c/bbq-pitmasters

18

morgan.logan•15h ago

My neighbor's brisket advice was completely backwards

Old Mr. Henderson who's been smoking meat since the 70s told me to always wrap my brisket at 150 degrees internal temp. Followed his advice for about 2 years and always got decent but not great results. Last month I read a post from a pitmaster in Kansas City who said to wait until 170 before wrapping. Tried it on my last cook and the bark was way better and the meat actually stayed more moist. I guess even the old timers can be wrong about some things. Has anyone else been given advice that turned out not to hold up?

8

the_thomas•5d ago

Pulled pork got rubbery after resting in a cooler in Tucson

I was at a backyard cookout last Saturday in Tucson, about 110 degrees outside. I finished my pork shoulder at 203 internal, wrapped it in foil and towels, and put it in a cooler to rest. After two hours when I pulled it, the meat was tough and rubbery instead of tender. Turns out the cooler temp dropped too fast because the ambient heat outside made me open and close the lid too many times checking on sides. Anyone else had a rest go bad because of crazy outside temps?

14

the_avery•6d ago

Unpopular opinion: I chose charcoal over propane for my first competition and it almost cost me

Everyone at the Austin cook-off told me to use propane for consistency, but I went with charcoal because I love that smoky flavor. I ended up running out of fuel halfway through brisket and had to borrow from a neighbor, barely made the deadline. Has anyone else stuck with charcoal and regretted it or found a way to make it work under pressure?

8

irismartinez•6d ago

Spent 6 hours trying to get a consistent smoke ring on brisket before figuring out the issue

I've been smoking meat for about 4 years now, and last weekend I had a real head-scratcher. I had a beautiful 14 pound brisket from a farm outside Austin, and I couldn't get any kind of smoke ring to show up. I tried everything - different wood, more smoke, less smoke, spritzing, not spritzing. I even swapped out my charcoal for a fresh bag of B&B briquettes. After about six hours of messing with it, I finally realized my fire was burning too clean. I had the vents open too wide, and there wasn't enough dirty smoke hitting the meat. Closed them down a bit and within an hour I had a nice pink ring forming. Has anyone else had this problem where you overthink the simple stuff?

10

nancy475•9d ago

Tried soaking wood chips in apple juice for 6 hours before smoking

Saw it on a random YouTube comment and figured why not. Threw a handful of soaked apple wood chips on the coals during a pork butt cook last Saturday. Instead of that nice thin blue smoke, I got a big cloud of white steam that killed my temp for 20 minutes. The bark came out bitter and tasted more like burnt juice than smoke. Learned my lesson: dry wood only now. Has anyone else had better luck with this method or was that guy just messing with people?

22

gracewebb•10d ago

Tried wrapping my brisket in butcher paper instead of foil this time around

I've been doing foil for like 15 years and finally gave butcher paper a shot on a 15lb prime packer from Costco. The bark came out way better but I swear it took an extra 2 hours to get through the stall. Ended up pulling it at 203 and it was juicy but not as tender as my usual foil method. Has anyone else had a similar switch change their cook times that much?

1

thompson.nathan•10d ago

Tried a reverse sear on a brisket last weekend and it turned out dry as a bone

I've been doing the classic low and slow wrap method for years, but that piece of meat looked so good I wanted to try something different. After 8 hours at 225 and a quick sear on the grill, the bark was perfect but the flat was like shoe leather. Did I mess up the timing or is reverse sear just not meant for brisket?

6

aaron884•11d ago

I passed on a Traeger and built my own offset smoker instead. No regrets after 8 months.

My buddy kept pushing me to get a Traeger for convenience. But I wanted more control over the smoke flavor. So I spent $150 on steel and a welder rental and built a 55 gallon drum offset in my garage. First few cooks were rough, temp swings all over. But after tuning the draft and adding a baffle plate, I got a brisket last month that beat anything off his pellet grill. Takes more work for sure, but the bark and smoke ring are way better in my experience. Anyone else go the DIY route instead of buying a brand name rig?

10

dianal94•13d ago

Shoutout to the guy who sold me a used WSM 22 for $40

Picked it up from a guy in Raleigh three years ago and it's still holding temp better than my buddy's brand new offset that cost 20 times as much.

24

terry_carter15•14d ago

Smoker fire got me thinking: electric vs charcoal for overnight cooks

My WSM caught fire on me two weeks ago during a 14 hour brisket cook in Nashville. Damn grease fire melted my temp probe wires and ruined the bark. I've always been charcoal only, but after that night I'm wondering if electric smokers are more reliable for long unattended burns. Electric keeps steady temp no question, but you lose that smoke flavor. A buddy swears by his pellet grill for overnight cooks and hasn't looked back. Is sacrificing flavor worth the peace of mind for an all night cook? Anyone else have a smoker fail on them during a long session?

0

phoenix_thompson4•15d ago

Had a Saturday last month where every brisket I pulled was money

I don't know what happened but it was like the meat gods smiled on me. Started at 6am with three USDA primes from Costco, rubbed them with the same stuff I always use, and every single one hit 203 degrees perfect and held for hours. My bark was black glass and the smoke ring was half an inch deep. Anyone else ever have a day where you just could not mess up no matter what?

20

avery_lopez•16d ago

Took me 3 years to figure out my offset smoker had a leak I couldn't see

I bought a used offset smoker from a guy in Nashville back in 2021 and fought with temps the whole time. Thought it was just my fire management being trash, kept buying different wood chunks and adjusting airflow. Turns out there was a hairline crack along the weld near the firebox that only showed up when it got hot and expanded. I finally found it by running a dollar bill around every seam while smoking a butt one night. Has anyone else spent forever chasing a problem that was just a simple mechanical issue?

