Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Barbecue

Smoking meat should be fun, but if you’re just getting started it can feel like there is way too much you have to learn.

It’s a lot more fun if you can get some practice in and watch out for these common mistakes that almost everyone makes.

When you’ve smoked some pork butts and chicken, and tried your hands at brisket and everything’s coming together then invite the whole gang over and wow ‘em with your smoking skills.

In the meantime, learn from the smoking mistakes of others and share any mistakes you’ve made.

1) Using the wrong cut of meat.

It can be tempting to just grab the cheapest cut from the meat section in your nearest supermarket or grocery store and start smoking.

But if you want to produce delicious pulled pork, ribs, or brisket, you MUST start with the best quality you can afford.

The fix:

Your local butcher is your best friend. Tell your butcher exactly what you are looking for. This will vary depending on what you plan on smoking.

Some important things to look out for are:

Ribs – You want to look for good meat coverage over the bone and avoid too much surface fat. If you can avoid buying frozen.

Brisket – Try and get a whole packer brisket that has nice marbling and white and hard fat about 1/4 to 1/3 inches (0.6cm – 0.8cm) thick over the entire flat portion.

Pork Butt – While a bit more forgiving than brisket, for best results look for the large “money muscle” at the opposite end of the bone.

Look at the opposite end of the bone. It’s tube-shaped (with striations and stripes).

You’ll see the bands of fat evenly spaced along with the muscle. When fully cooked, that fat should easily melt away and render.

2) Use lighter fluid to start your charcoal briquettes.

This is one of the most common barbecue mistakes amateurs make.

Before you douse your charcoal in lighter fluid, understand that this can give off some awful odors and create a funky taste in your smoked meat.

Not to mention this going against the whole point of low and slow cooking!

The fix:

A quality chimney starter is one of the best investments you can make.

Lighter cubes work well, but all you need is a few bunched-up paper towels or newspapers.

Place them on the bottom grate of your grill, fill the chimney with coals, then set it down on the grill and light the paper towels.

You should see smoke curling up and be able to feel the heat.

Make sure you keep a close eye on it and within 20 minutes you should be good to go.

If you’re not sold on a chimney starter then check out our guide to the best tools for light charcoal.

3) Not controlling the temperature inside the grill

Good barbecue requires a steady, low heat over a long period.

A common mistake is exposing the meat to too high a heat, resulting in dry, tough meat.

The fix:

Getting this right can take a few attempts.

Try and keep the temperature in the range of 225-250°F (107 – 121°C).

Controlling your temperature depends on the type of smoker you are using.

You control the temperature on a charcoal smoker by opening the vents or intake dampers to increase the temperature and closing the vents to decrease oxygen flow and lower the internal temperature.

It’s important to get the smoker stabilized before adding your meat.

Let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes with a thermometer away from direct heat until the temperature stabilizes and only then add your meat.

To keep everything under control you’ll need to get a good thermometer setup with a probe to measure air temperature, and another to measure the temperature of the meat.

Finally, it’s important to keep a full water pan in the barbecue chamber to absorb heat and help moderate the temperature.

Over a long cook, the water can evaporate so keep checking and refilling every 3-4 hours.

4) Over adjusting your grill setup

You are on your first smoke and everything is going well. You used a charcoal chimney to get your coals nice and ashed over and you’ve got your cooking zone and drip pan setup.

You start imagining how that succulent pork butt is going to taste and then your notice the temperature start to shoot up.

In a panic, you lift the lid, open the vents and keep making wild adjustments until the temperature drops.

You had the right idea but keep completely overshooting the mark.

The fix:

When you see the temperature start to flare up, it can be stressful, but you shouldn’t panic.

Avoid trying to adjust too many things at once or you can easily over-correct.

Change one thing, see what happens, then change another.

You should also avoid opening the lid too often. The key is to hold a steady temperature and only make small adjustments.

5) Having a few too many drinks while you barbecue

Spending time outside while downing a few cold ones is one of the best things about smoking.

But don’t be surprised if by the 6th beer your constant supervision starts to relax.

It doesn’t take long before the heat gets way too high, and 12 hours and 9 pounds worth of brisket turn into an inedible hunk of jerky.

