c/bbq-pitmasters

That one weekend my brisket turned into shoe leather and my smoker caught fire

Last Saturday I was feeling pretty good about my setup, you know? I had a 12 pound prime packer from Costco and a full bag of pecan wood. Then around 4 AM I woke up to a huge fireball coming out of my offset smoker (the firebox door had popped open somehow). Lost about 4 hours of cook time and ended up pulling the brisket early at 185 degrees just to save it. The flat was so dry it crumbled when I sliced it, but the point was actually okay after I wrapped it in foil with some beef broth. Has anyone else had a smoker fire that wrecked their whole cook timeline?

Found out the hard way that brisket stall temps vary by elevation

I moved from Texas to Denver last year and tried my usual 250 degree smoke on a 15 pound brisket. That thing stalled at 170 for almost 5 hours. Looked it up and water boils at 203 degrees here versus 212 at sea level. Anyone else had to adjust their pit temps after moving to a different altitude?

Threw down $200 on a Thermapen and it paid for itself in one weekend

I've been using those cheap $15 temp probes from Amazon for like 3 years and they were always off by 10-15 degrees. Last month I finally broke down and bought a Thermapen ONE because my brisket came out dry for the 4th time in a row. First cook with it I did 2 pork butts and a rack of ribs for a party. The accuracy difference was insane - I caught the stall way earlier and wrapped at the perfect temp. My butts came out so tender people asked where I got the BBQ from. I even tested it against my old probe in boiling water and the old one said 208F while the Thermapen said 212F right on the money. That $200 stung at first but one good cook saved me from wasting another $60 in meat. Has anyone else switched to a high end thermometer and noticed a big jump in their results?

Rant: The guy who told me to flip my brisket every 30 minutes still haunts me

Dude was dead serious at a competition in Kansas City last summer, said he learned it from his grandpa, and I tried it just to be polite, turned my bark into mush and wasted 12 hours of my life, has anyone else run into one of these backyard gurus with wild advice?

Smoked 50 pounds of pork shoulder for a party and ran out in 90 minutes

I thought 50 pounds was way too much but 40 people crushed it in an hour and a half, has anyone else totally misjudged how much meat a crowd will actually eat?

Heard a competition pitmaster say he only uses cherry wood for ribs now

I always mixed oak and apple, but after hearing him talk about the color and sweetness cherry adds, I tried a single rack with just cherry last weekend. The bark came out a deep mahogany red and everyone at the cookout noticed the difference. Anyone else stick to one wood for certain meats?

My $60 thermometer saved a brisket I was sure was ruined

I was running a brisket on my offset smoker last Saturday and the built-in lid gauge was reading 275. Felt something was off so I stuck my ThermoPro probe in there and it was actually 310. That $60 investment probably saved me from serving shoe leather to 12 people. Anyone else had a cheap thermometer nearly cost them a cook?

Old timers advice on wood chunks still sticks with me

I was at a competition in Kansas City two years ago, just watching the pros. This one guy, maybe 70 years old, saw me staring at his smoker setup. He walked over and told me to stop using those big chunks of hickory, said to break them into thumb-sized pieces instead. I tried it on my next pork shoulder and the smoke flavor came out way cleaner, no bitter taste. Has anyone else gotten a simple tip like that from someone at a comp that totally changed their cook?

I was dead set against electric smokers until my buddy's brisket changed my mind

For like 3 years I swore I'd never touch an electric smoker (you know, the whole "real pitmasters use fire" thing). But last month my friend Steve brought over a brisket from his Masterbuilt that had the most perfect smoke ring I've ever seen on a home setup. He let me watch his whole process and honestly? The temperature held at 225 for 8 hours without a single tweak. I finally caved and bought one on clearance last week, did a test batch of ribs that came out way better than my last charcoal cook. Has anyone else had a similar experience where you ate your words about a specific smoker type?

I think competition BBQ judges favor sweetness too much

I was looking at the score sheets from the American Royal last year and saw that a brisket with a heavy brown sugar and cherry coke injection scored 178 out of 180. Meanwhile a salt-and-pepper-only entry from Texas scored 168. Has anyone else noticed the judges lean towards sweet over beef flavor?

Pro tip: A judge told me my brisket was "too clean" and I had no idea what that meant

Last year at a local comp in Kansas City, I got a score sheet back that said my brisket was too clean. I was pissed at first but then I asked around. Turns out they meant I trimmed off too much fat and bark. I used to shape my briskets like a football with zero edges. Now I leave a thumb thick layer on the flat and don't scrape the fat cap down to nothing. My scores went up 15 points after that one change. Anyone else get a weird comment like that from a judge?

