Practice meats

[ksk2175]

Besides cheese and wine, I also compete on a professional BBQ team at local KCBS BBQ Competitions in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas. 

Recently bought a new smoker from a former competitor who gave up the competition circuit and had to practice some of the meats so here are some images of a couple briskets and pork shoulders and some practice turn in boxes with chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket....

enjoy the meat porn ....

[ezabel]

My my, but thats a mighty looking spread.  Love the clean smoke ring on the brisket.  Fantastic!!!!
(i'm salivating )

[Fritz]

Hey ksk' looks great man! I too, do some smoking ... Got a Traeger Tex smoker, I don't do the pro BBQ circuit, but sure love what comes out here at home  .... Be sure to read "Franklin Barbeque, a meat-lovers manifesto" great read to all things real and smoked.

I did a brisket this weekend as well...

[reg]

KsK2175 great photo's and good luck on the circuit. We also competed for quite a few years doing some KCBS and up here in Canada on a Canadian circuit. Won the Canadian Open BBQ Championship in 2004 and also competed at the Jack the same year winning the International dish. Also got a call on our sauce. BBQ comps are great fun and you meet some good people from all over the world.

[ksk2175]

KsK2175 great photo's and good luck on the circuit. We also competed for quite a few years doing some KCBS and up here in Canada on a Canadian circuit. Won the Canadian Open BBQ Championship in 2004 and also competed at the Jack the same year winning the International dish. Also got a call on our sauce. BBQ comps are great fun and you meet some good people from all over the world.

I agree.  Most the people I have met in the BBQ game have been just awesome.  There's that competitive spirit but also a camaraderie.    Congratulations on your win in 2004 and at the Jack.  Those are some great achievements.  Weve had some GC's, RGC's and took 13th in BBQ at the World Food Championships in its first year, 2012.  We havent been called for the Jack yet but it is one trip we hope to make someday.  Hell, any call these days is an achievement and keeps us coming back year after year.

[ksk2175]

Hey ksk' looks great man! I too, do some smoking ... Got a Traeger Tex smoker, I don't do the pro BBQ circuit, but sure love what comes out here at home  .... Be sure to read "Franklin Barbeque, a meat-lovers manifesto" great read to all things real and smoked.

I did a brisket this weekend as well...

Wow, nice bark and smoke ring ... looks scrumptious.  Are you using a lot of cherry wood?  A lot of times cherry wood will give that nice red bark.  Do you wrap in butcher paper like Franklin? 

[Fritz]

Lol....If you really want a crazy big smoke ring... Try smoking a BBQ brisket from frozen! Lol (not recommended but an interesting experiment)...
Just FYI....a little known fact: The smoke ring is a chemical reaction, as far as I know, has nothing to do with wood type or flavour.

I use oak for true Central Texas style, pecan for Tennessee brisket and mesquite for that southwest Tex style...
Is using cherry wood for brisket a recommendation from you competition BBQing folks ?

Wrapping brisket in butcher paper, just after the stall, is the best technique I've learned yet  ... Even my crappy shaky picture clearly shows heaps of moisture still in the meat after 8 hrs and at 203F internal temp.
My lack of study once used foil... before I received the humble gift of true BBQ knowledge from Aaron Franklin

[reg]

If you are interested in a large smoke ring add a bit of Insta Cure #1 to you rub, and by a little I mean 1/4 t to a 24 oz batch. And no it won't make your products ' hammy '

[ksk2175]

Lol....If you really want a crazy big smoke ring... Try smoking a BBQ brisket from frozen! Lol (not recommended but an interesting experiment)...
Just FYI....a little known fact: The smoke ring is a chemical reaction, as far as I know, has nothing to do with wood type or flavour.

I use oak for true Central Texas style, pecan for Tennessee brisket and mesquite for that southwest Tex style...
Is using cherry wood for brisket a recommendation from you competition BBQing folks ?

