c/bbq-pitmasters

5

the_hugo•1d ago

That competition guy said my offset was 'leaking too much' and it rubbed me the wrong way

Was at a BBQ class last weekend in Austin and this pitmaster who competes on the circuit kept eyeing my 20 inch offset. He said I was losing too much smoke through the gaps and that I needed to seal it up with gasket tape. I mean, I get it for competition efficiency but for backyard cooking I actually like a little airflow. It gives my bark a better texture. Anyone else feel like the competition rules dont always translate to good eating at home?

7

jade_lane19•2d ago

Tried a new rub with coffee grounds and my ribs came out tasting like a burnt latte

I was watching that show with Myron Mixon and thought hey, coffee in rubs is a thing. So I dumped like half a cup of dark roast grounds into my usual brown sugar mix before smoking a rack of St. Louis ribs at 225 for 6 hours. The bark turned black as night and my wife asked if I was grilling tires. Learned that less is more with coffee, maybe a tablespoon next time instead of a full scoop! Anyone else have a rub experiment go sideways like that?

0

marymorgan•2d ago

Old timer at a competition told me to wrap my brisket in butcher paper instead of foil

I fought him on it for 2 years but finally tried it last month on a $80 packer and the bark was SO much better. Has anyone else found that paper makes that big of a difference or was it just my setup?

5

charlie_roberts87•2d ago

Spent 3 weekends chasing a temperature swing I could have fixed in an hour

I use a Weber Smokey Mountain for most of my cooks, and for months I couldn't get it to hold steady past 250. Every time I'd open the lid to spritz, the temp would spike 40 degrees and take forever to settle back down. Turns out the gasket on the door was shot and letting in way too much air. Replaced it with a $12 roll of high-temp gasket tape from my local Ace Hardware, and now it purrs like a dream. Anybody else spent way too long on a simple fix?

30

hugoj86•3d ago

Pro tip: Stop trimming your brisket fat down to 1/4 inch before you even smoke it

I keep seeing competition videos where people shave that fat cap down to nothing before the meat even hits the smoker. I get that you want a good bark, but going that thin right away means you've got no buffer when that fat starts rendering. I learned this the hard way at a local comp in Austin last June, my brisket came out dry on one side because I trimmed too aggressive. Now I leave it at a solid half inch, let it cook for 4 hours, then trim off the excess after the fat has softened up and you can actually see where it's gonna go. Has anyone else switched to a two-stage trim like that?

2

ryanprice•3d ago

That $400 thermometer was a total waste

Bought a Fireboard 2 last spring. Worked fine for two cooks then the wifi died. Customer support ghosted me. I'm back to using my old $20 probe and just watching the smoker closer. Anyone else had bad luck with expensive wireless probes?

25

oscarcooper•4d ago

Am I the only one who thinks 225 degrees is overrated for brisket?

I hit 203 internal temp after cooking at 275 for 8 hours last weekend and it was the best bark I've ever gotten. Anyone else run hot and stop caring about the low and slow gospel?

19

faithbaker•5d ago

I used to think wood choice didn't matter much for grilling but a guy in Kansas City proved me wrong

I've been doing backyard BBQ for about 5 years now and always figured any hardwood chunk would do the job. Last summer I was at a competition in Kansas City and this pitmaster named Dave let me taste ribs he cooked with post oak versus the ones with hickory. The difference was night and day honestly. The post oak gave this clean subtle smoke that didn't overpower the meat. His hickory ribs had a sharper taste that I actually liked less. He explained that post oak burns slower and more steady at lower temps. I went home and ordered a 40 pound bag of post oak splits from a place in Texas. Now I'm a believer and I don't think I'll go back to messing around with random wood from my backyard. Has anyone else had a moment where a specific wood type changed their whole approach?

