c/bbq-pitmasters

I had a grease fire on my offset smoker last summer in Austin

I was cooking a pork shoulder for a family get together. Got distracted talking to my brother in law and didn't notice the temp climbing. Next thing I know flames are shooting out the top. I panicked and shut all the vents which just made it worse. Ended up spraying it with a hose and ruining the meat. Had to order pizza for 12 people. Still don't know if there's a better way to handle that fast. Anyone else ever had a grease fire get out of hand?

Spent $80 on a fancy wireless meat thermometer and it died after 3 cooks

I bought this Meater+ thing last month thinking it was gonna be the best thing for my brisket cooks. Worked great the first two times, no issues. Third time I used it on a pork shoulder, the probe just stopped connecting to my phone mid-cook. Tried everything, resetting it, new batteries, nothing worked. Their customer service told me it's out of the return window and offered me a 20% off coupon for a new one. Has anyone else had these wireless probes crap out on them way too fast?

Rant: I used to think pellet grills were cheating until I tasted one at a competition

I was at a Kansas City BBQ contest last month and this guy named Dave won 3rd place in brisket using a Traeger. I walked over to talk with him after and he explained how he mixes hickory and cherry pellets for the smoke flavor. He showed me his temperature logs and the bark on that brisket was dark and even. I realized the wood still burns and creates smoke, it's just automated. So I bought a used Pit Boss off Facebook for $200 and I'm giving it a shot. Has anyone else switched from stick burning to pellets after tasting good results?

Why does nobody talk about how pellet grills can't actually smoke meat properly?

Saw a competition pitmaster use a garden sprayer for sauce

I was at a local cookoff in Austin last month and watched this guy with 30 trophies spritz his ribs with a $15 hardware store sprayer. Everyone around me was using fancy mops and expensive bottles. Made me wonder if we are all just overthinking our setup when the basics do the job.

Can we talk about how long it took me to get a Brisket right

I spent like 8 months trying to nail a full packer brisket on my offset smoker in Kansas City. Turns out my fire management was all off and I was letting temps swing by 50 degrees every hour. Finally had a buddy from a competition team come over and he fixed my coal layout in 10 minutes flat. Anyone else spend way too long fighting something simple?

Weekend of record-breaking brisket at my neighbor's cookoff

Three weekends ago I entered a local backyard competition in Austin and somehow took first place with a brisket that I almost tossed because the stall lasted 4 hours. The judges said the bark was the best they'd seen all day, which was crazy because I ran out of post oak and used mesquite scraps from my buddy's firepit. Has anyone else had a lucky accident like that totally save your cook?

Thermometer probe failed mid-pork butt cook yesterday

My ThermoPro probe went haywire at 3am showing 212°F when the meat was clearly still tough. Had to finish that 14lb butt by feel and it came out okay but I was sweating bullets.

I finally stopped soaking my wood chips before smoking

My neighbor who won 3rd place at the Memphis in May competition told me soaking just makes steam instead of clean smoke. Tried it dry on a pork shoulder last Sunday and the bark came out way better. Anyone else ditch the soak?

Spent 3 hours trying to figure out why my smoke wasn't thin and blue

Turns out I was using damp wood chunks from a rainy week in Atlanta and it took my buddy walking over and pointing at the pile for me to finally get it, has anyone else chased a simple problem for way too long?

Swapped my offset for a ceramic last spring and found my sweet spot

Used to babysit my stick burner for 12 hours straight on brisket cooks, always fighting temperature swings. Picked up a Kamado Joe at a garage sale for $150 and finally got consistent bark without losing sleep. Anyone else ditch their fire management headaches for a ceramic rig?

PSA: Hit 100 briskets this weekend and I was shocked at the failure rate

I kept a log since I started smoking three years ago, and Sunday marked brisket number 100. What got me is that out of those, 23 turned out dry or tough enough that I wouldn't serve them to guests. That's almost a quarter of my cooks just not hitting the mark. I thought I had it figured out after the first 20, but the mistakes kept sneaking in - bad trim, wrong temp spikes, not resting long enough. The last one I messed up was just last month when I pulled at 195 instead of waiting for 203 and it came out like shoe leather. Has anyone else tracked their numbers and found a pattern to the fails?

Was skeptical about using wood chips soaked in whiskey on my smoker

Friend of mine swore it gave a deeper flavor than just water-soaked chips on a pork shoulder. I tried it last weekend with some cheap bourbon and a 7-pound butt, honestly thought it would be a gimmick. The bark came out with this subtle sweetness that my regular applewood recipe never gets. Anyone else experiment with booze-soaked chips for longer cooks like brisket?

