That one Thursday last summer almost made me quit BBQ entirely

I was running a brisket flat for a comp in Kansas City. The trim was perfect, wrap was on point at 165. Then my cheap bluetooth thermometer crapped out and I opened the smoker to probe check everything. Lost 40 degrees in the pit and the flat came out like shoe leather. 14 hours of work down the drain. Has anyone else lost a whole cook because of gear failure?

3 comments

3 Comments

paul_morgan1mo ago

You really think a single bad brisket is enough to make you quit BBQ for good? I mean yeah it sucks to ruin a 14 hour cook but that's just part of learning. If you quit every time gear fails you'd never cook anything. Thermometers die, smokers have bad days, it happens. Maybe get a backup thermometer and keep cooking.

price.tyler1mo ago

Oh man @paul_morgan is totally right though. I trashed my first brisket so bad it could have doubled as a shoe sole. Salted it like crazy and didn't check the temp once. Just went off feel and ended up with beef jerky. You learn more from those failures than the perfect cooks anyway. Buy a cheap backup probe and get back at it.

wesley_hart1mo ago

Nah, if your gear can't handle one cook how do you trust it for anything?