c/bbq-pitmasters

Just crossed 500 briskets smoked, never knew my own numbers were this bad

I hit 500 briskets on my pit last Sunday and it honestly shocked me how many I messed up early on. I went back through my logbook from the last 4 years and counted 47 failed cooks where the meat came out dry or tough. That is almost 10 percent of my total and I never added it up until now. I thought I was doing fine but seeing that number made me realize I was rushing my trimming and not letting the fat render right. Now I spend an extra 20 minutes per brisket just on the prep and my success rate jumped to 95 percent. Has anyone else checked their actual numbers and found a hidden problem like that?

That $200 remote probe thermometer I bought on a whim actually saved my brisket last weekend after I decided to run errands mid-smoke

The thing synced to my phone and alerted me when the temp dropped 15 degrees from a bad wind gust, so I hauled ass back home and adjusted the vents before it ruined 12 hours of work, has anyone else had a cheap gadget totally bail them out during a long cook?

Talking to an old pitmaster from Texas changed how I think about smoke rings

I was at a competition in Memphis last month and this 70 year old guy from Lockhart told me a smoke ring is just cosmetic and doesn't mean the meat is cooked right... he said he's won trophies with barely any ring at all. It hit different because I've been chasing those pink lines for years. Has anyone else had a pitmaster straight up tell you that something you thought mattered actually doesn't?

Why does nobody talk about wrapping brisket in butcher paper from a local craft shop instead of the big box store stuff

Last weekend I grabbed a roll of unwaxed butcher paper from a small shop in my neighborhood for $8 and it clung to my brisket way better than the generic roll from the grocery store, plus the bark came out noticeably crunchier after a 12 hour smoke has anyone else noticed a difference with different paper brands?

The day I stopped wrapping brisket in foil

I been doing brisket for about 10 years now, always wrapped it tight in foil when the bark set. Thought that was just how it was done. Then last summer I was helping out at a comp in Kansas City and this old timer grinned at me when I pulled out the roll. He just said try butcher paper next time and see what happens. I figured why not so I picked up some pink paper from a restaurant supply place. That next brisket came out with a bark that actually stayed crunchy instead of turning into wet mush. Felt like I wasted years doing it the hard way without even knowing. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you were working against yourself the whole time?

That one Saturday in June where my brisket went from disaster to best I ever made

I had this brisket on the smoker last summer, thought I had the temp dialed in but about 4 hours in the firebox temp just tanked. I was running late to check it because my property manager job had me dealing with a tenant emergency at a unit in Santa Ana. Came back and the internal temp had dropped to like 140, which is basically a death sentence for a brisket usually. But instead of giving up I wrapped it in butcher paper and cranked the heat to 300 to push through the stall. Figured at that point I had nothing to lose. It came out with this dark bark and the fat rendered perfectly, honestly one of my top three briskets ever. Has anyone else salvaged a brisket after the temp dropped that much or was I just lucky?

Rant: Everyone loves Franklin BBQ but I think their brisket is overhyped compared to La Barbecue

Met a pitmaster in Kansas City who changed how I season ribs

I was at Joe's Kansas City last summer and got to talking with one of the guys working the pit. He told me to stop using sugar in my rubs on pork ribs because it just burns off anyway, and instead go heavy on paprika and cumin. Has anyone else tried cutting the sugar and seen better bark?

Franklin's brisket class changed my whole approach to trimming fat

I went to the Franklin BBQ class in Austin back in March and everyone there was raving about leaving a quarter inch fat cap. But I watched Aaron trim his brisket down to almost nothing on the fat side and thought it was crazy. I tried it his way on my last cook and the bark came out WAY better than before, no chewy fat spots at all. Has anyone else gone against the common advice and trimmed way more fat off than people say to do?

Bought a $200 'competition-grade' brisket injection and it tasted like salty dish soap

I wasted 2 hours prepping a prime packer with that stuff last Saturday and the whole thing came out with a weird chemical aftertaste that ruined dinner for 8 people, so has anyone else fallen for an overpriced marinade that looked good on YouTube but turned out terrible?

Hot take: Aaron Franklin's brisket method at Franklin Barbecue is actually way simpler than I thought

I watched his whole PBS series last weekend and was surprised he barely uses anything fancy. No special rubs or injections, just salt, pepper, and that oak fire. But the real kicker was when he said he trims his briskets down to like 1/4 inch fat cap. I always left mine at 1/2 inch and wondered why the crust wasn't right. Anyone else find their pitmaster hero's secret is just doing the basics better than everyone else?

That Myron Mixon method of wrapping in butcher paper instead of foil

I argued with a guy from Alabama on here for an hour that foil was better because it traps more moisture, but tried butcher paper on my last brisket and the bark was way better. Anyone else think the paper hype is actually overrated for shorter cooks?

Tried offset vs vertical smoker on a brisket. Offset won big.

