c/bbq-pitmasters

31

jenniferh83•21h ago

Debate: Does low and slow always beat hot and fast for brisket?

I was talking to my buddy Dave after the Franklin BBQ competition in Austin last month, and he insisted that hot and fast brisket can be just as tender if you nail the wrap. He said, 'You're just scared of the fire.' But then I watched Aaron Franklin himself say low and slow around 225 is the only way to get that perfect fat render. Honestly, I've had some dry hot and fast flats at local cookoffs, but Dave's bold claim stuck with me. So what do you all think - is there room for both methods or is hot and fast a shortcut that cheats the smoke ring?

16

oscarthompson•4d ago

Told to let my brisket rest for 2 hours and it was cold by the time I served it

My buddy Dave who runs a food truck in Austin swore by that long rest, but when I tried it at a family cookout last Sunday the internal temp dropped to 140 and everyone had to nuke their slices, has anyone else had a long rest backfire like that?

15

allen.ruby•5d ago

Can we talk about overheating offset smokers on long cooks?

I was convinced you had to keep a thin blue smoke going no matter what, until my brisket temp stalled for 4 hours at a comp in Kansas City. A guy next to me said to let the fire die down to 225 for an hour and it coasted right through. Has anyone else found that backing off the heat actually helps more than feeding the fire?

28

sethp26•5d ago

My $200 smoker rusted through after 8 months

Bought a fancy offset smoker from a local shop in Austin and the firebox literally rusted a hole through the bottom after 8 months of weekend cooks. Had to weld a patch on it with an old baking sheet cause I refuse to drop another $500 on a replacement. Anyone else dealt with thin metal on these mass produced smokers?

22

robertsmith•6d ago

Old guy at the park taught me the one-move rub trick

I was sweating over a brisket at the local comp in Nashville last fall and this retired pitmaster just walked up and showed me how to season with one hand behind my back. He said 'stop overthinking the sprinkle, just let the meat tell you when it's done.' Has anyone else had a random stranger change your whole cook mid-way?

9

the_jennifer•9d ago

How long did it actually take you to figure out trimming? Or did you have someone show you the first time?

I thought trimming was just cutting off the hard fat and calling it done. First brisket I did came out with a giant hard spot on one end. Second one I trimmed way too much and it fell apart on the smoker. Third one I left too much silver skin and it chewed like leather. Finally watched a Franklin video and realized the shape matters as much as the fat. Took me about 4 months and maybe $180 in wasted meat to get it right. Did anyone else struggle way longer than they expected with trimming?

9

oscar390•9d ago

Guy at a comp told me I was oversmoking my brisket

He said my bark looked like charcoal, not seasoning. I cut my wood chunks in half and started feeding the fire less, now I actually get a pink ring instead of a gray mess. Has anyone else had to unlearn the "more smoke = better" thing?

2

shane_perry29•10d ago

I keep seeing people overtrimming brisket before they even cook it

Been doing competition BBQ for about 4 years now, and I swear every YouTube video I watch has folks taking a knife to their packer before it even hits the smoker. They cut off half the fat cap and trim it into some aerodynamic bullet shape. Last month at a local comp in Springfield, I saw a guy throw away almost 2 pounds of fat and silver skin from a single 14 pound brisket. The thing is, that fat renders down and keeps the meat moist during a long cook. If you trim it all off before cooking, you end up with dry flats and point ends that taste like shoe leather. I only take off the hard fat and any ragged edges, maybe 8 ounces total. The rest stays on, and I just score it a little so it renders better. Has anyone else noticed a trend with way too aggressive trimming, or am I just old school about this?

1

sandra_black•12d ago

My uncle Jeff called me out on my brisket method last Sunday

He’s been doing competition BBQ for 12 years and I always thought my way was fine. He watched me wrap in foil at 165 and said ‘you’re steaming it, not smoking it.’ He showed me his paper wrap method on a $200 choice packer and the bark was night and day different. Has anyone else had a family member completely change how you cook something?

3

nancyd85•14d ago

Went to a BBQ joint in Kansas City that had a sign saying 'no sauce allowed'

Stopped at this hole-in-the-wall place called Smoky Joe's off I-70 last weekend. They had a big handwritten sign right by the counter that said 'If you need sauce, you don't belong here.' The owner came out and explained he spends 14 hours on each brisket and sauce just covers up bad meat. I ordered the ribs and honestly they were so juicy I didn't even miss the sauce. Has anyone else run into a pitmaster with a rule that weird?

21

caseywest•14d ago

I finally nailed 100 briskets smoked this year

I keep count on a little whiteboard in my garage and I hit triple digits last Saturday. That first brisket back in January was a rubbery mess... I pulled it at 190 degrees because I got impatient. Now I let them ride until 203-205 and rest them in a cooler for two hours easy. Has anyone else started tracking their cook count just to see how far you've come?

12

william320•15d ago

Watched a pitmaster in Kansas City trim a brisket last weekend

I was down in Kansas City visiting family and stopped by a competition BBQ spot on Saturday. This guy named Ray took about 45 minutes just trimming a single packer brisket, showed me how he leaves a quarter inch of fat on one side and takes almost all of it off the other. Does anyone else spend that much time on trimming or am I just being too slow about it?

