Ran into a pitmaster at a gas station outside Austin who gave me a weird tip

He saw my smoker in the truck bed and said 'Your brisket's dry because you're opening the lid every hour to check it... trust the process.' Has anyone else had a stranger give you game-changing advice like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscar7431mo ago

Honestly, how much difference can one peek really make... it's not like you're leaving it open for ten minutes. A quick spray or spritz seems harmless. Feels like some of these barbecue rules get blown way out of proportion, like you need a degree in thermodynamics just to cook some meat.

mary_martin2219d ago

Listen @oscar743, that one peek DOES make a HUGE difference. Every time you lift that lid, you let out a massive amount of heat and humidity that took forever to build up. It's not about leaving it open for ten minutes, it's about the temp swing it causes. That brisket stops cooking properly while the smoker struggles to recover, and it happens every single time you pop that lid. The moisture on the surface evaporates fast too, so you're basically counteracting any good a quick spritz might do.

jamiew531mo ago

That pitmaster probably saw the panic in your eyes from across the parking lot. You're basically giving your brisket a surprise weather report every hour, no wonder it's stressed out.