Cooked two identical briskets side by side last Sunday. Offset gave a deeper bark and way better smoke ring. The vertical one tasted fine but just not the same. Anyone else find offsets worth the extra babysitting?

A guy at a competition told me his brisket method changed completely after 15 years

He said he used to wrap in butcher paper at 160 degrees, then saw a pitmaster from Texas wrap in foil with tallow at 175, and it flipped how he thinks about bark. Anyone else have one little tip that made you rework your whole process?

Stopped by a roadside pit in Lockhart and had a weird thought

I was at Smitty's in Lockhart last weekend and realized the smoke ring on their brisket was perfect but the bark was almost too dark. Does anyone else notice this trade-off at the old school spots?

Watched Myron Mixon trim a brisket in person at a demo in Dallas and it messed with my whole process

I went to that BBQ showcase at the convention center last month and saw him work through a full packer in like 8 minutes. He barely touched the fat cap, just took off the hard stuff and left the rest. I used to trim mine down to almost nothing because I was scared of greasy meat, but after that I tried his way on a prime brisket and it came out way juicier. Has anyone else seen a pro do something that made you rethink a basic step?

Had a guy at a tailgate in Austin show me why he never uses a thermometer

I was at a BBQ competition tailgate outside Austin last fall, and this pitmaster named Dale noticed me checking my brisket with a probe every few minutes. He pulled me aside and said, 'You're cooking with your eyes and your hands, not a gadget.' Then he showed me how he judges doneness by feel - poking the flat with his finger. I still use a thermometer most of the time, but his confidence made me rethink things. Has anyone else had a pitmaster give them advice that went against all the standard rules?

Just had to pick between an offset and a pellet smoker for my competition cookoff

I was down to the wire for a local competition in Austin and had to choose between my old offset and a newer pellet smoker. I went with the pellet because I thought it'd be more consistent overnight. Big mistake - the temperature swings were wild and I ended up with dry brisket. Has anyone else switched away from a traditional offset and regretted it?

My offset smoker temp swings were driving me crazy until this fix

Last month I was out in my backyard in Austin trying to hold 225 for a brisket and my cheap offset was bouncing from 190 to 280 every 10 minutes. I tried adjusting the airflow and adding more wood but nothing worked. Then an old pitmaster at Franklin's told me to pack a wet towel around the firebox door gap. It dropped my temp swings to like 15 degrees max. Has anyone else used a cheap trick like that to seal up a leaky smoker?

Showerthought: I used to douse my brisket in sauce every time, but after watching a pitmaster in Lockhart last summer, I switched to just a light mop and let the smoke shine through

It completely changed the texture, the bark stayed crunchy instead of turning into mush. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized you were covering up the meat instead of enhancing it?

Stalled for 6 hours on a pork shoulder and finally saw why

I always wrapped my shoulders in foil as soon as the bark set, usually around 160 degrees. Last Saturday I let one ride uncovered until 180 and the stall only lasted 90 minutes instead of the usual 4-6. Has anyone else tested different wrap timing like that?

Vent: A competition in Austin changed how I look at brisket trimming

I was down at the Franklin Barbecue invitational in Austin last fall, helping a buddy with his team. We had our brisket all ready, trimmed nice and thin, about a quarter inch of fat cap. Then a dude from a team that placed top three walked over and told us we were leaving way too much fat on the point end. He said to go down to an eighth of an inch and really feather the edges so it renders even. I thought he was crazy, but we tried it on a second brisket for fun. That thing came out so much more even in texture, no chewy spots at all. Now I'm wondering if other folks here have messed with super thin trimming or if it's just a competition thing that doesn't translate to home cooking?

Had a weird brisket stall at 175 on my offset smoker in Austin last weekend

I was cooking a 14 pound prime packer from HEB on my cheap offset. It hit 175 internal and just sat there for almost 3 hours without moving. I checked my firebox temp and it was steady at 275, so I was confused. Did I wrap it too late or is there something else going on with these central Texas cuts? Has anyone else run into a stall that high up?

Hit 10 full pork shoulders in one weekend and my offset smoker almost quit on me

I figured I could push my rig to do 10 butts for a church fundraiser here in Austin, but by number 7 the temp had dropped 40 degrees and I was fighting to hold 225. That tenth shoulder took an extra 3 hours just to get to 203 internal. Has anyone else found a hard limit on their smoker's capacity the hard way?

That one Saturday when my brisket stalled for 5 hours and I almost lost it

I put a 14 pound prime packer on my offset smoker at 6 AM last Saturday. Hit 170 degrees right on schedule around noon, then it just sat there for 5 hours. I was checking every 20 minutes, adding wood, even wrapped it in butcher paper at hour 3. Finally pushed through to 203 degrees by 7 PM and it came out the best brisket I've ever made. Has anyone else had a stall that long and still gotten good results?