3

the_thomas•18d ago

Swapped my charcoal chimney for a heat gun and never looked back

I used to swear by a standard charcoal chimney starter for getting my coals going, but after 3 years of fighting with newspaper and lighter fluid I grabbed a Milwaukee M18 heat gun for $89 at Home Depot last spring. It lights a full chimney of lump charcoal in under 90 seconds with zero ash blowing into my face. Has anyone else ditched the old method for something faster for their offset or kettle?

12

margaret_williams5•18d ago

Burned $120 on a cheap offset smoker from a big box store

Thin metal warped after three cooks and I couldn't hold 225 to save my life. Anyone else learn the hard way that you're better off saving for a thicker gauge?

6

gavin_hill27•24d ago

Quit obsessing over internal temps for brisket years ago

I used to be religious about pulling at 203 degrees exactly until a buddy who cooks on a Lang 84 in Kansas City told me to go by feel. One day I probed a brisket at 195 that was butter soft and it clicked. Anyone else ditch the thermometer and just go by touch?

32

kevin_harris78•25d ago

Switched from Kingsford to lump charcoal back in 2019 and never looked back

I used to be a die hard Kingsford guy. Had my chimney, my routine, everything down pat. Then I went to a competition in Austin and this old timer let me try a brisket off his offset using B&B lump. The flavor difference was night and day. Idk if it's just me but now I can't go back. The clean burn and higher heat just makes everything better. Anyone else make the switch and feel like it changed their whole cook?

18

faith684•25d ago

Hit 500 briskets smoked last Saturday and it hit different

I keep a little notebook of every brisket I've done since 2017, and last weekend I pulled number 500 off my offset smoker at 6 AM. Looking back at the early entries, I ruined a $90 prime packer with wet wood and no patience, but now I can feel the stall without even looking at the probe. How do you track your own progress or milestones in this hobby?

15

the_robin•25d ago

Rubbed my brisket with cheap salt from the gas station and ruined a whole cook

Last Saturday I had to grab some kosher salt from a Shell station when my store was closed, and that stuff had this weird metallic aftertaste that totally killed the bark on my 14-pound prime packer, has anyone else noticed a difference between cheap salt and the good stuff?

19

felixlee•26d ago

PSA: Don't buy a cheap offset smoker from a big box store

I picked up a $250 offset smoker from Home Depot last spring because I wanted to get into brisket without breaking the bank. The metal was so thin you could see light through the firebox seams on day one. After three cooks the paint started peeling and the temp swings were wild, like 50 degrees every time I added wood. I ended up spending another $180 on gasket tape and a better thermometer just to make it usable. That cheap smoker cost me more in frustration and add-ons than just saving for a proper one. Has anyone else wasted money on a thin metal offset and regretted it?

12

reesea49•26d ago

Vent: That 'low and slow' rule for ribs might be a myth

I was reading through some old BBQ forums last weekend and stumbled on a post from a guy who tested pork ribs at different temps. He cooked three racks at 225, one at 275, and one at 350. The 350 rack was done in under two hours and supposedly came out just as tender. That blew my mind because everyone online swears by 225 for hours. I've been doing 225 for six hours on spare ribs for years now. Tried the 275 method on a rack last Sunday and it was done in four hours. Honestly tasted the same to me but with a better bark. Anyone else try cranking the heat up on ribs or am I missing something?

7

phoenix_thompson4•27d ago

I finally found out why my brisket stall was always so long

Been watching Franklin's BBQ videos for years and last week I caught this one detail he mentioned about the bark formation. Turns out if your bark isn't set enough before you wrap, the stall drags out way longer. I always thought it was just about internal temp. Checked my last cook data and I was wrapping like an hour too early every time. Anyone else run into this and figure out a better timing?

6

taylor.amy•1mo ago

Update on my brisket technique after a judge tore it apart

I entered a brisket in a competition in Kansas City last month. One of the judges wrote on the card that my bark was soft because I spritzed too much during the cook. I thought more moisture was always better but they said it was steaming the outside. I cut my spritzing down to once every 2 hours and swapped from apple juice to just water. My last practice brisket had a way better crunch on the outside. Has anyone else had to dial back their spritzing to get better bark?

24

the_holly•1mo ago

Got my smoker reading all wrong at a comp in Memphis last month

I set up my offset at a competition in Memphis last month and trusted my dome thermometer like always. Turns out it was off by 40 degrees the whole time, so my brisket came out way undercooked. A pitmaster from the next stall over lent me a probe thermometer and showed me how to check it near the grate. Now I'm wondering if I should just buy a wireless setup or stick with a wired one. Has anyone else had a dome thermometer mess up their cook like this?

10

xena1•1mo ago

Switched from hickory to pecan wood on my last brisket and had to eat my words

I've always been a hickory guy (you know, the "real" BBQ smoke) but tried pecan on a whim since my usual supplier was out. The flavor was way milder and sweeter than I expected, actually let the beef taste come through instead of just smoke. Has anyone else found a wood that surprised them compared to what they usually use?

15

kelly385•1mo ago

I was wrong about brisket resting times...

I always thought letting it rest an hour was plenty, but I saw a BBQ competition team at a local cookoff in Nashville let theirs rest for 4 hours in a cambro. The difference in the juice retention was night and day, the slices practically glistened. Has anyone else tried resting that long on a home setup?