c/bbq-pitmasters

Smoked my first brisket for 14 hours and missed the stall entirely

I was running my offset at 275F in Austin and the meat sat at 160F for what felt like forever, so I cranked the fire thinking something was broken. My buddy walked over and said "that's the stall, wrap it or wait it out" and I felt like a total fool for ignoring the probe reading. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple term like the stall made them rethink years of guessing?

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drew_park•4d ago

Swapped my stick burner for a pellet at 3am. No regrets.

Used to baby sit my offset every weekend in Austin. Up at 4am, feeding splits every 45 minutes, constantly sweating over temp swings. Then I got a new job with less free time and my brisket started coming out like shoe leather because I couldnt watch it. Six months ago I bought a pellet smoker, set it at 225, and went to bed. Woke up to the best bark I ever made. I know the purists say it's cheating, but my wife actually eats my ribs now instead of just nodding politely. Has anyone else made the switch and had their smoke flavor drop off? I use a smoke tube but still feel like it's missing that deep oak kick.

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danielr94•9d ago

Enough with the 14 hour brisket flexes

I see guys posting pits full of 18 pound briskets, bragging about 14 hour cooks at 225. But half the time the flat looks like a dry shoe sole when they slice it. I've fed maybe 40 people at my backyard comps in Austin, and I'll take a 12 pounder that hits 203 by hour 10 over some marathon cook any day. Are we smoking for the meat or just for the Instagram clock? Has anyone else noticed this trend getting worse since last summer?

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graygonzalez•9d ago

Mesquite on brisket got me schooled by a Lockhart old timer

I ran a little backyard cook this past Sunday for my neighbor's retirement party, about 40 people. Threw mesquite chunks in with my oak like I always do, and one of the guests, this old guy from Lockhart, Texas, called it out right away. He said mesquite on brisket is like wearing cowboy boots to a wedding, it just dont fit. I laughed it off but tried his suggestion, straight post oak at 250 for 14 hours, no shortcuts. That bark came out darker and the smoke flavor was way smoother, not that sharp bite I was used to. Now I keep the mesquite for steaks and quick grilling only. Has anyone else had their whole wood game corrected by a random stranger at a cookout?

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emmaj33•10d ago

A buddy at a Memphis comp changed how I look at bark

He said he never opens the lid for the first 3 hours unless the temp drops below 200, and after trying it on my last pork butt I finally get why everyone talks about that early patience, has anyone else had a hard time leaving the smoker alone at the start?

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the_kevin•10d ago

My brisket turned into a smoke grenade during a block party in Austin

Last Saturday I was doing a 14 pound packer for my neighbor's street party in Austin. Everything was cruising along until I peeked inside the smoker and the whole thing erupted in this huge puff of white smoke that smelled like burnt rubber and old socks. Turns out a chunk of dripping fat had landed right on the firebox vent and I panicked, dumped half a bottle of apple juice on it like an idiot. The brisket came out with this weird acrid bite on the bark, but the folks still ate every slice and asked for my rub recipe. Anyone else ever had a fat fire ruin a cook and somehow still save it with sauce?

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xena_fox39•10d ago

Vent: That fancy heat deflector was a total dud

Picked up one of those stainless steel heat deflector plates at a BBQ supply shop in Austin for $85. Supposed to even out temps across the grate. Ran two briskets with it last month and got a 30 degree swing from left to right. My old foil wrapped brick setup did better. Anyone else get burned by overpriced gear that sounds good on paper?

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lopez.oscar•12d ago

The 4am brisket wrap at that Kansas City contest changed my whole timing

Last October I watched a guy at the American Royal pull his brisket at 4am, wrap it in butcher paper, and let it rest in a cooler for 7 hours before slicing. It came out so tender that I ditched my usual 2 hour rest the next weekend and it won me a second place at a local cookoff in Wichita. Has anyone else tried resting way longer than they normally do?

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rileynelson•17d ago

Flat tire on my trailer mid-cook in Austin nearly killed my brisket

I was hauling my smoker to a buddy's place last Saturday for a 12 lb brisket cook. Got 10 miles out on I-35 and the trailer tire blew. No spare. Had to wait 45 minutes for a friend to bring one. The brisket was already rubbed and sitting in a cooler, so temp was fine. Got it on the pit 2 hours late, had to crank the fire to 300 for the first hour to catch up. Honestly, it turned out okay, just a bit firmer bark than I wanted. Now I always keep a spare and a torque wrench in the truck. Has anyone else had a transport disaster before the meat even hits the grate?

