STRIKE 3 ON BRISKET

[papajim]

Cooked in a cook-off over the 4th. and the same problem happened once again. My rub had K-salt, Black pepper, coffee,(ground to powder), and Beef granules(ground to powder). Could not do anything to meat before cook's meeting appr. 5:45pm, and inspection after end of meeting. Applied rub to brisket somewhere around 6:30 pm, wrapped in plastic, put in ice chest, put in vault around 11:00 pm. (Turn-in time 12:00 noon). Cooked (300 deg.) fat up for 2hrs. then flipped for 2hrs. Wrapped in BP fat up(after 4 hrs. on pit) until poked tender about 3 hrs. removed from pit, let rest for 3 hrs. on table still wrapped. About 45 min. before turn in removed from BP, placed back on vault to tighten up for 10 min. Problem, not much flavor. Why not getting the flavor profile I expect with the heavy salt rub. My actual times maybe off some.

papajim

I'm not perfect...just like to share my $.02 on the internet

[Mr. Orange]

My inital thought would be to put a heavier coating of seasoning and then would let the brisket sit out at room temp prior to putting on the pit. This will allow the meat to open up and seasoning to penetrate better.

Good luck with it.

Brian

[Gator]

Lets move this up here and ask some of our comeptition cooker their opinion. ??

[Swamp Donkeyz BBQ]

I season my brisket the night before, then wrap it up and put it back in the cooler until 6am. But I cook hotter than some cooks.

[bruno994]

Personally, I feel you need a rub with a bit more flavor in it...I like a salt and pepper rubbed brisket, but not sure how well that has ever done in comps. Give any number of commercial products out there a chance and see if that helps, not to mention any of the commercial injections. I rub mine down about 1 hour before it hits the pit, inject it anywhere from 2 to 4 hours before it goes on.

[riseabove50]

consider purchasing a Jaccard? it helps tenderize and open up the meat plus it allows your seasonings to better penetrate. just a thought.

[k.a.m.]

Two things I see.
1.) I agree with bruno994 on the rub. You need something more flavorful. You can try adding some onion and garlic powder to the rub if you are stuck on mixing your own those will enhance the beef flavor. Also a good injection helps.

2.) With your current rub and cooking on a vault I doubt you are getting much smoke flavor to the brisket so you need to get some pop in your rub for competition.
I hope this helps.

[Finatic]

In addition to what bruno994 & k.a.m. said- consider applying rub again right before you wrap it.

[Big Ed]

That's a down side of using butcher paper! No juice to dip your slices in, that holds a lot of your flavor. Plus you can always put a little salt to the slices if your lacking flavor.

[Tinye11]

I cook in an vault like cooker (El Rey cube) and I find if you cook fat side up ( heat comes from the top) the rendering fat juice running down and the steam from the water pan will wash your rub off before any bark can set. That may be a reason for no flavor.

[jtilk]

I see a few things that could be donw here, some of which have been mentioned... Take it for what it's worth as we all have our own techniques.

A) As has been mentioned by Jeff and KAM, you need a little more complexity in your rub. (I.E. garlic and onion powder, chili's powder, paprika... etc)
B) Maybe I missed it but I saw no mention of an injection? Are you injecting? If not, you should.
C) Instead of caking on a single rub, one time... layer multiple rubs in light coats. Season at night... let stand for an hr or 2 before putting in the cooler, season again and hr before it goes on the pit....
D) There's a fine line that can only be determined with practice as to what is not enough rub and what it too much. Too much will not form a bark and will remain mushy if you're not careful.

[BluDawg]

How much wood you putin in that contraption???

[papajim]

I put 3-4 fist size chunks of post oak, to an up-side down u shape of Kingsford charcoal starting at the front left corner, to left back corner , across back edge, to back right corner, then to right front corner. The wood is laid on top of charcoal spaced out along the " U".

papajim

I'm not perfect....just like to share my $.02 on the internet

[Boots]

Might try a practice w no wrap, but plop your meat in a cheap aluminum pan w about 1 Shiner Bock. Pan preserves meat juice, Bock helps flavor meat, smoke gets to meat more effectively. Halfway thru take out of pan and pit on grate to bark up. Good luck.

[BluDawg]

You aint got enough wood IMO the wood is what gives you flavor charcoal is just for heat. I use basically the same fire lay in my weber kettle but I have a big chunk of wood placed about 2" apart 3/4 of the way around so about 8 pieces total. The flavor I get is very close to what I get on my stick burner.