c/bbq-pitmasters

Got a random tip from a guy at a comp in Kansas City that fixed my brisket stall instantly

He told me to wrap in butcher paper as soon as the bark sets instead of waiting for the stall and it cut my cook time by almost 2 hours. Has anyone else tried pulling earlier like that or am I just lucky?

Did backyard charcoal guys notice a big drop in searing power after they switched to those lower-grade briquettes?

I've been doing competition-style ribs and steaks for about 5 years now, mostly on a Weber kettle with Royal Oak lump. Last summer I ran out and grabbed a bag of the cheap store-brand briquettes from the gas station near my house in Austin. My steaks took almost 8 minutes longer to get a good crust on them compared to the lump stuff I used before. I timed it too - same thickness of ribeye, same grill setup, just different fuel. The briquettes burned way cooler and left a ton of ash that clogged my vents halfway through. A buddy of mine swears the cheaper stuff is fine if you let it burn down longer, but that just uses more fuel and time. Has anyone else noticed this kind of before-and-after drop when switching fuel types, or am I just imagining things?

Hit my 50th rack of ribs this weekend without noticing

I was cleaning out my smoker log book on Sunday. Realized I hit 50 racks of ribs this season. That's not counting the ones I messed up early on. I just kept cooking through trial and error. Anyone else ever lose track of a milestone like that?

Best brisket I ever made happened on a random Tuesday

I had a cheap flat from Costco and figured why not try it. After 14 hours on my old offset smoker near Tulsa, the bark set perfectly and it sliced like butter. Anybody else have a cook that just worked for no good reason?

Vent: Talked to a pitmaster from Kansas City who said wrapping in foil is cheating

He told me after 20 years of cooking comps he's never once used foil and thinks it just steams the meat instead of building bark, and now I'm sitting here wondering if I've been ruining my brisket this whole time - anyone else ever get called out like that and have to rethink their whole process?

Put a whole brisket on at 225 and it stalled for 6 hours before I gave up

I was following the Franklin method and everything was fine until internal temp hit 165 and just sat there forever. Wrapped it in butcher paper around hour 8 but by then the bark was already tough and the flat dried out. Has anyone else dealt with a stall that long or should I just bump the temp up to 275 next time?

Watched a guy in Kansas City ruin a whole rack of ribs because he kept opening the smoker

I was at a backyard comp in Overland Park last summer and this dude could not stop peeking. Every 20 minutes he was lifting the lid to check on his ribs. By hour 4 his bark was gone and the meat was dry as chalk. He spent $70 on those ribs and served them to 6 judges who all gave him 4s. Has anyone else seen somebody sabotage themselves with too much fussing?

Saw a guy in Lockhart using a hair dryer on his brisket

I was down at Smitty's Market last Saturday and this pitmaster pulled out a cheap hair dryer to blow ash off his coals before adding fresh wood. Never seen that trick before, but it worked way cleaner than a bellows or a towel. Has anyone else tried this or is this guy just a madman?

Finally hit 225 degrees after 8 hours on a WSM 18

Been messing with my Weber Smokey Mountain for about 6 months now and last weekend I finally nailed a consistent 225 degrees for a full 8 hour cook on a pork butt. I used the minion method with a full ring of Kingsford and 9 lit briquettes on top. The temp held steady from midnight till 8am with no fiddling. Has anyone else struggled with temp swings on the 18 inch model or is it just me being impatient?

That tip about wrapping brisket in butcher paper vs foil really clicked for me

I was watching a BBQ Pitmasters episode last night where Myron Mixon talked about how foil can steam the bark and make it soggy. He said butcher paper lets the meat breathe while still holding in moisture, and after trying it on my last brisket I finally get why. The bark came out way better, not soft at all, and the whole thing cooked in about 12 hours at 250. I had always used foil cause that's what my dad did, but now I'm thinking I need to switch for good. Has anyone else seen a big difference with paper on a long smoke?

That $120 thermapen knockoff was a waste of cash

Bought one off Amazon a year ago and it started reading 15 degrees off after three cooks. Who else has had issues with cheap probes?

Tried adding coffee grounds to my pork shoulder rub and got a weird crust

Last weekend I figured I'd experiment and threw some fine coffee grounds into my usual rub for a picnic shoulder. I thought it would give a nice deep smoky flavor since coffee's bitter like bark. Instead I ended up with this hard gritty crust that crunched when you bit into it, not in a good way. The meat itself was fine, tender and all, but that outer layer was like eating sand almost. My buddy Steve joked I was making a dirt cake. I learned that coffee needs to be ground way finer than what you'd use for brewing if you want to try this, or maybe just add it to a marinade instead of a rub. Has anyone else tried coffee on pork and gotten it to work without turning into a mess?