Took me 5 years to figure out I was trimming brisket wrong

Honestly, I always cut against the grain but I was slicing at the wrong angle the whole time, leaving tough chunks. A buddy watched me do it at a cookout in Austin and just laughed, then showed me how to find the grain shift mid-brisket. Anyone else have that moment where you realized you'd been messing up a basic move for years?

Shoutout to Franklin Barbecue for showing me what patience looks like

I finally made it down to Austin last weekend and stood in line at Franklin for 2 hours. Tbh I thought it was just hype but that brisket literally fell apart from the smoke ring alone. The way they manage that line and keep the meat consistent is wild, has anyone else been blown away by a pitmaster's setup like that?

My fire went out halfway through a pork butt smoke in my backyard

I was in my yard in Springfield and the temp dropped 50 degrees after a heavy rain. I had to move the whole cook to my oven to finish it, which actually worked fine. Anyone else had to rescue a cook like that?

Vent: My brisket stall lasted 8 hours yesterday and I almost gave up

I was cooking a 16-pounder for a family thing in Springfield and it just sat at 165 for what felt like forever. I kept the fire steady around 250, but man, that's the longest stall I've ever seen. Has anyone else had a brisket hold that long and still turn out okay?

Crossed 500 briskets smoked on my old offset, never thought I'd keep count that long

Started a notebook back in 2015 just for fun, and seeing that number made me realize how much muscle memory you build up over the years. What's a milestone that snuck up on you in your own cooking?

My buddy in Austin called my brisket 'brave' and I'm still thinking about it

We were at his place for a cookout and he said my bark was solid but the flat was a bit dry, then joked it was a 'brave choice' to serve it without wrapping. I've been a no-wrap purist for years, but hearing that from someone who just won a local rib contest hit different. Has anyone else had a trusted friend's comment make you totally question a long-held method?

Warning: I chose a pellet smoker over a stick burner for my first big brisket cook

Everyone at my local BBQ group in Omaha said a real pitmaster needs a stick burner, but I got a Traeger Ironwood for Christmas and decided to use it for a 14-pound packer brisket last weekend. It held a steady 225 degrees for the whole 16-hour cook, and the bark and smoke ring were honestly just as good as my buddy's offset results. Am I crazy for thinking pellet smokers can produce competition-level barbecue, or is the 'stick burner only' crowd just stuck in the past?

My offset smoker's firebox weld split right before a big cookout in Springfield

I had to wrap it with a high-heat gasket and a bunch of hose clamps to get through the day, but has anyone found a more permanent fix for a cracked firebox?

Can we talk about cheap digital thermometers?

I wasted $40 on a no-name one that was off by 25 degrees. My brisket came out tough because I pulled it too early. What brand do you all trust for accurate temps?

My brisket stalled for 8 hours and I almost gave up

I was smoking a 16 pound packer brisket for a family get together last weekend. The temp hit 165 degrees and just sat there, not moving at all, for what felt like forever. I checked my probes, my fire, everything, and it was still stuck after 8 full hours. I finally wrapped it in butcher paper and pushed through, and it turned out great, but man, that wait was nerve-wracking. Has anyone else had a stall last that long, and what did you do?

I finally hit 200 pounds of pork shoulder in a single weekend for a block party

I was just helping a friend with a big neighborhood event in St. Louis and we prepped a lot of meat. When we added it all up, it was over 200 pounds, which is way more than I've ever handled before. It meant running my offset smoker for almost 36 hours straight, swapping shifts with my buddy to keep the fire going. The real surprise was how consistent the bark stayed across all that meat, even with the weather changing. I guess all those late nights at the bar prepping for a rush actually helped with the timing. Has anyone else pushed their gear that hard for a single cook and been shocked by the results?

Shoutout to the guy who told me to wrap my ribs in foil with apple juice

I was at a cookout in Austin and my baby backs kept drying out no matter how low I kept the temp. This older guy saw me struggling and said 'wrap them in foil with a half cup of apple juice for an hour, trust me'. I did it, and they came out so tender they were falling off the bone. I've been doing it that way ever since. Anyone else have a weird wrap trick that actually works?

Vent: My brisket probe snapped clean off inside the meat during a 14-hour smoke yesterday.

I had to finish the cook by feel and the bark was a little too dark, but the inside was still perfectly juicy, so has anyone else had a probe fail and how did you handle it?

I just hit 200 briskets on my offset smoker and the number kind of spooked me.