Last weekend at the Franklin County fair, the guy next to me changed how I trim brisket

I was set up at the Franklin County fair last weekend, 40 miles outside Nashville, competing in the amateur division for the first time. My brisket was coming out decent but I kept fighting the fat cap, losing like 2 hours just wrestling with it. The pitmaster two tents over, some retired guy from Texas named Ray, walked over during a lull and watched me for a minute. He pointed at my knife and said, "you're cutting cold fat, warm it up first, leave a quarter inch, and stop chasing perfect." I tried his method on my second brisket and it trimmed in like 20 minutes instead of 2 hours. The fat rendered way better, the bark set up cleaner, and I actually placed 4th, which I never expected. Has anyone else had a random stranger at a comp completely flip their prep routine? What's the best tip you've picked up from watching someone else's setup?

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the_rowan15d ago

My 2019 Smoke on the Water comp in Memphis, my neighbor was doing burnt ends that turned out almost black and glossy, like stained glass. I asked him about it and he said he stops mopping an hour before he pulls them, lets the surface dry out so the sugar sets into a shell. I tried it on my pork belly the next day and the crust cracked like thin glass when I bit into it, totally different texture than the usual chewy bark. Everyone talks about trim and rub, but nobody mentions how drying the surface changes the final bite. That one hour of hands-off time did more for my scores than any rub I've ever bought or blended.