14

the_mia•5d ago

Had an eye opening conversation with my neighbor about brisket resting

Last Sunday I was at a backyard cookout and my neighbor Jerry, who runs a competition team, asked me how long I rest my briskets. I said about 30 minutes like I always do. He just shook his head and told me to try a minimum of 2 hours wrapped in a towel in a cooler. I tried it on my next cook this past Wednesday and the difference was huge. The meat stayed hot and the juices were way more evenly spread. Has anybody else tried resting that long?

4

ninaross•6d ago

Hot take: Malcolm Reed is overrated compared to the old school guys like Tuffy Stone

I know everyone loves Malcolm Reed for the How to BBQ Right channel and his contests, but I spent a week last summer at a competition in Kansas City where Tuffy Stone was running a clinic on pork shoulder. Malcolm makes great videos for home cooks, sure, but Tuffy broke down why he trims fat caps to exactly a quarter inch and showed us how he manages his fire with just wood splits no charcoal. I tried Tuffy's method on a brisket last weekend and got a better smoke ring than anything I ever got from following Malcolm's recipes. What's the deal with people acting like Malcolm is the only pitmaster worth watching anymore?

7

ruby_lane•6d ago

Met an old pitmaster in Lockhart who showed me his rub trick

He grabbed my hand and dumped a heap of black pepper right in my palm. Said you need to feel the grind between your fingers, not just eyeball it. Anyone else trust their hands more than a measuring spoon?

18

seanh91•7d ago

Watched a pitmaster in Memphis turn a $40 brisket into pure gold in 12 hours

I swung by The Rendezvous last weekend and saw this old timer work a whole packer that looked like shoe leather when it went on. He didn't even trim it much, just salt and pepper and let it ride at 225 for about 12 hours. The bark came out like dark chocolate and the bend test was ridiculous. Has anyone else seen a cook go from ugly to amazing just by leaving the lid shut longer?

0

the_piper•7d ago

Hit 50 brisket cooks this weekend and finally got the stall timing down perfect

It took me exactly 50 attempts to nail the wrap timing and now my flats come out juicy every time, has anyone else felt like the numbers just click after a while?

1

zara_hunt•8d ago

Rant: That $30 meat thermometer I bought on clearance was a total bust

I grabbed a cheap wireless thermometer from a discount bin at a local hardware store near Charlotte last month. Figured it would work fine for my brisket cooks, but the thing was off by almost 15 degrees when I tested it against boiling water. Ruined a whole 12-pound packer brisket because it said the meat was at 203 when it was really only 185. Ended up pulling it early and the brisket was tough as leather. Has anyone else had bad luck with those off-brand thermometer deals?

5

tyler614•9d ago

Had an old timer in Lockhart tell me I was overthinking my brisket rub

Was at Smitty's a few years back and got to talking with this guy who had been cooking there since the 80s. Told him how I was doing 12 ingredient rubs and adjusting by the hour. He just laughed and said "son, you ain't seasoning a science experiment. Salt, pepper, time. That's it." Took me another year to actually try it his way. Now I just do coarse salt and 16 mesh black pepper, maybe some garlic if I'm feeling wild. Meat tastes way more beefy now. Anyone else get told to strip it back?

25

ryanprice•11d ago

Found out my favorite BBQ joint uses electric smokers (and I'm still processing this)

Was chatting with the pitmaster at Smokey's Rib Shack in Austin after my third brisket sandwich (don't judge me) and he casually mentioned they run four Southern Pride electric smokers. I nearly choked on my coleslaw. I always assumed real pitmasters used wood or charcoal only. He said consistency is king for a busy restaurant and they still use hardwood chunks for flavor. Caught me completely off guard though. Has anyone else discovered their go-to spot isn't as traditional as they thought?

4

the_nina•12d ago

Threw some hickory chunks on a gas grill thinking it would be close enough to real BBQ

Tried that shortcut last Saturday for some pork ribs and the smoke flavor was so weak and bitter at the same time, has anyone actually gotten decent results mixing wood chips into a gas setup or am I just wasting my time?

