From the Houston Chronicle today

[rexster]

Check this out. 58 people paid $500 each to attend this 2 day seminar. Good tips at the end of the article

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/food/article/This-camp-lets-you-obsess-about-brisket-5163394.php?cmpid=btfpm#/0

[Ka Honu]

Apparently you need to be a subscriber to the Houston Chronicle to access the article.

[iceman]

Bummer! Can't read the article.

[rexster]

Sorry , thought it was an open site

[TedEbear]

"To continue reading this story, you will need to be a digital subscriber to HoustonChronicle.com."

If it's not too big of an article can you copy and paste it on here?

[rexster]

Nobody sets out to make just OK smoked brisket. But ask anyone who has tried to barbecue the notoriously difficult cut of beef, and they'll tell you the many ways brisket can go wrong. Temperature, seasoning, type of wood smoke, cooking time and even the amount of fat trimmed before it hits the pit are variables that, when improperly applied, can take brisket down myriad dead ends. The path to even average barbecued brisket, it seems, is full of good intentions.

But when brisket is good - when the art of barbecue converges with the science of smoke and heat - it is a glorious, life-changing thing. To take one of the lowest cuts of beef and transform it into that melt-in-the-mouth pinnacle of Texas cuisine is the holy grail of barbecue; it's that elusive thing that every smoke-soaked barbecue practitioner chases.





And getting there could take a lifetime.

Or it could be as easy as enrolling in Camp Brisket. A collaboration between Foodways Texas (an organization dedicated to preserving Texas food culture) and the meat-science faculty of Texas A&M University, Camp Brisket is an intensive two-day study in every aspect of barbecue brisket - from the hoof to the plate. When tickets went on sale last summer, the event sold out in five hours. Only 58 students, who paid $500 each, got into the class held recently at A&M.

Students of 'cue came from throughout the country - Washington, North Carolina, Arizona and Colorado. But the majority were from Texas, many from Houston. Some were restaurateurs and wannabe pitmasters, some competition barbecuers, some dedicated weekend smokers. And some just came to have fun.

But what united them all was the love of Central Texas-style barbecue, specifically brisket, which many consider the state's quintessential food. It's certainly the state's buzziest food, given the recent spike in interest in Texas barbecue. As Jeff Savell, professor of meat science at A&M's animal science department, put it: Texas has three food groups - barbecue, chicken fried steak and Tex-Mex.

"Nobody is standing in line for chicken fried steak and Tex-Mex," he correctly observed. "But they are for barbecue."

Trending outside Texas

Camp Brisket is an outgrowth of Foodways Texas' annual Barbecue Summer Camp, an intense, three-day immersion into all things barbecue that's now in its fourth year. Summer Camp started just as Texas began a new, romantic interest in barbecue. Barbecue runs to Central Texas, the opening of new barbecue joints, the publication of books dedicated to Texas barbecue and the rise of barbecue blogs over the past couple of years all contributed to a still-blooming Texas barbecue renaissance. At the same time, the rest of the world was quickly wising up to the glories of Texas smoked meats.

Daniel Vaughn, the barbecue editor for Texas Monthly and the author of "The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue," said that we've only scratched the fatty tip of the barbecue iceberg. "I think it's really just starting," he said, explaining that Texas-style barbecue is taking hold in the United Kingdom and already has traction in places such as Tokyo, Paris and Vienna.

Why? It's unique. It's practically imprinted in Texas DNA. And it's darn close to a religion. "For anyone who has experienced Texas barbecue, it's not something you easily forget," Vaughn said.

That visceral memory of superlative barbecue is intense.

It's why Ed Doerr and five fellow members of the Houston-based Brisket Cases barbecue team enrolled in the camp. They want a better shot at placing at the World's Championship Bar-B-Que competition at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

It's why Phil Carter, executive chef at Paco's Tacos and Tequila in Charlotte, N.C., nabbed a seat at the symposium of smoke and meat: "We want to do what we can to make our barbecue better."

And it's what compelled Kevin Whitaker, a general contractor in Houston, to open a barbecue restaurant in Michigan last summer. He said he used his knowledge from the first Camp Brisket to open Frontier BBQ in a part of the country that is unfamiliar with the lusty satisfactions of good barbecue.

First, the science ...

"Low and slow" is the common mantra for achieving enviable brisket. If only it were that easy. Every student in the class was familiar with brisket calamities - the over-seasoned crust, the non-existent smoke ring, the dreaded "stall" (a point in smoking when meat hits a wall and stops cooking), the agonies of unrendered fat, the humiliation of a tough chew.

It should be easy, said Aaron Franklin, owner of the universally admired Franklin Barbecue in Austin, which Bon Appetit magazine declared the country's best barbecue. "It's just meat and fire. It's painfully simple," said Franklin, one of the pitmasters invited to speak at Camp Brisket. "But there's not one clear answer."