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adam_thompson53•17d ago

The burnt ends debate ended after one trip to Lockhart

I used to trim my brisket flat religiously and toss the point into the mix without much thought. Then I watched a pitmaster in Lockhart, Texas work a point for an hour, separating every bit of fat and cutting it into clean cubes before they ever hit the smoker. He told me, "You're not making burnt ends, you're just cooking scraps." After trying his method on my last cook, the difference was night and day, the crust formed right and the chew was actually consistent. Has anyone else found that the prep on the point matters more than the smoke time itself?

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leelewis•18d ago

Took 2 years to trust a pellet grill over my stick burner

I used to talk trash about pellet grills every chance I got, saying they were just easy bake ovens for people who couldn't tend a real fire. Then last month my buddy in Austin let me try a brisket off his Traeger and I had to eat my words, it had that smoke ring and bark I thought only stick burners could make. He showed me his smoke tube trick and how he runs it at 180 for the first 3 hours to get that heavy smoke flavor. I borrowed his setup for a weekend cook and did a pork shoulder that came out just as good as my usual 12 hour offset run, no babysitting. I still love my offset for big comps, but for a Tuesday night rack of ribs, I get why guys switch. Anyone else come around on a cooker they swore they would never own?

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rowan725•19d ago

That time my offset ran out of fuel mid-brisket in front of the whole street

Back in 2017 I was doing a block party cook in Austin, TX, had a 14 pound brisket on my old offset smoker around 10 AM. Everything was going smooth, fat cap rendering, bark setting up nice. Then about halfway through the stall, I ran out of wood because I borrowed a buddy's trailer and forgot to check the split bin. So there I am, 45 people watching, smoker temp dropping from 250 to 180, and I got nothing to burn. I ended up breaking apart a pallet I found behind the garage, which had some treated lumber on it. Brisket came out with a weird chemical taste, not awful but just off. My neighbor still brings it up every summer. Has anyone else had to improvise fuel mid-cook and deal with a funky flavor? Did you just ride it out or pull the meat early?

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blake_bell29•19d ago

Charcoal vs pellets, a 14 hour cook in Fort Worth settled it for me

Ran a brisket on my pellet smoker for years, thought it was fine. My buddy from Texas finally talked me into trying his drum with lump charcoal, same rub, same meat from the same store. After 14 hours the bark was way darker and the smoke ring was actually visible, not that faint pink line I was used to. The flavor difference was night and day, more real smoke and less of that clean campfire taste. Anyone else make the switch and feel like they wasted a season of cooks?

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blake322•20d ago

An old timer named Earl changed how I set up my smoker

At a comp in Kansas City back in 2018, this retired pitmaster named Earl watched me struggle with my firebox for a solid 20 minutes. He finally walked over, pointed at my damper, and said "you're choking it before it even breathes, son." He showed me his trick of keeping the intake wide open for the first 45 minutes and letting the wood catch naturally instead of babying it. I still think about that every time I light a brisket, and my smoke flavor is way cleaner now. Anyone else had a stranger on the circuit drop one piece of advice that stuck?

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jamesf26•20d ago

Overheard a guy say pellets are for quitters, got me thinking

I was picking up a brisket at a smokehouse in Austin last Saturday and heard this older pitmaster tell a new guy that anyone using a pellet grill doesn't respect the craft. I've been running a Weber kettle for about 5 years now and don't care what fuel people use, but it made me wonder if there's actually a real difference in taste or if it's just gatekeeping. Do you folks think pellet smokers can turn out BBQ that's just as good as stick burning, or is there something you can't fake?

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rileynelson•21d ago

Just realized I've been resting meat on the wrong side for 8 years

A buddy in Memphis pointed out that my brisket always had that dry top layer because I was letting it rest fat-cap up, not down. Has anyone else gone that long doing it backwards before someone said something?

