Hot take: I quit chasing the perfect temp on my offset and started reading the fire instead
At the American Royal in Kansas City two years back my brisket stalled at 165 and I panicked and opened the lid three times in ten minutes, and a pitmaster from Lockhart leaned over and said "quit staring at the gauge, look at the smoke color," which fixed my whole cook and now I want to know if anyone else ditched the thermometer for the look and smell.