you can add into it to really still enhance the flavor of the backyard brisket if you want to just use salt pepper that's perfectly all right too you'll still produce a great brisket now in the comp brisket whole different game now again there's a lot of comp oriented rubs out there that are designed specifically to create and enhance that one bite flavor of competition brisket but in general the rub process on on competition brisket is going to be a layering process most of us run anywhere from two to as many as five six layers of different rubs it becomes an orchestra of flavors a melody that plays in your mouth there are also enhancers to enhance the flavor both in the injection and in the rubbing process so they have to work well together the rubs and the injection and the meat have to all work well together in addition to that we also glaze or sauce our brisket around the all the way around to enhance that one bite flavor so the rub process is a layering process for competition there's some that go really well together and enhance that one bite experience for the judges so you pretty much nowadays if you want to win in competitions you're gonna need to layer some rubs more than one or two probably and you're gonna need to also glaze it and enhance that flavor as well to balance out the salt the pepper and whatever greens you have along with that really good delicious injected meat again the difference can be also nowadays i mean it's not just salt pepper in the backyard there's so many great opportunities for you to put your own flavor print on and some people like herbs on their brisket rub some people don't some like to sear their brisket some don't so there's an endless possibility of ways to enhance the flavor of your brisket make it your own unique flavor profile it's just really up to you whatever you decide you want to do and this applies also to the competition brisket the rubbing process allows you to put in your own flavor print if you want to call it that it becomes your brisket and your individual profile it's fun experimenting and playing with different flavors we do it all the time you know and and that's how we learn by the way too so feel free to experiment try a bunch of different rubs try salt pepper try salt pepper plus a rub you know i mean the possibilities are endless there's no right way or wrong way whatever you and your family like like i've always said is the right way this brings us to point number five to wrap or not to wrap what are the difference between backyard and competition traditionally in the backyard and a lot of your old school restaurants never used to wrap at all so a lot of guys in the backyard like to cook really low and slow it's a long process it's a labor of love you can produce an amazing wonderful succulent juicy brisket doing it that way if you want to put in the time and the effort nowadays in the backyard it's very traditional to wrap with butcher paper pink butcher paper some guys still like to use foil in the backyard you can do it any way you want but me personally i like to use butch paper at home with a backyard brisket it just really kind of helps preserve that really good smoky barbecue flavor instead of the roasty flavor using foil sometimes but you don't have to wrap some guys like to use water pans that also keeps the brisket moist and keeps it from drying out a little bit me personally i don't use water pans i've tried them they're great they work i just don't feel like it's necessary but that's just my preference a lot of guys do like to use it if it works for you then more power to you generally if you're going to wrap at home i recommend butcher paper at a little bit slower temperature cooking process if you're cooking really hot and fast you might want to use foil now in competition setting you know we like to use foil and that is the normal traditional way to cook brisket in competition me personally i use a pan competition we're gonna usually add a little bit of liquid in there and to make that brisket pop a little bit better for the judges uh i like using pans because when i'm sliding it around on the pit i know for sure i'm not gonna tear the bottom of that foil and lose all my arju now there are some guys that cook low and slow in competition use butcher paper i swear there's a few guys out there still that don't rap at all if that works for you then more power to you but i can assure you that mostly everybody in competition wraps in aluminum foil or pans all right my barbecue friends now here's a bonus point in both cases backyard or competition what you really want to do is let that brisket rest an hour to three hours is ideal three is better let that brisket temperature come down nice and slow let it come down cool down a little bit when that brisket's resting it's rehydrating and it's reabsorbing some of your raju if you have some in a pan or in a foil and even if it's in butcher paper it cools off slow the juices redistribute so before you go take your knife start slicing that thing away let it cool off let it rest for a while i promise you the results and the flavor differences you're going to be very satisfied with and very glad that you got to let that brisket rest for a while all right pit masters that wraps up the five tips plus the bonus remember that these are two totally different types of brisket for two totally different crowds both of them excellent in their own respective ways and understanding that is really the first step out of many steps to smoking perfect brisket and all the barbecue meats if you actually want to learn all of these steps then head over to pitmasterclass.us where i teach you everything you need to know about how to cook the best possible barbecue in the backyard and for cookoffs the link is down below now if you really want to learn specifically how to smoke backyard brisket then you can check out my brisket master class where i show you exactly how to smoke a backyard brisket from start to finish including the selection process trimming rubbing saucing enhancing flavor profiles and smoking it on a variety of different cookers like stick burners drums kettles and pellet grills to get you smoking briskets that are just as good as the most famous barbecue houses in no time that link is also down below okay barbecue lovers that's all i have for you all today i hope this video helps you learn more about barbecue and brisket be sure to like comment and share and subscribe ring the bell and remember keep the smoke light and make it work

Channel: ArnieTex

Views: 17,864

Rating: 4.9693723 out of 5

Keywords: how to bbq brisket, brisket, barbecue, bbq, smoke brisket, cook-off brisket, brisket trim, how to smoke brisket, brisket mistakes, texas style brisket

Id: keAFjxNtznc

Length: 15min 10sec (910 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 15 2020