My offset smoker ran 14 hours on one bag of Royal Oak at a comp in Waco, but the brisket still tanked
Two guys next to me at the Waco comp last month ran stick burners and reloaded splits every 45 minutes all night. I ran charcoal in the offset, held 250 like a rock, and got zero sleep anyway because I kept checking the dial. Judges scored their bark higher and mine came in 11th out of 32. So which is it, does stick burners really beat charcoal on flavor, or do judges just like the smoke ring they expect to see?