0

sagelane•16d ago

Spent $200 on a pellet smoker thermometer that lied to me for months

I bought this fancy WiFi-enabled probe set thinking I'd get perfect brisket every time, but it was reading 30 degrees low the whole time so my meat was coming out dry and overdone. Found out when I used my old analog thermometer as a backup and saw the difference. Has anyone else had a high-tech gadget totally fail on them during a cook?

12

derekgibson•16d ago

Left a brisket on unwrapped for 6 hours and it actually turned out better

I always wrapped my brisket around hour 8 or 9, but last Saturday I got distracted doing maintenance on my pit and let it ride unwrapped all the way through the stall. The bark ended up so crispy and deep black I couldn't believe it, and the meat stayed way juicier than I expected. Has anyone else tried skipping the wrap on a whole packer?

3

shah.shane•18d ago

Had the worst brisket day of my life last Saturday...

I've been smoking meat for about 4 years now, and last Saturday everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I woke up at 5am to get a 15 pound prime brisket on the offset smoker by 6. First mistake was I didn't check my wood supply the night before and ran out of seasoned oak by 10am. Had to send my buddy to the hardware store for some bags of lump charcoal which threw off the whole clean smoke profile. Then my firebox thermometer started bouncing all over because the wind picked up, and I chased temps for 3 hours straight. By the time the brisket hit 203 internal, the stall had lasted an extra 90 minutes and dinner was 2 hours late. The bark came out great but the flat was dry as sandpaper. Has anyone else had a cook day spiral out of control like that?

26

riverknight•18d ago

Chat with my uncle at a family cookout got me thinking

He mentioned how pitmasters 20 years ago just used wood and time, no fancy gadgets or brine injections, and laughed at my probe thermometer. Made me wonder if all this gear is actually making my BBQ better or just more complicated, anyone else feel that way?

17

eva243•20d ago

Watched a pitmaster at a little joint outside Austin last week...

Three years ago I stopped at a roadside BBQ spot near Lockhart and didn't think much of it. Last week I rolled through again and watched an old guy wrap his brisket in butcher paper so careful it was like he was tucking in a kid. How many of you have seen a technique that looked simple but took years to really nail?

9

angelacooper•21d ago

Spent 8 hours chasing a phantom temperature swing on my offset

I was trying to hold 250 degrees and my temp gauge kept bouncing from 225 to 300 for no reason. Turns out a tiny piece of bark was wedged in my probe port the whole time. Has anyone else had a dumb little thing ruin their whole cook?

21

mark_nguyen95•22d ago

That 5-minute rest advice from a local pitmaster wrecked my ribs

I was at a comp last month in Austin and this old timer told me to rest my ribs for 5 minutes max before serving. Said any longer and they'd dry out. Well I followed his advice exactly and my entry came out tough and chewy. Judge's feedback said they needed more time to loosen up. Has anyone else gotten bad timing tips from experienced folks that backfired?

11

cora_martinez•22d ago

Watched a pitmaster in Kansas City trim a brisket and my whole approach shifted overnight

I saw him take off maybe 2% more fat than I usually do and then 6 hours later that same brisket had the most even bark I have ever gotten, so what is the actual rule for how much fat to leave on the deckle side?

30

reed.ray•25d ago

Talked to a pitmaster from Texas last weekend and it made me rethink my whole approach

I was at a small comp in Kansas City last Saturday and got to chatting with this older guy named Earl who's been cooking for like 40 years. He told me I was overthinking my rubs and to just use salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder on brisket. Said I was chasing flavors that get lost in the smoke anyway... Made me wonder if I've been wasting money on all these fancy blends. Has anyone else had a veteran pitmaster simplify their game like that?

27

mitchell.dakota•26d ago

That Saturday in July when everything went right on the smoker

Back in 2018 I had this one Saturday where I fired up my old Oklahoma Joe offset at 5 AM. Was doing 3 pork butts and 2 racks of spare ribs for a family reunion. The wind was perfect, the charcoal lit in one match, and the hickory was splitting clean. I didn't have to fight the temp once. By noon the bark on the butts was like black glass. My uncle who's been doing competition BBQ for 20 years took one bite of the ribs and just nodded. Said nothing. That was better than any trophy. Has anyone else had a day where the smoker just seemed to read your mind?

26

davis.keith•28d ago

Competition judges are ruining backyard BBQ

I was at the Memphis in May contest last year and watched a guy get docked points because his bark wasn't uniform enough. That trophy chasing has people focusing on looks over taste. When did we start caring more about how a brisket photographs than how it eats?

5

jordan184•28d ago

I finally figured out why my brisket always stalled at 165

I was down at the Franklin Barbecue pit in Austin last month and watched Aaron Franklin himself trim a packer brisket. He took off way more fat than I ever did, like a full 2 pounds, and I thought he was being wasteful. The guy next to me, a pitmaster from Lockhart, said that extra fat just melts into steam and creates a mess that stalls the cook. So I tried it on my Smokey Mountain cooker after that, trimming it down to a quarter inch cap. My brisket hit 205 in 10 hours flat with barely any stall, and the bark was way better. Has anyone else tried trimming more aggressively and seen faster cooks?

26

jordan464•29d ago

Bought a $400 offset smoker and had to change my whole approach

I finally got a Oklahoma Joe's Highland last month after years of using a kettle. Thought I had it figured out but my first brisket came out like shoe leather. Realized my fire management was all wrong because that thin metal loses heat way faster than I expected. Anyone else switch from a kettle to an offset and have to completely relearn how to keep temps steady?