Heard a pitmaster say bark is overrated at a competition in Kansas City

I was walking through the vendor area at the American Royal last month and caught two guys arguing about whether bark matters on brisket. One said he deliberately trims fat to get less bark because judges in that contest care more about moisture. It made me rethink all the hours I spend trying to get that perfect black crust. Has anyone else changed their approach based on a specific competition judge?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_carter13d ago

64th Street BBQ in KC has been trimming fat pretty aggressively for years and they still get bark. I mean, idk, maybe it's just me but it feels like people overthink this stuff. You can have moist meat AND a decent bark, they're not mutually exclusive. Seems like a weird thing to pick a fight over at a competition.

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the_drew13d ago

Man people do this with everything now, not just BBQ. I see guys at the gym obsessing over rest periods and rep schemes like they're trying to cure cancer instead of just lifting the damn weights. Everyone wants to find some secret formula instead of accepting that good results usually come from just doing the basics right and not overcomplicating it.