The Decline of Brisket

The decline of Brisket. Ten years ago USDA was strictly a guide to marbling not flavor. Having cooked, taught and won coast to coast I've noticed a speedy decline in Brisket quality. Ten years ago a USDA Select grade IBP Brisket did take first place going against world champions and USDA prime. I sincerely doubt you could do that again. In spring 2010 Sam's in Texas had full packer Angus USDA choice briskets. Cooked side by side with a USDA select from Wally World the choice won hands down and the USDA select was bland. Spring 2011 and Sam's in Texas had Angus USDA Choice flats and USDA select packers. By Fall 2011 the flats are nondescript choice and the packers select. I can still find Angus USDA choice packers at Sam's in Washington state. Costco has tasty USDA choice brisket at every location that carries Brisket coast to coat. For those in who have access to Costco business center they have a better selection of meat. Wagyu has won for me but I'm not a fan. I prefer USDA prime or Cargill Sterling Silver. Full disclosure I have been a paid spokesperson for Cargill. I know one of the root causes of a lot of calls I get from my students about disappointing Brisket results can be traced to where they sourced their meat. HEB and most other grocery stores fail to impress me. That's my $0.02 IMNHO.

Marinated Flank Steak

Marinated Flank Steak

The menu was Marinated Flank Steak grilled over charcoal with baby Dutch (Yukon gold) potatoes with butter & Cilantro and steamed veggie medley. I just used some fresh ground black pepper for a rub, as the marinade left a good coating of spices. I like Dr. Pepper but I've found that I can taste it on Beef. Coke will make the beef sweeter but for me anyway it is a 100% complimentary flavor that does not stand out like Dr. P. I slice the finished flank like I 'm making Fajitas.

For best results grill fast over a hot lump charcoal fire so almost black on the outside and pink on the inside. Grill with the lid off and watch your steak for the whole cooking time which should be around 10 minutes total. For Gas grill preheat for 15 minutes on high and cook on high. As always brush the grate clean before cooking and wipe with a paper towel soaked in cooking oil. Canola and Extra Virgin Olive oil being my choices.

Enjoy and 'Que on,

Konrad "Teddy Bear" Haskins

www.BBQInstitute.com

Beef Marinade (Experimental)
1 can (12 fl oz) Real Coke (Diet is very unhealthy when heated don't go there)
1 Tablespoon Oregano
1 Tablespoon Basil
2 Tablespoon Steak Seasoning
2 Tablespoon Granulated Garlic
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

2~3# flank in Zip Lock for 5+ hours.

Knowledge is the Secret™

Knowledge is the Secret™ is what we do at the BBQ Institute®

A question we get all the time is what style of BBQ do we teach. The answer is not what people expect, our style is great barbecue done right. We teach people the knowledge they need to cook great barbecue. Great barbecue is meat that is moist, tender and has great flavor before you optionally use sauce. Regional styles are the choice of wood, rubs and sauce. Once you understand the history and science behind choosing a piece of raw meat and turning it into great BBQ, the regional styles are a relatively minor change. Done right does not mean a rigid set of rules. One example of rigid rules is cooking temperatures. We know people who consistently win at the national level cooking at both low temperatures and high temperatures. The lowest temperature to use is dictated by food safety concerns. 225°f is a good rule of thumb for the limits of space here. The highest temperature is determined by your equipment and the quality of the meat. Our rule of thumb is the right highest temperature, is what your cooker won't burn the meat at. For some pellet cookers that can be as low as 275°f for brick pits with tall brick smokestacks that may be 400°f. To steal a political term we believe in outcome based barbecue, do your friends and loved ones, love it? That's what's important! Our goal is to share that knowledge with our students so they can consistently cook great barbecue.

BBQ Institute Website

Christmas Prime Rib

Wanting to make sure I got the right piece of beef I visited both Cash & Carry (the one owned by Smart and Final) and Costco the day before the purchase. I ended up with a locally raised Angus Ribeye. I went boneless because with such a low finish temp the bones don't give up much. The bones also hamper the formation of crust and smoke penetration.

I used my deep smoking technique that I teach in the advanced class to get the smoke flavor all the way to the core without ever injecting, just using gentle natural smoke. As end cuts are popular I took the 15 pound Ribeye and cut it into three roasts using my tape measure to get the pieces fairly equal.

One of the roasts went to Tim of Tim's Seafood in Kirkland, WA. Tim's is for my money the best place to buy fish anywhere in the world. I delivered the roast on Christmas eve and pickup up a huge assortment of Seafood for my girlfriends Christmas eve Cioppino. An amazing wine and tomato based soup with all manner of seafood including Dungeness crab, scallops, colossal prawns and clams. My contribution was fresh Dutch oven Poolish Focaccia (from Vegan YumYum blog) and a classic artisan loaf. But I digress.