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ben_nguyen•22d ago

My pellet smoker gave me a full smoke ring after I stopped obsessing over it

I ran my Traeger for two years trying every trick from forums, wrapping at 160, spritzing every hour, even adding a smoke tube. Last Saturday I just set it to 225, threw on a brisket flat, and checked it twice over 8 hours in my backyard in Tucson. The ring went deeper than anything I'd done before, and the bark was actually better too. Made me wonder if I was overthinking the whole process, anyone else find that laziness beats effort sometimes?

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violamurray•23d ago

Just realized I was way too precious about my wood chunks

For years I babied hickory chunks like they were gold, always going with the perfect dry stack from the big box store. Then a buddy in Nashville showed up with a bag of wet, bark-covered chunks he got for free from a tree service and threw them straight on the coals. The smoke was dirtier but the flavor on the pork butt was deeper than anything I'd made with the clean stuff. Now I grab whatever's cheap and let it sit in the sun for a day, honestly the fussy approach was holding me back. Anyone else quit overthinking their fuel and get better results?

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the_kevin•24d ago

Brisket flat vs point, I finally picked a side

Cooked two briskets side by side last Sunday in Memphis. Did the flat straight, no crutch. Wrapped the point in butcher paper after 5 hours. The flat came out drier but the bark was unreal, like a crust you could tap. Point was way juicier but the wrap softened that bark. I got guests arguing over which was better. Which cut do you all prioritize when the smoker's full?

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joseph_adams66•24d ago

Unpopular opinion: Aaron Franklin's brisket is overrated and I'll tell you why

I drove 4 hours to Austin last month with my buddy Ray to try the famous brisket everyone worships. We waited 2 hours in line and paid $38 for a pound and a half. Honestly, the bark was decent but the fat wasn't rendered like I expected, and the salt level was all over the place. Back in 2019, I had brisket from a guy named Big Joe outside a gas station in Waco that beat it for $12 a pound. I get it, he's the king and all, but I think the hype trains people to overlook inconsistencies. Has anyone else had a better random roadside brisket than a big name joint? I'm curious if I just caught a bad day or if the legend is mostly marketing.

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reesemoore•25d ago

Just realized I was ruining my brisket by trimming way too much fat off

After like two years of dry brisket, my buddy Mike came over for a cookout last summer. He pointed out I was cutting out all the fat cap down to the meat. Soon as he said it I knew he was right. Tried leaving a half inch on there next time and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had a mentor or friend call out a basic mistake you were making?

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danielr94•26d ago

My brisket came out dry at my family reunion last weekend

I cooked a 14-pound packer brisket for about 12 hours on my Oklahoma Joe offset smoker down in Houston. I wrapped it in butcher paper at 165 and pulled it at 203, but the flat was still tough and dry. I thought wrapping would keep it moist, but maybe I should have spritzed more or wrapped tighter. Any tips on keeping the flat from drying out on longer cooks?

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sullivan.finley•27d ago

The day a grease fire turned my brisket cook into a disaster show

Last Saturday, I was doing a 16-hour smoke on a prime packer brisket for a buddy's 40th birthday party, and around hour 12 a grease flare-up from a clogged drip tray torched the whole bark side before I could grab the fire extinguisher. Ended up serving it anyway with sauce, but everyone knew it was basically charcoal-anyone else had a single bad moment ruin a full day's work?

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claire_wells87•27d ago

Thought pork butt was foolproof till I tried a new cooker

I've been doing pork butts for like 6 years now, always on my trusty offset smoker. But last month I borrowed a friend's pellet grill for a big cookout, and I figured it would be easy money. Turned out the temperature probe was off by 25 degrees, so my 8 pound butt stalled for almost 4 hours and came out dry. I was super skeptical about pellet grills ever since, but my buddy showed me his temp logs from the last 3 cooks and admitted I was right to check. Have any of you run into a grill or smoker that seemed legit but totally failed a basic test like this?

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danielr94•28d ago

Hit 500 briskets cooked on my offset smoker last Sunday... never thought I would get there

I was just pulling a brisket off for a backyard party and my buddy asked how many I had done total. I started counting in my head... all the way back to my first one in 2018 that came out like a leather shoe. Somehow I got to 500 exactly, which blew my mind because I don't even work in a restaurant or nothing. Has anyone else kept track of their total cooks and hit a weird milestone like that?

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