Ran my offset with the exhaust wide open for a whole brisket once and could not figure out why it tasted like a campfire | BBQ Pitmasters

Rowan Thomas · 2026-10-11T19:50:06.098064+00:00

I was cooking a 14 pound packer on my 250 gallon offset in the backyard and the thing came out bitter and harsh, like licking an ashtray. My neighbor who runs a small joint down in Lockhart swung by, took one look at my stack damper, and asked why I had it cranked all the way. Turns out I had been choking the fire down at the intake and running the exhaust wide open the entire time, which pulled dirty smoke right across the meat. I closed the stack to about a third and ran the intake wide open instead, and the same cook came out clean and sweet. Anybody else run their stack choked down, or am I the only one who had this backwards for way too long?

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Ran my offset with the exhaust wide open for a whole brisket once and could not figure out why it tasted like a campfire | BBQ Pitmasters - The Design Community Hub