Hold the temperature
Everything else is downstream of a steady fire.
Why the recipe didn't save you
Recipes assume a steady fire. Yours swung sixty degrees while you slept.
How we work
Steady fire, honest logs, patience
Barbecue is long and unforgiving of drift. A pit that wanders between 210 and 300 produces a different cook every time, which is why nothing seems repeatable.
Logs fix that. Pit temp and internal temp written down turn a vague disappointment into a visible pattern — and the photo of the slice usually confirms it within seconds.
The last part is patience. Wrapping too early, probing too often and resting too little are the three habits that spoil otherwise good cooks, and all three come from impatience rather than ignorance.
Our principles
Three beliefs behind the method
Log every cook
Numbers over time explain results that feel random.
Cook to feel, not the clock
Probe tender is a feel, not a timetable.
Shall we look at your last cook?
Twenty minutes, free, on your temps and what to change.