A competition judge told me my bark was pretty but tasteless, so I fixed my rub

Last weekend at a small comp near Austin, one of the judges wrote on my scorecard that my brisket bark looked great but had zero flavor depth. I was using the same rub I'd thrown together for 2 years, mostly salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder. They said it felt like I was seasoning for color, not taste. I went home and added smoked paprika, a tiny bit of brown sugar, and some cumin, then let the meat sit for 4 hours before smoking. Next practice run, the bark tasted like the smoke and spice actually matched the meat. Has anyone else had a judge point out something obvious you'd been missing for ages?

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danielr9916d ago

You ever wonder if the judge was actually telling you your rub was boring, or that your smoke game was covering up what was already there? Sometimes you fix the wrong layer and the bark still comes up flat.