c/bbq-pitmasters

Spent $200 on a custom offset smoker and it cured my thermometer obsession

I used to chase perfect temp gauges and bought a cheap offset for $150 that lied to me every cook. Got a used custom one for $200 from a guy in Alabama and now I just feel the metal and watch the smoke instead. Anyone else ditch fancy gear after trying a simple setup?

Old timer at a competition in KC told me I was overdoing the smoke

Back in 2018 at the American Royal, this guy named Hank walked past my booth and said "son, you're chasing flavor you can't taste" after he saw me adding wood chunks every hour. I was using hickory and cherry like a madman, trying to get that perfect ring but he told me to let the meat speak for itself and just use one wood. Cut back to straight oak and a lighter hand, and my ribs actually scored better the next year. Anyone else get a reality check from a veteran that changed how you fire your smoker?

Smoked a brisket for 14 hours and it came out like shoe leather

Last weekend I tried to smoke a 12 pound prime brisket on my old offset smoker. I was in Austin and the temperature kept dropping overnight, so I fought the fire all night trying to keep it at 225. By morning the bark was black and the meat was dry as a bone. I ended up chopping the whole thing up for chili because there was no saving it as sliced brisket. Has anyone else had a long smoke go sideways because of weather?

Went to a BBQ competition in Kansas City last weekend and saw something that worried me about food safety

A pitmaster in Lockhart told me I was choking my brisket with too much pepper rub

He said my bark was just black dust instead of a crust, so I cut the pepper by half and went way heavier on the salt. Now I get that deep mahogany color and actual crunch on the outside - has anyone else had to dial back their rub because of feedback like that?

My uncle laughed at me for using a $20 wireless thermometer

I bought this cheap wireless thermometer off Amazon and my uncle, who's been smoking meat for 30 years, said I was wasting money on junk that would fail mid-cook. Sure enough, two hours into a brisket at my backyard in Austin, the probe reading jumped from 185 to 300 and back again, and I pulled the meat early only to find it still tough. Has anyone found a budget thermometer under $50 that actually lasts more than a few smokes?

I was dead wrong about using a pellet smoker for brisket, but after 3 cooks I'm a believer

Swapped my offset for a Camp Chef at a buddy's insistence and the bark turned out way better than I thought, has anyone else been surprised by a pellet setup?

PSA: My offset smoker cracked mid-cook last Sunday morning

I was about 4 hours into a 10 pound pork shoulder when I heard this loud pop come from the firebox. Looked over and saw a hairline crack running along the weld near the bottom. Had to scramble to move the meat to my backup kettle grill while the temp dropped 40 degrees. I managed to finish the cook but the bark wasn't as good as usual. Has anybody else had a welder fix a crack like this or should I just buy a new smoker?

PSA: That pitmaster at the Franklin BBQ line changed my whole approach

Last summer I waited 3 hours in line at Franklin BBQ in Austin and ended up chatting with a pitmaster named Mike who was grabbing lunch on his day off. He watched me sauce my brisket and just shook his head, said 'you're covering up the smoke, not adding to it.' That one sentence made me stop using sauce altogether for the next 6 months. Has anyone else had a random pro call them out like that and actually take the advice?

That summer weekend the brisket stall nearly broke me

Back in 2017, I had a brisket stall for 9 hours straight. 105 degrees outside in Austin. My offset smoker fought me the whole time. Wrapped it in butcher paper finally at hour 12 and it came out perfect at 2 AM. Anyone else ever have a cook go way longer than you planned?

Why does nobody talk about resting ribs in a dry cooler

I found out by accident last month when my pit temp dropped 40 degrees mid cook. I had to hold 6 racks of spare ribs for almost 2 hours while I fixed the fire. Wrapped them in butcher paper and threw them in a dry cooler with no ice or heat. They came out way more tender than any batch I've ever made, and the bark stayed crunchy somehow. Has anyone else tried holding their ribs like this or am I onto something weird?

Just saw the numbers on whole hog vs brisket at a comp in Memphis

Sure, I can help rewrite that without the em dashes. Here's an alternative version: I was at the Memphis in May competition last month helping a buddy on his crew. He does whole hog and spent all night telling me about how much harder it is than just throwing on a packer brisket. I kinda brushed him off but then I looked at the official scoring sheets online when I got home. Turns out only 12 teams out of 200+ even entered whole hog this year. The top 3 finishers all did whole hog though and the winner got a 179 out of 180 on appearance alone. That surprised me because everyone always talks about brisket being the king of BBQ but the numbers clearly show whole hog is way more rare and seems to score better when it's done right. Has anyone else noticed this at their local comps or am I just seeing a one-off stat?

Pro tip: Stop using store bought rubs on brisket. Here's why I switched.

Used to just grab whatever rub was on sale at the grocery store for my briskets. Did that for like 3 years straight. Then I competed at a local cookoff in Austin last June and a pitmaster told me my bark tasted like salt with a side of chemicals. Switched to mixing my own rub with coarse black pepper and kosher salt, nothing else fancy. Has anyone else had a bad experience with pre-made rubs ruining a good cut of meat?