If you’re really unlucky the combination of meat fat, hot fuel and airflow could combine to cause an epic grease fire.

The fix:

Maintaining an internal temperature of 225-250°F (107 – 121°C). This can require close supervision over a long time.

If this is your first time, remember to stay focused and maybe leave the bourbon until after you’ve carved it up.

6) Too much smoke

If a little smoke makes meat taste delicious then a lot of smoke must make it taste freaking amazing, right?

Using too much wood is one of the biggest rookie BBQ mistakes.

You can make matters worse by closing the vents to hold more smoke in. This is a sure-fire way for your meat to end up straight in the trash.

The fix:

Smoking is a case of less is more.

You want to see thin whips of smoke coming out of the grill.

The right amount of wood depends a lot on the type of grill you are using.

A good rule of thumb is to use about two ounces of wood and adjust from there.

If the smoke smells bad, the meat will taste bad too.

7) Not giving yourself enough time

Not allowing yourself enough time is a big mistake that can cause you to start making lots of other mistakes.

When the clock is ticking away and the guests are on the way you might think it’s a good idea to close the vent to hold more smoke in or start adding more coals to the fire.

The fix:

Barbecue takes preparation time and patience.

You can’t rush, and because every piece of meat is different, it’s difficult to accurately estimate the length of cooking time.

If it’s getting dark and you’re running out of fuel, you can always do the following.

You smoke the meat for a few hours before wrapping it in foil, sometimes with juice, and then finishing it in the oven at 325°F (160°C) for a few hours.

8) Panicking during the stall

If you’re on the impatient side then waiting around for the meat to hit the perfect temperature for a tender barbecue can be frustrating.

If you’ve ever smoked a brisket or pork shoulder chances are you’ve experienced the dreaded “stall”.

This happens when the temperature on the thermometer decides it doesn’t want to change for hours at a time.

Don’t make the newbie mistake of getting impatient and increasing the heat. Remember that we are aiming for succulent meat, not a pot roast.

The fix:

There are many theories about the stall, ranging from the moisture leaving the meat, slow rendering of fat, or the protein breaking down.

Keep the temperature stable and eventually, the temperature of the meat will start to slowly climb.

Something this delicious wouldn’t be possible without some challenges!

9) Opening the grill lid to peek too often.

By continually opening the lid, you are letting out the heat and the inside of the grill will be below the required temperature.

The fix:

The meat’s not going anywhere! Your thermometer should tell you all you need to know to make any adjustments.

Open the lid only when necessary to apply a mop or spritz, or to move the meat or tend to the coals. You don’t need to keep checking up on it.

The size of this mistake depends on what you are smoking with, and some peaking should be OK.

10) Trusting the thermometer

The hood thermometer will lie to you.

Most BBQ grills and smokers come up with a “handy” dial installed.

They are almost always cheap and because they are positioned near the top of the lid it records the temperature of the air space above the food you are cooking.

The fix:

Ignore the inaccurate built-in temperature gauge.

The best way to monitor the internal temperature is to invest in a digital dual probe thermometer.

This allows you to measure the temperature of your grill and your food at the same time.

11) Choosing the wrong type of wood.

Obsessing over what type of wood to use for smoking can result in family and friends rolling their eyes.

Wood chunks over charcoal

It is important to get the basics right by using the right types of wood.

The fix:

Learning what type of wood goes best on your smoker, and what types of wood should be avoided is a good first step.

In terms of wood type, fruit woods like apple and cherry are always a safe choice. You can also experiment with oak, hickory, and mesquite.

Guide to using different types of wood

You should avoid any painted or treated wood, as well as pine, fir, cedar, or cypress.

12) Not treating your finished meat with the respect it deserves

After all those hours of work and waiting, you will have the desire to start hacking away.

But not allowing enough time to rest or slicing with the grain can ruin what would otherwise be a delicious piece of meat.

The fix:

The key is to slice against the grain of the meat, aiming for an optimal thickness for a slice of brisket with a No. 2 pencil.

Everyone makes mistakes when learning to barbecue.

Even the most experienced cooks can probably tick off more than one of these mistakes.

Hopefully, you can learn a few things to avoid but don’t get discouraged if your barbecue isn’t perfect the first time.