c/bbq-pitmasters

My brother-in-law said competition brisket is basically just salty candy now

We were at a family cookout in Dallas last weekend and he pointed at my smoker, said 'You know, the guys on TV aren't cooking meat anymore, they're making a sweet, salty, smoky dessert.' He argued that chasing perfect scores has made the bark too sweet and the flavor one-note. I mean, I've tasted some of those turn-in boxes, and he's not wrong. The focus is all on that first bite for the judges, not on something you'd actually want to eat a whole pound of. Has anyone else tried a competition-style recipe at home and felt like it was just too much?

My uncle told me to wrap my brisket in foil after 4 hours and I almost ruined it

He swore by the 'Texas crutch' method, so I tried it on a 14-pound packer last weekend. The meat got way too soft and lost all that good bark I was building on my offset. I ended up with something closer to pot roast than proper barbecue. Has anyone else had a wrap method backfire on them?

Shoutout to the guy who said to wrap brisket in butcher paper, not foil

I always thought it was a waste of money and stuck with heavy duty foil. Then I tried it on a 16 pound packer last month and the bark was way better, not soggy at all. It still held enough steam to push through the stall without turning the outside to mush. Anyone else make that switch and notice a real difference?

My fire went out during a brisket cook in Austin

I was about six hours into a brisket cook for a friend's party in Austin last spring. My offset smoker was holding steady at 250, then a sudden rainstorm blew in. The wind shifted, rain hit the firebox, and my temp dropped to 150 in maybe ten minutes. I panicked because the brisket was still tough. I grabbed my charcoal chimney, got a fresh batch of lump charcoal blazing hot in the garage, and dumped it into the firebox. I also wrapped the brisket in butcher paper right then to help it through the stall while the fire recovered. It took about 45 minutes to get back to a steady 225, but the bark still set up nice. Has anyone else had to rescue a cook from a dead fire that fast?

I saw a pitmaster in Austin use a simple trick for brisket bark

I was at a small joint in Austin called Hill Country Smokehouse last month. The guy running the offset smoker kept a spray bottle of just apple cider vinegar and water. Every hour, he'd give the briskets a light mist, but only on the fat cap. He told me it helps the bark set without washing off the rub. After 12 hours, the bark on those briskets was dark, almost black, and had a really great crunch. Has anyone else tried this method, or do you stick with a full spritz all over?

A judge at the Kansas City Royal told me my ribs were 'mushy' and it stung, but he was right.

He pulled me aside and said, 'You're boiling them before they hit the smoke, aren't you?' I was. I thought it made them tender. He told me to try the 3-2-1 method cold, straight from the fridge onto a 225 degree grate. The difference was insane. The bark set, the meat had pull, not fall-off-the-bone mush. Anyone have a different method for getting that perfect bite on spare ribs?

Showerthought: watching a guy in Memphis handle a brisket stall changed my whole cook

I was at the Memphis in May contest last spring and saw a pitmaster just wrap his brisket in butcher paper the second it hit 165, no waiting. He said 'the clock doesn't make it tender, the heat does.' I started doing that and my cook times got way more predictable. How do you all handle the stall, wrap or no wrap?

Update: Just read that Tuffy Stone used to be a Marine before he got into competition barbecue

I was flipping through an old issue of Smoke Signals magazine from 2018 and saw a profile on him. It said he served for over twenty years and only started his team, Cool Smoke, after he got out. I always figured he was just a lifelong cook. Makes you wonder if that discipline is what makes his brisket so tight, or if his success is just from pure cooking talent. Which side do you think matters more for a pitmaster, background skills or just time on the smoker?

Hit 500 hours on my offset smoker and the firebox door hinge gave out

I was cleaning up after a brisket cook last weekend and noticed my log book... I've put 500 hours on my Old Country Brazos since I got it two years ago. That number hit me hard because I never kept track before. The hinge pins on the firebox door were so worn they just fell out when I opened it. All that heat cycling from cold starts to 275 degrees for hours on end... it just ate through the metal. I had to weld new pins on the spot with a cheap harbor freight welder, which was a whole other adventure. It made me think about all the parts we don't check often enough. Has anyone else had a major piece fail right after hitting a big hour mark on their rig? What did you do?

The day my brisket stalled for 9 hours and I almost gave up

I was doing a cook for a friend's party in Memphis last month, and I put a 16 pound packer on my offset at 5 AM. Everything was going fine, the bark looked great, then it hit 165 degrees and just stopped. I mean, it sat there for what felt like forever. I checked the fire, wrapped it in butcher paper, nothing. My buddy called at 2 PM asking when the food would be ready, and I had to tell him the meat hadn't moved in hours. I was so close to pulling it off and calling it a loss. But I just let it ride, kept the temp steady, and finally around 6 PM it started climbing again. It finished at 10 PM, rested, and was honestly the best one I've ever made. Has anyone else had a stall that long where it actually turned out okay?

Watching a pitmaster in Memphis handle a stalled brisket changed my whole approach

I was at the Memphis in May festival last spring and saw a guy just wrap his brisket in foil and put it back in the smoker when it hit 150 and stalled for hours. He said 'the meat doesn't care about bark, it cares about being tender'. Now I wrap every time, but my buddy says that's cheating and ruins the bark. What's your take on wrapping during a stall?

