My buddy at a comp said my bark looked like burnt shoe leather

He was blunt about it. Said I was running too hot and wrapping too late. I dropped my temp from 275 to 250 and started wrapping at 165 instead of 170. Bark came out way better on the last brisket. Anyone else get a reality check like that at a competition?

2 comments

2 Comments

rivera.jesse2d ago

Man, that's rough but honest feedback. I had the exact same thing happen to me at a comp two years ago. Judge said my brisket had a "leathery texture" and I knew right then I was cooking too hot and wrapping too late. Dropped my temp to 250 like you did and started wrapping when the internal hit 160 instead of 170. Night and day difference. The bark came out way more tender and the fat rendered clean. I also started using a little bit of tallow in the wrap just to keep it from drying out. That one change with the temp and wrap timing was the biggest leap forward in my competition game.

jenniferwells3d ago

Honestly, "burnt shoe leather" is brutal but kinda perfect. So what did you do differently with your wrap timing? Did you find that 165 was the sweet spot or did you tweak anything else too?