Had to pick between brisket from a food truck or my own backyard rig for a party

My buddy asked me to bring the main meat for his graduation cookout last Saturday. I spent two days deciding if I should just grab from Smoky Joe's truck down the street or fire up my old Weber kettle at 5 AM. Went with the kettle because I wanted to prove I could hold 225 degrees for 10 hours straight. The flat came out a little dry on one end but everyone said the bark was killer. Any of y'all ever regret not just buying from a pro when the stakes are high?

2 comments

2 Comments

veraw471mo ago

My last backyard hero moment ended with me serving what I can only describe as "aggressively smoked hockey pucks" to my sister's engagement party. Foolishly thought I could trim a packer brisket in my sleep at 3 AM and ended up butchering it so bad the flat looked like a map of a very unhappy country. Meanwhile Smoky Joe's had a line around the block, probably serving perfectly juicy slices to people who actually remembered to set their alarms. At least your bark won, mine just tasted like regret with a peppery finish.

sageburns1mo ago

Hold up... you're calling that a loss? Sounds like you actually won to me. That bark being all peppery and dark means you probably had the heat right and a good rub going. The meat might have been dry but the outside was probably fantastic. And honestly, a map of an unhappy country is way more interesting than some boring flat cut from a pro shop. Those folks at Smoky Joe's are just cranking out the same thing every day without any character or soul. Your hockey pucks had personality and a story behind them... that's what real BBQ is about. The engagement party crowd probably forgot the meat within an hour anyway but they'll remember the person who tried something bold and failed with style. Sometimes the best memories come from the disasters not the perfect slices.