Talked with an old pitmaster at a gas station in Alabama

Guy was cooking a shoulder on a homemade cinder block pit behind the station. Told me he never once opened the lid in 14 hours. Made me rethink all my fancy gadgets and thermometers. Anyone else ever learn more from a stranger in a parking lot than from a competition circuit?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan4623d ago

The lid staying shut is the whole secret honestly. Every time you peek you dump heat and stall the cooking process by an hour or more. That guy knew his meat and his fire well enough to trust the pit, and that comes from doing it so many times you don't need a screen to tell you what's going on. Just keep the coal bed steady and let the thing ride.

brooke_murray3d ago

You really think peeking sets it back that much consistently, @ivan462? Asking because I've definitely cracked the lid a few times out of pure nerves and still ended up with decent results (maybe I just got lucky).

wesley6393d ago

Peeking definitely adds at least 45 minutes every time you do it.