c/bbq-pitmasters

Spent 6 hours on a brisket stall that never came? Or did I do it wrong?

Ran a 14 pound brisket on my offset last Saturday in Nashville and the internal temp sat at 160 for over four hours, no wrap or anything, and I thought my pit was broken. Turns out my thermometer probe was touching a fat seam the whole time, so the real meat temp was climbing, but I didn't figure it out until the meat hit 203 and came out way overdone. Has anyone else chased a phantom stall for that long, or do you trust your probes more than I do now?

1 comments

the_daniel•2d ago

The pitmaster in Memphis who corrected my rub technique in 10 seconds

I was at a competition in Memphis last fall and this old guy came over while I was seasoning my ribs. He watched me for a minute, then said "you're patting it on like makeup, son. You gotta press it in with your thumbs." I laughed it off but tried his way on my next rack and the bark came out way better. Also he told me to lay off the brown sugar, said it burns before the meat's done. Has anyone else had a random stranger at a cookoff totally change how they do something basic?

2 comments

sam_cooper•5d ago

Found out how much wood smoke actually weighs and it messed with my head

I was reading through some old pitmaster notes online last night and found a stat that a single hickory log can add over 2 pounds of smoke residue to a brisket during a 12 hour cook. That blew my mind since I always figured the weight loss from moisture was the main thing. Turns out that's why my firebox builds up that black tar so fast, especially after a long weekend cook in Austin. I've been doing this for about 15 years and never once thought about the actual mass of the smoke itself. Makes me wonder if I should be cleaning my smoker more often than every couple of months or if that buildup actually helps insulate things. Has anyone else ever weighed their meat before and after a cook to see the real smoke pickup?

2 comments

logan271•7d ago

Burnt my brisket so bad at a comp in Memphis it turned into a science experiment

I was at the Memphis in May BBQ contest last spring and got distracted by a guy arguing about rub ratios (like, seriously dude), and my brisket sat on the smoker an extra 45 minutes. When I pulled it off, the bark was black as charcoal and the flat crumbled into dust when I touched it, smelled like a campfire that ate a shoe. Has anyone else ever ruined a whole brisket at a big event and had to laugh it off while the judges walked past your table?

c/bbq-pitmasters

Spent 6 hours on a brisket stall that never came? Or did I do it wrong?

The pitmaster in Memphis who corrected my rub technique in 10 seconds

Found out how much wood smoke actually weighs and it messed with my head

Burnt my brisket so bad at a comp in Memphis it turned into a science experiment

Every pitmaster told me to never wrap ribs in foil, did it anyway for a comp in Memphis

Just dropped $150 on a fancy rib rack that I barely use now

Pro tip: Stop spraying ribs every 15 minutes

Hit my 200th brisket today and it was the first one I didn't mess up

Heard a local pitmaster say he stopped wrapping brisket at 160

Am I the only one who thinks lighter fluid ruins brisket bark?

Watched a pro trim a brisket at a Franklin stop in Austin and noticed something odd

Talked with an old pitmaster at a gas station in Alabama

Used to wrap my brisket in foil every time. Switched to butcher paper 2 years ago after a competition in Lockhart.

Watched a guy go from backyard griller to competition winner in 18 months

A competition judge told me my ribs were 'too wet' back in June

Am I the only one who thinks competitive BBQ judges favor sweet over smoke?

Had a perfect brisket day last Saturday and I still don't know what I did right

Warning: Swapping to lump charcoal ruined my brisket bark for 3 months

That grease fire at the Memphis in May contest changed my whole setup

Hot take: lighter fluid on charcoal is fine for quick cooks

That one guy at a competition who insisted his rub had 'magic powers'

Finally figured out why my brisket was always dry on the flat end

Unpopular opinion: backyard charcoal is better than stickburner brisket

Shoutout to the guy at Kreuz Market who showed me why I was drying out brisket

Unpopular opinion: my buddy's dry rub advice was awful