Why does nobody talk about how hot BBQ comps really get?

I was at the American Royal in Kansas City last September and my digital thermometer crapped out after 3 hours in the direct sun. Everybody talks about meat temps but nobody warns you that your gear itself can fail when it hits 108 degrees on the concrete. I had to switch to an old analog probe my buddy lent me just to finish my brisket. Has anyone else had electronics just give up mid cook at a competition?

That 6 hour brisket stall at my first competition in Memphis

I cooked for hours and the temp just sat at 160 for what felt like forever. Finally wrapped it in butcher paper and it pushed through in 45 mins. Anybody else panic during the stall or is that just me?

Flare up caught me off guard at a comp in Kansas City

I was running a brisket on my offset at the American Royal last weekend and opened the lid too fast. Grease hit the coals and sent a 3-foot flame right up my arm. Lost some arm hair but the brisket was fine after I let it settle for 10 minutes. Anyone else had a bad flare up wreck their cook timing?

Shoutout to the guy at the hardware store who saw me picking up lighter fluid

Stood there with a 12 pack of Kingsford and a can of fluid and he just goes 'you know that stuff ruins the taste right?' Switched to a chimney starter that same day and my ribs actually taste like smoke now instead of gas. Anyone else have that moment where someone called you out on your setup?

Had a weekend where my brisket temp stalled for 6 hours straight

I smoked a 15 pound prime packer last Saturday and that dang stall hit at 160 degrees and just sat there forever. I wrapped it in butcher paper at hour 4 but the temp barely moved an inch for another 2 hours. By the time it finally hit 203, my guests were hovering around the smoker giving me that look. Anyone else ever had a stall that felt like it was never gonna break?

Took me 3 hours to dial in my offset smoker after a brisket stall at 2am last Saturday

I couldn't figure out why the temp kept dropping even with fresh splits, turned out my damper was stuck halfway shut from creosote buildup. Has anyone else spent way too long troubleshooting something that simple mid-cook?

Defended my pellet smoker to a stickburner purist at the Franklin BBQ line last Sunday

I know everyone in the pitmaster world swears by offset stickburners for true smoke flavor. Last Sunday while waiting at Franklin BBQ in Austin, a guy told me my Traeger isn't real BBQ. I countered that my pellet smoker gives me consistent 225 degrees for 12 hours without babysitting, and the brisket I pulled last week won second place at a county cookoff. Has anyone else had to defend their gear choice to the old guard?

Hit 200 briskets this weekend and here's what shocked me

I just crossed 200 briskets on my Lang 84 over the past 3 years. What got me is how the last 50 have been way more consistent than the first 150. I stopped overthinking temps and wrapping times and just let the meat tell me when it's done. The stall still catches me off guard sometimes though. Anyone else hit a milestone that made you change your whole process?

Swapped my offset smoker for a pellet grill on a brisket cook and the bark told the story

Brisket showdown: Franklin vs my backyard offset

I tried Aaron Franklin's brisket at his Austin joint last week and compared it to my own 14-hour cook on a $200 offset smoker. The difference was night and day - his bark had this deep, uniform crunch mine never gets. Has anyone cracked the code on getting that level of bark without a $5,000 smoker?

TIL an old pitmaster showed me why I was overcooking my brisket

I was at a competition in Lockhart last spring, just kind of wandering around the tents, and this older guy named Dale waved me over. He asked what I was cooking and I told him my brisket always came out dry on the flat. He just laughed and said 'bet you're peeking every 15 minutes'. He was dead right, I was popping my offset open like every half hour to check on it. He told me every time you open that door you lose 30 degrees of heat and all your moisture goes with it. He literally said 'stop being so nosey and trust the fire'. I took his advice on my next cook and just left it alone for 4 hours straight and it came out way juicier. Anyone else have a pitmaster call them out on a bad habit like that?

The before and after on my brisket after switching post oak

I was using hickory for years and my brisket always had this bitter edge. Switched to post oak about 6 months ago and the difference is night and day, the smoke flavor is way cleaner and sweet. Anyone else notice a big change like this swapping wood types?

Had to decide between a pellet smoker and a stick burner for competition season

I spent two weeks agonizing over a pellet smoker vs a traditional offset stick burner for this year's KCBS events, and I went with the offset for that deep smoke flavor. First cook turned out amazing but I was up every 45 minutes reloading logs all night and barely got any sleep. Any of you guys run pellets in serious comps and feel like judges really notice the difference?