Shelled out $300 for a ceramic Kamado last spring and it's been sitting in my garage ever since

I got all excited watching Franklin's show and dropped some real cash on a used Big Green Egg off Craigslist thinking I'd be cooking brisket every weekend. Turns out I couldn't even get the temp to hold steady without constant babysitting and it just stressed me out more than my old rusty offset. Anybody else buy a pricey cooker that ended up being more hassle than it's worth?

Had to replace my old offset smoker after a bad brisket night

I spent $350 on a cheap offset smoker about 5 years ago and always thought it was good enough. Then last month I pulled three briskets off that thing and they all came out dry and tough with terrible bark. I ended up buying a used Oklahoma Joe for $500 off Facebook Marketplace and it holds temps way better. Has anyone else found that a decent smoker saves you more in meat than you spend on the upgrade?

Warning: that famous "low and slow" rule for brisket might be wrong

I was reading through some old BBQ forums and found a post from a guy who tested temps on 50 briskets. He said cooking at 275 instead of 225 saved 4 hours and the meat came out just as tender. I tried it last weekend on a 14 pounder and honestly the bark was way better. Everyone online swears by 225 but my results say different. Has anyone else pushed their smoker hotter and seen good results?

Found a 15 minute hot mop trick that stopped my smoker from leaking smoke

My offset smoker always had a thin gap around the firebox door that let smoke pour out no matter how I adjusted the latch. I tried gasket tape, felt, even tried smashing the door flatter with a hammer. Nothing worked for more than a few cooks. Then an old pitmaster told me to mix wood ash with a little water to make a paste and pack it into the gap while the smoker is hot. I did it after my last brisket cook when the temp was around 250. Let it set for 15 minutes and now the door seals tight as a drum. Has anyone else used something weird like that to fix a leak they couldn't get rid of?

Used to think wrapping brisket in foil was cheating, then I tried it on a 14 pounder

I was always a butcher paper guy, but my smoker ran out of fuel overnight and I had to save the cook. Throwing it in foil with some tallow at 165 brought the bark back and it finished in 2 hours. Anyone else find foil works better when you're in a time crunch?

Remembers when pitmasters actually talked to you about their cook instead of just staring at a phone

Last week I went to a competition in Memphis where this older fella spent 20 minutes explaining why he wraps his brisket in peach paper instead of foil. Nobody had a phone out the whole time. Makes me wonder when we lost that personal touch at these events?

Talked to an old pitmaster in Kansas City and it changed how I trim brisket

I was down in KC last month picking up some supplies and got to chatting with a guy named Earl who's been cooking competition ribs since the 80s. He told me I was leaving too much fat on the point side, like a quarter inch instead of just a thin layer. Said that extra fat doesnt render right and just makes the bark greasy instead of crunchy. I tried his method on a 14 pound prime packer this weekend and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else gotten a tip from an old timer that totally flipped your process?

My grandad's old offset smoker vs my new pellet grill

I remember helping my grandad fire up his old offset smoker back in 2003 in rural Alabama. We'd start at 4am with a bag of hickory chunks and a cheap chimney starter, babysitting that thing for 12 hours straight just to get a decent bark on a pork shoulder. Now I just set my pellet grill to 225 and go back to bed for 4 hours, it feels like cheating honestly. The flavor's different too, not as much of that deep smokey bite but way more consistent. I switched about 3 years ago after my grandad passed and I just couldn't keep up with the wood splitting and fire management with my crazy work schedule. Do you guys think the convenience trade off is worth missing that old school taste?

Last Saturday's brisket cook went sideways fast

I had a 15 pound brisket on my offset smoker and the damn wind kicked up hard around 3 AM. Temperature dropped from 250 to 180 in about 20 minutes and I lost the clean smoke. Ended up with a dry flat and a bite that felt like shoe leather. Anyone else deal with a sudden weather change ruining a long cook?

That time an old pitmaster in Lockhart told me to pull pork at 195, not 203

I was down in Lockhart last spring at Kreuz Market and got to chatting with one of the guys working the pit. He insisted I was overcooking my shoulders by waiting for 203 internal temp, said 195 was the sweet spot for moisture. I tried it on a 9 pound butt the next weekend (wrapped in butcher paper, no foil). The pork came out noticeably juicier and still pulled apart clean, plus I saved about an hour of cook time. Has anyone else tried pulling early like that or am I just lucky?

Rant: I trimmed my brisket fat the wrong way for 12 years

Had a buddy from Kansas City come over last Saturday to help with a cook. He watched me trim the fat cap and just stopped me. Said I was taking off too much from the point end. I always thought you trim it even all the way across. He showed me to leave a thicker layer near the flat so it bastes itself while it cooks. All my briskets have been dry on one side this whole time and I never knew why. Anyone else figure out they've been doing a basic step wrong for years?

Swapped my offset stick burner for a ceramic kamado last month at a competition in Kansas City

I was always dead set on stick burning being the only way to get real smoke flavor. Then I went to a KCBS event in Kansas City and walked past a guy using a Big Green Egg who took reserve in chicken. He let me try a bite of his brisket and I couldn't tell the difference honestly. The bark was still solid and the smoke ring was there. He said he just adds wood chunks and it runs steady for 12 hours without babysitting. Now I'm selling my offset on Craigslist and saving for a used kamado. Has anyone else made the switch and regretted giving up the fire tending?