My neighbor told me my brisket looked like a meteorite and I can't unsee it

I was pretty proud of this 14 pound packer I smoked last weekend, nice dark bark and all. My neighbor Frank, who's been doing this for like 30 years, walks over, squints at it, and goes 'Son, that looks like something that wiped out the dinosaurs.' He wasn't wrong, it was way too black and crusty. He said I was running my offset way too hot, probably over 300 degrees, and chasing color instead of tenderness. So this week I kept it steady at 250, wrapped in butcher paper when it hit 175 internal, and the difference was crazy. The bark was still there but it wasn't a charcoal brick. Has anyone else had a piece of criticism that just clicked and fixed a whole process for you?

My brisket stalled for 8 hours at a comp in Austin

Was at the Texas Smokeout last year. My 14 pound prime brisket hit 160 degrees at 2 AM and just stopped. No movement for hours. Panicked. Wrapped it in butcher paper with a little tallow and cranked the smoker to 275. Finally pushed through around 10 AM. Still took a ribbon. Anyone else ever have a stall that bad? What did you do?

My pit's firebox door hinge gave out right before a big cook last Friday

It happened when I was getting a load of post oak up to temp for a brisket. Has anyone else had to do a quick weld repair on site, or do you just keep a spare hinge kit handy?

My uncle swore by wrapping his ribs in foil after 3 hours, but I tried the 'no wrap' method he laughed at and got way better bark

Heard a guy at the hardware store say his brisket was done when it 'felt like butter'

I was picking up some charcoal last weekend and overheard two guys talking by the grills. One said he never uses a timer anymore, he just waits for the brisket to probe 'like warm butter'. That stuck with me because I've always been a slave to the clock, checking temps every hour. So yesterday, I did a pork shoulder and just went by feel after about 8 hours, poking it every so often. It came out way better than my usual method, more tender and juicy. How do you guys decide when something is truly done, besides just the number on the thermometer?

Chatted with a competition guy in Kansas City about his brisket trim

He said he leaves way more fat cap than most YouTube videos show, like almost an inch in some spots, because it protects the flat during the long cook. I mean, I always followed those online guides to trim it super thin, but his brisket was the juiciest I've ever tasted. How much fat do you all actually leave on before it goes in the smoker?

Showerthought: I used a cheap metal bowl to fix my temperature swings

My old offset smoker in the backyard would have wild temperature changes, sometimes 50 degrees up or down in 10 minutes. I was about to buy a whole new firebox. Last month, I saw a guy at a cook-off in Austin put a metal mixing bowl full of water right next to the coals. I tried it with a $5 bowl from the grocery store. It acts like a heat sink and my temps now stay within a 20 degree range for hours. Has anyone else used something simple like this to steady their fire?

My neighbor in Phoenix told me to use a water pan in my offset smoker and I thought it was a waste of time

Update: My brisket flat turned into a brick because I didn't wrap it

I was smoking a 14 pound packer on my offset last weekend, aiming for that perfect bark. I hit the stall around 165 degrees and decided to just power through it without wrapping, like I saw in a video. Big mistake. That flat got so dry and tough it took me over 8 hours just to get it to 203, and it was still inedible. I had to chop it all for chili. Has anyone else had a brisket stall go that wrong when you skip the wrap?

I thought my brisket stall was a fire problem for a whole afternoon

Last weekend, my brisket hit 150 degrees and just stopped climbing for over four hours. I kept fiddling with the air vents on my offset, thinking my fire was dying. Turns out, I had the probe in a weird pocket of fat, not the flat. A friend came over, moved the probe, and the temp read 190 almost right away. Has anyone else had a probe placement issue throw them off that badly?

My uncle told me to wrap my pork butt in foil after 4 hours, and I'm glad I didn't listen

He swore by it for a 'moist' finish, but I tried it once on my Weber Smokey Mountain and the bark turned to mush (it was honestly sad). The next time, I just let it ride unwrapped the whole 10 hours, spritzing with apple juice every so often. The bark was like a perfect, crunchy candy shell and the meat still pulled apart fine. Anyone else have a family member give them BBQ advice that just didn't work for their setup?

Hit 14 hours on a brisket and finally understood the stall

I always thought the stall was a myth or a sign I messed up the fire. This weekend, my point hit 165 and just sat there for what felt like forever, not moving for almost 3 hours. I was ready to wrap it in foil, but a friend told me to just let it ride and trust the process. When it finally pushed through, the bark was the best I've ever made. Anyone else have a cook where the stall taught you something?

PSA: The brisket at that new joint in Austin is being held at a weirdly low temp

Stopped by that new spot on South Lamar last Friday, the one with the big red smoker out front. I watched them pull a whole packer from the warmer, and my buddy's thermometer gun read 135 degrees (I know, I know, we're nerds). That's way too low for safe holding, right? It's sitting in the danger zone for way too long. Has anyone else run into this kind of thing lately?

Just realized everyone at the Memphis in May contest was wrong about wrapping brisket

I was at the Memphis in May competition last year, and my brisket stalled hard at 165 degrees for over 2 hours. Every pitmaster around me was yelling to wrap it in butcher paper immediately. I decided to just leave it alone and let the fire do its thing, and it pushed through after another 90 minutes. The bark was the best I've ever made, super dark and crunchy. Has anyone else had a better result by NOT wrapping when everyone says you have to?