My buddy laughed at me for using a digital thermometer until he sliced into that brisket

Honestly, I used to just go by feel and time like my grandpa taught me. Then last month at a cookoff in Austin, a pitmaster named T-Bone told me my brisket was stalling because I wasn't watching the internal temp close enough. I grabbed a Thermopen and started poking after every hour, and sure enough I caught the stall at 155 and wrapped it up tight. The thing came out perfect and my buddy who laughed at me asked to borrow my thermometer for his next cook. Any of you guys swear by a certain probe or do you just wing it like I used to?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_margaret1mo ago

Had a buddy named Cole who swore by his dad's method of just sticking a fork in everything. He brought ribs to a party and they were raw in the middle, like dangerously raw. He ate them anyway and spent the whole night on my toilet regretting every bite while I ate the brisket I'd probed all day.

nathana482mo ago

My Thermapen changed my whole approach when I caught a stalled butt at 152 last summer. It’s not about ditching feel, it’s just having backup when the bark looks good but the inside ain't moving. Which model do you use for quick checks?

jade_singh2mo ago

yo have you tried the Thermoworks Smoke? i was in the same boat, always went by feel until i bombed a pork shoulder at a family cookout. grabbed one of those dual probe setups so i can keep an eye on both the meat and the smoker temp. its night and day once you start tracking that stall, especially with brisket. wrapping at the right time saves you like 3 hours sometimes. i still check bark and feel now and then but the temp reading keeps me from popping the lid too much.