Backyard SmokeMaster BBQ

05/29/2026

Saturday, October 17, 2026. My backyard. Eight people.

This isn't a cooking class — it's a day where you tell me what you want to see cooked, and we get into it. Brisket. Beef ribs. Whole hog. Whatever the group wants to dig into.

Stick burners, drum smokers, the Huntsman, Weber kettle, pellet grill, Smoke Slinger — all of them fired up. Food and drinks included.

Founding member pricing closes Friday, June 5. After that, both the VIP membership and the standalone cook day ticket prices go up. Founding members lock in their rate as long as they remain subscribed.

Two paths in:
🔥 Full VIP membership (cook day + ongoing benefits): backyardsmokemaster.com/society
🎟️ Just the cook day ticket: backyardsmokemaster.com/cookday26

05/27/2026

Spray bottle BBQ truth time 👇
That apple juice you've been hitting your brisket with every 45 minutes? It's barely making it past the surface of the meat.

But here's the thing — spritzing absolutely works. Just not for the reason you've been told.

This Wednesday on the Backyard SmokeMaster Podcast, we're cracking open the Spritzing Lie:
🔥 What spritzing ACTUALLY does (the science)
🔥 What to spritz with — and what to skip
🔥 The right strategy for pellet grills, kettles, kamados, offsets, and drums

Wed 5/27 · 6PM PST · Live on YouTube

What do YOU spritz with? Drop it in the comments 👇

🔗 Livestream link in the comments

05/20/2026

🍔 This Memorial Day weekend, millions of burgers are going to hit grills across this country — and most of them are going to come out worse than they should.

Not because the cooks don't care. Because the cooks are following advice that's flat wrong.

Dimple or no dimple? Salt early or salt late? Press the patty or never touch it? Medium rare or well done? Every "rule" you've heard contradicts another one — because most of them aren't based on anything but tips passed down from dads, blogs, and YouTube videos by people who've never tested them.

This Wednesday, May 20 at 6pm PST — Episode 109 of the Backyard SmokeMaster BBQ Podcast: "The Ultimate Burger Lie: How to Get Juicy Patties This Memorial Day"

Six burger lies. Six food-science truths. And a clear playbook you can use this Memorial Day weekend to put out the best burgers your backyard has ever seen.

Set your reminder — link in the comments. 🔥

05/17/2026

Beef prices have gotten out of hand. $10+/pound for brisket in some parts of the country — and I get it, that's a lot to drop on a backyard cook.
So I tested whether a bone-in chuck roast, cooked the exact same way I'd cook a brisket, could deliver the same experience for a fraction of the price. Texas-style salt and pepper, 275°F on the Giant Huntsman, wrapped in butcher paper with beef tallow, rested long.

Half the cost. Half the cook time. The full verdict — including my honest take on what it nails and what it doesn't — is in the new video.

👉

Beef prices have hit unimaginable levels — over $10 a pound for brisket in some parts of the country. So I went looking for an alternative that delivers the ...

05/13/2026

New video up: St. Louis Ribs — How to Trim, Season, and Get Them Ready to Cook.

I'm walking through exactly how I prep a rack of St. Louis spares for the smoker, including:

• What actually makes a rib "St. Louis" (it's just the cut)
• Why I grab mine at Costco and skip half the trim work
• The silver skin shortcut I use instead of peeling
• Why I've ditched commercial rubs and gone back to just salt and pepper

After the direct heat rib experiment a couple weeks ago, Jeannine and I were both blown away by the salt-and-pepper rack. That's officially the move now — and you'll see exactly how I'm applying it in this one.

Watch the full breakdown here → https://youtu.be/yy7nNHAcOZM

And if you want early access to videos like this plus the conversations behind them, come join us inside the Backyard SmokeMaster Society → https://backyardsmokemaster.com/society

– Backyard SmokeMaster BBQ

Before you put ribs on the smoker, the prep work makes all the difference. In this video, I'm breaking down exactly how I get St. Louis style spare ribs read...

05/11/2026

The biggest charcoal sales of the year are coming this Memorial Day weekend. Pallets of Kingsford. Lump in the next aisle. Natural briquettes one bag over. And somewhere on the bottom shelf — if your store even carries it — coconut charcoal you've probably never tried.

Here's the lie: the people stacking those pallets don't know what's in those bags. The price tag isn't telling you what matters. The marketing isn't either.

Tuesday night we cut through it. Episode 108 of the Backyard SmokeMaster BBQ Podcast: The Charcoal Lie — What to Buy (and Avoid) This Memorial Day.

Four real categories. A decision framework that holds up. Honest takes on what's actually in your favorite bag.

📺 TUESDAY, MAY 12 — 6PM PST — link in comments

05/06/2026

Most backyard cooks have had a beef rib cook go sideways — dry, chewy, just never quite right. And most of the time, the problem wasn't the cook. It was the cut.
Beef ribs aren't one thing. Back ribs, plate ribs, and chuck short ribs all come from different parts of the animal — different fat content, different collagen, different behavior on the pit. Cook them the same way and you're setting yourself up to fail before you even light the fire.

Tonight at 6 PM PST we're breaking all three down on the Backyard SmokeMaster BBQ Podcast:
🦴 Where each cut comes from and why it matters
🦴 What to look for at the butcher counter
🦴 How to approach each one on the pit
🦴 The five most common beef rib mistakes — and how to stop making them

Episode 107 drops live tonight. Link in the comments. 👇
👇 Tell me — which beef rib cut have you cooked the most: back ribs, plate ribs, or chuck short ribs?

05/03/2026

Its Party Wings Day@

05/03/2026

Good Morning

05/02/2026

Burns hot & clean. This was my first time using it & I’m impressed!