Shoutout to the guy who showed me why kamado grills beat offset smokers for weeknight cooks

Been backyard BBQing for about 3 years now, mostly on a cheap Oklahoma Joe offset. Loved the flavor but man, it's a project every time - getting the fire dialed in takes 45 minutes easy. Last Tuesday my neighbor John brought over his little Kamado Joe Jr for a quick burger cook and I watched him light it, close the lid, and have it at 350 steady in maybe 12 minutes. The fuel efficiency was crazy too - he used maybe half a chimney of lump and it held temp for 45 minutes while we ate. I mean, I get that offsets give you that thin blue smoke magic, but for a Tuesday night when I'm tired from work, the kamado just works better. Has anyone else switched from one to the other and regretted it or am I missing something?

Took me 3 cooks to realize I was choking my fire with too much wood

I kept loading up my offset smoker with big splits thinking more smoke meant more flavor, but I was getting bitter meat every time. A friend watched me cook and said my fire was smoldering instead of burning clean, and the lightbulb finally went off. Anyone else struggle with finding the right balance between wood and airflow for good blue smoke?.

Appreciation post: Finally got my brisket bark right after 4 tries

I kept seeing folks online say to wrap in foil when the stall hits, but that was making my bark all soft and mushy. Last weekend I tried butcher paper instead and left it unwrapped until 170 internal temp. The difference was night and day - that deep black crust finally held together. Has anyone else switched to paper and noticed a big change in their bark?

My offset smoker rusted through after just 2 years

I bought a cheap offset smoker from a big box store back in 2022, thinking a $250 pit would get me started. Last weekend I went to fire it up for a brisket cook and noticed a dime sized hole in the firebox. The metal was just paper thin and completely rusted out. I patched it with some high temp epoxy and a steel plate but it only held for one cook. Saturday it blew out again during a pork shoulder smoke and I lost the whole cook. That convinced me to stop cheaping out on gear. I ended up ordering a 1/4 inch thick reverse flow smoker from a Texas builder. Has anyone else had luck patching thin offset smokers or is it always a losing battle?

Vent: That brisket stall at 165F had me ready to quit last weekend

Used a Fireboard probe and watched my $90 packer brisket sit at 165F for almost 3 hours before I finally wrapped it in butcher paper. Has anyone else found that wrapping earlier saves the bark or am I just impatient lol?

I always thought wrapping brisket in foil was cheating until a 3AM stall changed my mind

I was at my buddy's place in Waco last weekend for a backyard cook. My first brisket hit 160 and stayed there for almost 4 hours. He grabbed the foil and said 'trust me.' I was ready to fight him over it, but I was out of charcoal and tired. We wrapped it, bumped the heat to 275, and it was done in 2 more hours. That thing came out tender and juicy. I felt like I sold out, but the family ate it all. Has anyone else given in to the crutch and regretted or loved it?

My first brisket took 18 hours and came out like shoe leather.

I used to just slap a whole packer on the smoker at 225 and hope for the best, no wrap, no thermometer, just vibes. Last month I finally started wrapping in butcher paper at 165 and actually resting it for 2 hours in a cooler, and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else dealt with that learning curve where you just didn't know about the stall?

A judge at my first comp told me my brisket was 'wet sawdust'

I was pissed at first but he was right. I was wrapping too early around 150 and sealing in all that moisture which made the texture mushy. He told me to wait until the bark set fully around 170-175 before wrapping and my last three briskets actually had that clean bite through. Anyone else get brutally honest feedback that stung at first but fixed your cook?

Swapped my usual apple wood for pecan on a brisket last weekend

I always use apple for everything but tried pecan on a 15lb packer and the flavor was way deeper, almost nutty and sweet at the same time. The bark came out darker and crunchier too. Anyone else find a wood that totally changed their cook?

I called BS on wood pellet smokers for years until I tried one at a competition

I always figured electric and pellet smokers were for people who couldn't be bothered to learn fire management. Stuck to my offset smoker for 8 years, never looked twice at the pellet guys. Then at a competition in Memphis last October, a guy named Frank offered me a bite of his brisket from a Traeger. It had this perfect smoke ring and the bark was actually crunchy, not soft like I expected. He let me watch his cook, and I saw how consistent his temps held for 18 hours straight. I ended up buying a used pellet smoker for $200 off Facebook Marketplace just to test my bias. Now I use it for weeknight cooks, but the offset still comes out for big weekends. Anyone else have a similar change of heart about something in the BBQ world?

Most people are overlooking their smoke color during a cook

I was watching a buddy run his offset last Saturday in Nashville and he kept loading white smoke onto a brisket for 3 hours. He swore it tasted fine but I could smell the creosote from 10 feet away. A clean thin blue smoke is what you want, not that thick white stuff that makes the meat bitter. Anyone else had to explain this to someone mid cook?

That competition judge told me my bark was too thick and I felt stupid

I spent 6 months perfecting a heavy rub layer on my pork butts because I thought more bark equaled more flavor, then a KCBS judge at a small contest in Wichita told me it was overpowering the meat. I cut my rub amount by half and started using a lighter hand with the smoke, and my scores went up by 15 points the very next weekend. Has anyone else had to dial back what they thought was a signature technique because someone told them it was too much?