Nobody wins a contest at the meat counter, but plenty of cooks lose one there. The best rub, the best timeline and the best box cannot fix a brisket that was thin, tired or tough before it reached your cooler. Spend your first hour of shopping the way a judge eats: you are buying the chance to cook good meat.
Before you shop
- Read your contest’s rules and cooks’ packet first. They say what must be raw, what is inspected and when, and what may be brought. Bodies differ: KCBS allows manufacturer-enhanced product as labeled, and MBN does not allow meat that was injected or otherwise pre-treated before inspection.
- Buy more than you need and choose the best on trimming day. Most competition cooks buy a spare brisket or two and extra racks, butts and thighs, and cook the best of them.
- Plan the cold chain. Meat stays at 40°F or below from the counter to the cooker, so take a cooler, ice and a thermometer with you.
Brisket
Look for
- A whole packer: the flat and the point together, untrimmed, in its own vacuum bag. Cooks commonly choose 12 to 16 pounds.
- The grade. Prime and high Choice have the marbling that forgives a mistake. Select is lean and dries out. Marbling shows as fine white flecks through the flat.
- A thick, even flat and a point with real thickness. A flat that tapers to a thin tail cooks unevenly.
- A brisket that bends. Lift it from the middle of the flat: one that droops over your hand is usually more tender than one that stays stiff.
- A fat cap about a quarter inch thick, even across the top.
Leave it in the case
- Gray or brown patches, a sour smell when you open the bag, or a slick surface.
- A torn bag, or a bag with a lot of liquid pooled in it.
- Ice crystals or freezer burn. Some bodies allow frozen meat and some do not, so check yours.
- A thin flat, a very lean cap, or a brisket sold already trimmed when your recipe does not call for it.
Pork
Look for
- Bone-in Boston butts or whole shoulders, a rosy pink-red, with fine marbling and a firm white fat cap.
- The money muscle still in the butt. It is the tender muscle at the top, and a butcher who has trimmed the butt may have taken it out. Ask for untrimmed butts.
- Butts of about the same size, so they cook on the same clock.
Leave it in the case
- Pale, soft, watery pork, or a bag with liquid pooled in it.
- A label that says “enhanced”, “solution added” or “basted”. It can run salty and take a rub differently, and some contests restrict it. Decide on purpose.
Ribs
Look for
- Racks of the same kind, whether spare ribs, St. Louis cut or baby backs. Pick one and stay with it.
- Meat that covers the bones all the way to the ends and runs evenly thick down the rack. Bones showing at the ends are called shiners, and they mean the rack was shaved.
- Firm pink meat and white fat, and a rack that bends easily.
Leave it in the case
- Racks with a torn membrane, split bones or dry gray ends.
- Packs with liquid pooled in them, or ribs sold as enhanced.
- Racks of very different sizes, when you need six matching portions.
Chicken
Look for
- Bone-in, skin-on thighs of the same size, with whole, unbroken skin.
- Fresh, not frozen, with a sell-by date as far away as you can find.
- Air-chilled chicken, which has less added water and crisps better.
Leave it in the case
- Liquid pooled in the pack, a sour smell, or skin that is bruised or torn.
- A label that says the chicken is enhanced, basted or contains a percentage of solution.
- Thighs of very different sizes.
When to buy
Order anything special a week or two ahead. Pick up three or four days before the contest, so you can look at it properly, trim a test piece and fix a mistake. Do not plan to buy on Friday: the case is empty exactly when you need it.