As with all the best Christmas dinners the guest list grew at the last minute and a large table of hungry diners gathered for the feast. Being that many present were from Oregon the Prime Rib was accompanied by Beaver brand hot horseradish from Oregon. The sides were steamed green beans with butter and toasted almond slivers, my version of dirty rice and BBQ cabbage. One young lady had the same reaction I did to the cabbage the first time I tried it. "I'll try a little." Well Jonathan made a convert of me and I did of her. It's easy to make and delicious.

I made everyone a fan of smoked prime rib. We put a serious hurt on the food and did not run out. Like I always say small portions are an area of lesser achievement for me.

For me Christmas dinner was what BBQ is all about. Sharing great food with friends and loved ones.

Wishing all a Smokin' New Year!

What is good BBQ and how would you describe a great meal.

I'm all for real food prepared with passion. I'm not a bigot about it. A friend was describing in apologetic tones how she baked some great ribs. I asked her were they tender, moist and have great flavor, yes she answered. Did you and the people you shared them with enjoy them, yes she answered. Then that is all that's important I replied. As a teacher and a competitor I'm all about education by putting amazing real BBQ in peoples mouthes. Not judging them because they enjoyed baked ribs.I'd rather let my 'que do the talking for me.

Brisket

Back before I got serious about competitive BBQ James and Lola Rice of Hico Texas were winning and winning big. In 2002 I won Rookie of the year in the Pacific Northwest. My prize was to attend the Rice's KCBS BBQ school at a famous pit builder in Houston on February 1, 2003. The pit builder who can build good pits shall remain nameless for making his pits too complicated. BTW Another student at the class was Guy Fieri, we ended up cooking a fajitas dinner for everyone. That is where I learned to cook Brisket. It's also were I learned that a long list of famous Texas Pitmasters have a strong preference for KCBS. KCBS has a strong culture of education.

Here are my ALL my Brisket results since 2004. I don't cook many contests, I just win a lot.

3rd Brisket, BBQ Championship of Montana (Qualifier) 2010

3rd "Cruzin' to Colby" - Washington State Championship (Qualifier) 2004

5th Roc City Ribfest, NY State Championship (Qualifier) 2010 Ribs

5th Pike Place Market, WA State Championship (Qualifier) 2008

There are two secrets to Brisket knowing what you are doing and why. Listening to Julia and start with quality ingredients. I don't care what you do starting with inferior meat will give you inferior results. Choice or higher Angus is a good start.

'Que on,

Konrad "Teddy Bear" Haskins

Are you a Texan who wants to win BBQ contests?

I'm not a Texan. I have judged a few categories at the big San Antonio Cook-off and I probably teach more classes in Texas than anyone else. I don't do a lot of KCBS style contests but the few I've cooked in this year, I've been very competitive see http://www.BBQHog.com . I have cooked next to and learned a great deal from legendary Texas Pitmasters at elite invitation only national KCBS events. There in is where Texan's need to pull in the reigns of Texas pride just long enough to admit that maybe the can learn from those KCBS cooks. Many of the tops KCBS cooks are Texans and many of them prefer KCBS to the home grown minor leagues.

Yes there are a few differences. The only garnish in the box is Texas Lettuce (foil). Sauce must be cooked on and a spritz bottle is not allowed. Chicken is always two half birds. I'm 100% for all of that. It's a meat contest and adding garnish and sauce at the end distracts from the meat which is what it's all about.

KCBS is the NASCAR of BBQ. It does many thing well. KCBS and it's clones (PNWBA and similar) give you a score sheet at the end of the event with all six judges scores for Appearance, Texture (Tenderness) and Taste. In Texas each judge only gives one score and it's not shared with competitors.

KCBS also has a very strong educational tradition. http://www.KCBS.us has a list of BBQ class. The top teams teach and they teach well enough that the students beat the masters on occasion. I'm not aware of any such tradition in Texas.

One of the things that turned around my Brisket in 2003 was taking a class from James and Lola Rice of Hico Texas. It was at the factory of a famous Houston pit builder. It was a KCBS class. I'll let you in on a little secret about KCBS master classes, the students include many Texans who are open to learning.

If you are a Texan who wants to learn here are your options. I will recommend my class www.BBQInstitute.com . It's not a competition class but my students do well at major contests in Texas. Get on the websites of major NATIONAL Texas cooking teams and see when and if the have a class coming up. It may only be once a year, expect it to involve travel, be expensive and sell out early. Look at KCBS TOY (Team Of Year) scores from the previous year and do the same thing for top teams not based in Texas. Judge a Contest in Texas and get a different viewpoint.

Good Luck,

Konrad "Teddy Bear" Haskins