And that's the most vexing thing about trying to achieve the kind of brisket that made Franklin famous: So many variables can derail your efforts. The A&M meat-science professors put together an exhaustive curriculum covering the entirety of brisket knowledge: anatomy, smoke science, wood choice, seasoning, fire construction, cooking duration and temperature, cutting techniques, and pit design and maintenance. But if one of those variables isn't in harmony, brisket can suffer.

And then there's the not-insignificant factor of time. "Patience is probably the biggest problem with barbecue," Franklin said. Savell agrees: "One of the challenges of barbecue is we're impatient beings," he said. "We want it cooked quicker so we can eat quicker."

So how do barbecue lovers get better at the game? Practice. And being methodical.

"To me, the most important part of barbecue is achieving consistency," said Kevin Kolman, grill master for Weber Grills in Chicago, one of the Camp Brisket speakers. "You want to get more regimented. The more regimented, the more consistent you'll be."

Savell added that consistency is key: Backyard barbecuers need to be repetitive when cooking.

Kolman said achieving consistency in the "science" aspects of the process (pit, wood, temperature, etc.) allows barbecue fans to spend more time in the "art." "Everyone out here is chasing the art of barbecue," he said. "It's all about wanting to be like them just one day in your life."

Rock stars of the pit

Ah, them - the pitmasters asked to speak to Camp Brisket. "Them" would be Franklin, who is so famous he can be seen on American Express commercials on TV every night of the week; Bryan Bracewell, owner of Southside Market & Barbecue in Elgin, one of the state's most iconic smokers known for its "hot guts" sausage; and Wayne Mueller, third-generation pitmaster of the legendary Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor.

Though Texas pitmasters at the state's top barbecue joints are the current rock stars of the foodie realm, Franklin, Bracewell and Mueller put themselves in the same shoes as the students at Camp Brisket. They're just guys who want to make something good to eat. Bracewell said his life is routine: "I get up every day, put on my boots and start a fire." But it's a routine invested with generations of meaning. "It's not just a brisket. It's the love it took to put it on the table. Everyone wants to be loved."

The pitmasters, though humble, are quite aware of the barbecue juggernaut they're part of. And their responsibilities within that surge.

"One of Texas' greatest exports now is Texas brisket and beef barbecue," Mueller said. "This cuisine - this subgroup of a cuisine - is a phenomenon. I have never seen anything like it. It has teeth. It's visceral. It's spreading across the globe. Texas-style barbecue has found a new love, and it's taking over."

Savell said he continues to marvel at the rise of Texas barbecue devotion - especially for brisket. "What's driving people is incredible flavor. It's the combination of perfect seasoning, perfect char and perfect cooking," he said. "Every slice has a piece of bark and the smoky flavor people are looking for. People are not excited about boring, blah brisket. They're excited about spectacular brisket."

And yet among the umpteen briskets cooked and consumed during the camp - a variety of grades of meat, different seasonings and various woods - none could be called spectacular. Sure, some approached remarkable. But there's a good reason that people stand in line at Franklin Barbecue, Louie Mueller and Southside. And places such as Black's Barbecue and Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Snow's BBQ in Lexington, City Market in Luling, Pecan Lodge in Dallas, and Gatlin's and Virgie's in Houston.

Camp Brisket wasn't a magic wand. But for those who participated, it was an invaluable primer. It was also an opportunity to bond with fellow barbecue geeks. It was a chance to rub shoulders with superstars. And another step in the path to more than just OK brisket.



Tips from Camp Brisket

The important take-away from 2014 Camp Brisket at Texas A&M University was that consistency will help achieve better barbecue brisket. Anthony Compofelice, a Woodlands resident who works in strategic planning for an energy company, has attended both Camp Brisket and Barbecue Summer Camp because he wants to improve his barbecue skills and up his competitive game.

Good brisket can be achieved by following five steps. "Those factors produce what people today in Texas deem (brisket) worth waiting for," he said. "People like the Aaron Franklins are practicing these five steps with consistency."

1Mmm, fat: Trim meat to about ¼-inch of fat, which will produce brisket with the right amount of edible fat. "When it's done, you want a slice with the right amount of fat instead of having to trim fat after cooking."2'Tis the seasoning: The right amount of proper seasoning. This is a personal preference. (Many brisket practitioners use only salt and pepper.)3Smokin' hot: Imbuing the meat with a pronounced smoke flavor. The choice of wood is an individual thing. But there is such a thing as over-smoking and an over-pronounced smoke flavor.4Perfect temp: Cooking the brisket to the right temperature of 185-190 degrees (internal temperature). "185-190 seems to be the sweet spot for a good place between too tough and 'fall-apart' slices. "The collagen starts to break down after about 160-170 degrees, so it's a matter of taking the brisket out before it melts to the point that when you slice it, the pieces don't just fall apart (usually happens above 200 degrees)." 5Staying moist: Wrapping the brisket in paper after it's taken off the smoker and letting it rest so that juices don't run out when you slice it.

[iceman]

Thanks rexster. Good reading.