Wrapping brisket in butcher paper, just after the stall, is the best technique I've learned yet  ... Even my crappy shaky picture clearly shows heaps of moisture still in the meat after 8 hrs and at 203F internal temp.
My lack of study once used foil... before I received the humble gift of true BBQ knowledge from Aaron Franklin

Fritz, you're correct about the smoke ring.  When I looked at your picture, your bark had a reddish hue to it and ive seen cherry wood give a "reddish" colored bark versus other woods.  A popular mix of wood on the circuit seems to be hickory/cherry ... I use about a 70/30 mix with Hickory being my predominant wood.  I havent used oak yet but will try that out at some point.  Ive used pecan and dont care for it on brisket.  I usually reserve that and/or apple for poultry and fish.  Everyone has their own preferences.  I guess you go with what works for you and then dont change it much.  Ive been wanting to experiment with mesquite on my fast/hot cooks to see how that turns out. 

I will experiment quite a bit when I am cooking for my family or friends but stick to my tried and true methods for comps.  We dont travel much outside of the few States surrounding us here in Colorado so if we ever go further to the South or East, we may need to change some things up but I dont see that happening unless we get called for the Jack.  We thought of doing Memphis in May but havent taken the time to commit to it. 

[Al Lewis]

Looks great!  All you need for a great smoke ring is to start off using cherry wood and hit it heavy.  Then you can switch to whatever wood you normally use.  Here's one of mine.

[Fritz]

Hey Reg, I seen your trick with instacure#1 in the Barbeque bible... Lol... Seems the competition circuit has removed the smoke ring as a judging criteria in Tennessee because of this crutch used so often ..lol

@ken... I would not have thought cherry was so popular on the circuit ... Hickory I get, i find hickory a strong flavour... I ate way too many hickory sticks (potatoe snack) as a kid...I'm now damaged and not a hickory fan...lol
I too will experiment with the hickory/cherry combo on my next cook. You will find the style of BBQ is dependent of the wood that is actually native and plenty of that area. Oak for Texas .. Pecan for Tennessee ... Mesquite for West Texas / Santa Fe.. Maple for the northeast.. Etc. I also get the apple for fish and pork thing

I'm really enjoying the BBQ chat hope we make this part of the forum a little more popular

[Fritz]

Hi Al... Your BBQ porn looks great too... It must of been good because 3/4 of it is missing ! I better get in there fast !

[reg]

For smoke wood our local oaks, red and white are both great on brisket. I use a combination of cherry and oak but the majority is oak. In this area you can get any type of fruit wood you want, so many fruit farms

[Al Lewis]

Hey Reg, I seen your trick with instacure#1 in the Barbeque bible... Lol... Seems the competition circuit has removed the smoke ring as a judging criteria in Tennessee because of this crutch used so often ..lol

The smoke ring actually does not add flavor to the meat and, as stated here, can be artificially manipulated.  I find that most of what is done in competition barbecue is not necessarily what you would want to serve your family and friends at a weekend outing. Tastes vary with people as well as areas and you can't build a "profile" that encompasses everyone. The general profiles in areas were established 50-100 years ago.  Today we have people moving all over the country and taking their tastes with them.  It's like trying to build a profile for what fine art or music is, or should be, so you can judge everything people are creating.  Judging in KCBS is trying to do just that.  That might be great for a small group of folks attempting to see if they have the skills to match a certain criteria, and fun for what it is, but it's certainly not a standard for great food.  Find a recipe you really like and use it.  If you can't find one then create one.  Nothing wrong with saying "I like this but..." and adding your own special ingredient to make it what YOU want to eat.  That's what I find so fun in cheese making, beer making, charcuterie, and barbecue and grilling.  It's a very creative experience.  BTW Ken, very nice looking boxes.

[Fritz]

Hey Reg... I find myself in the St Cathrines and Niagara area often (my scuba dive group and shop is there) ...so I know what you're talking about with the fruit trees...  I would also try grape vine wood as a cool alternative and experiment. Never heard of that being done yet.