24

oscarcooper•13d ago

Vent: That expensive digital smoker controller was a total waste of $180

I bought one of those Wi-Fi enabled smoker controllers last summer thinking it would make my brisket cooks set-and-forget easy. By the time I got it hooked up and the app connected to my phone, I had already lost over an hour of my Saturday. Then the fan kept stalling on long overnight cooks, and my bark turned out mushy twice in a row. I finally just threw it in the garage and went back to using my old manual ball valve setup. That $180 could have bought two whole prime packer briskets from Costco instead. Has anyone else dropped serious cash on a gadget that just made things harder than the old way?

22

price.jake•14d ago

Heard a competition guy say he never wraps his ribs and I had to try it

I was at a local BBQ class last month and this pitmaster from a KCBS team said wrapping makes ribs mushy. I tried his method on my last cook - just straight 5 hours at 275 with a good rub. They came out way better than my usual foil wrap. Anyone else ditch the wrap and never look back?

17

simonw41•15d ago

Why does nobody talk about how much cheaper competition ribs are to make at home?

I always figured competition style ribs were way too fancy and expensive for my backyard. Then I watched a YouTube breakdown from Harry Soo where he showed his whole cook. He said his full rack entry costs around $12 for the meat alone. That blew my mind. I was spending almost $25 on regular supermarket ribs that never came out right. So I tried his method with pork spares from Costco at $2.49 a pound. After three attempts, I finally got that bite-through tenderness and clean bone pull. Has anyone else found that competition recipes actually save you money once you dial in the temps?

4

andrew916•16d ago

My uncle laughed at my charcoal chimney setup, then showed up with a hair dryer

So my uncle Bob, who thinks he's the grill king, told me last summer I was wasting my time with a chimney starter. He said to just use a hair dryer on the coals for 5 minutes. I tried it on a $40 brisket for Father's Day and ended up with half the coals ash before they lit evenly. The brisket came out tough and took 3 extra hours. Has anyone else fallen for a family member's weird bbq shortcut and regretted it?

20

barnes.brian•19d ago

Took me 5 hours to figure out why my smoker temps kept crashing

Spent a whole Sunday chasing a 30 degree drop and finally found a tiny crack in my firebox door seal letting in too much air. Has anyone else had a tiny leak cause way bigger problems than you expected?

25

the_jennifer•19d ago

Saw a buddy's brisket go from shoe leather to butter after he backed off the trim

He was cutting off too much fat cap before cooking, ended up with dry meat every time. Left a solid quarter inch on his last cook and it came out perfect after 12 hours at 250. How much fat are you guys leaving on your packer briskets?

27

robin836•20d ago

Can we talk about that time I tried to smoke a whole watermelon

I threw a whole watermelon on my offset smoker for 6 hours thinking it'd turn into some kind of smoky dessert, but it just exploded all over my firebox and made a sticky mess that took me an hour to clean up. The rind got all tough and black while the inside turned to mush, and I swear my smoker still smells like a Jolly Rancher three days later. Has anyone actually gotten smoked fruit to work without it going sideways on you?

10

the_jennifer•21d ago

That day my brisket came out perfect and I knew I had it all wrong

I been doing brisket for 8 years. Trim, rub, smoke at 225, wrap at 160. Standard stuff. Then last month I cooked for a buddy's birthday in Austin. Hit 203 internal and pulled it. Rested 2 hours. When I sliced into the flat it was dry as dust. But the point was amazing. Juicy, tender, perfect. My buddy's dad who runs a BBQ food truck watched me slice. He said you gotta separate the point from the flat before you wrap. Different thicknesses need different cook times. I tried it next weekend in my backyard. Cooked the flat to 203 but pulled the point at 198. Best brisket I ever made. Flat was moist. Point was melt in your mouth. 8 years of dry flats for nothing. Anyone else find out late that they been cooking two different cuts as one whole piece?