Shoutout to the pitmaster at a gas station in Lockhart who let me watch him load his offset
I stopped for gas in Lockhart last Saturday and saw a guy in an apron loading splits into a big offset smoker behind the station. He was running a bed of coals about the size of a dinner plate and layering oak on top, not just dumping a chimney in. I asked how long he holds at 225 and he said he doesn't chase temp, he chases the color of the bark and the smell of the smoke. Been cooking on my cheap drum for 8 months and that one tip about reading the smoke smell fixed my last two ribs. Has anyone else picked up a real tip from a random pitmaster in a parking lot?