That one rainy Saturday when my drum smoker just refused to cooperate

Last month I fired up the old 55 gallon drum for a brisket flat and some ribs for a family thing. The temp held at 250 for about 2 hours, then it started creeping up to 300 no matter how I closed the vents. I knew it was the leaky door gasket, but I didn't have a replacement on hand. So I spent the next 3 hours fighting it with wet towels and a spray bottle, which worked okay until the rain hit and the whole thing dropped to 200. The brisket came out a little chewy on the point end, but the ribs were actually perfect, which made no sense to me. My uncle just shrugged and said, "smoke don't care about your plans," and honestly that stuck with me. Has anyone else had a cook go sideways like that and still pull off one good protein out of the wreck?

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uma30621d ago

Tbh, I used to think controlling temp was all about technique and gear, but your uncle's quote "smoke don't care about your plans" really flipped that for me. That rainy Saturday mess sounds like a nightmare, yet those ribs coming out perfect just proves the smoke does its own thing when you stop forcing it. Now I just roll with whatever the pit gives me and take the wins where I can find them.