Met a retired pitmaster at a gas station in Kansas who changed my whole approach to ribs

I was fueling up outside Kansas City last spring and this older guy in a stained apron walked over and asked what I was hauling. Turned out he ran a competition team for 20 years and he noticed my trailer rig. He told me I was probably cooking my ribs too hot and fast, that the secret was 225 for the whole 6 hours with a specific wood mix. I thought he was just blowing smoke but he drew a little diagram on a napkin showing how to layer the charcoal. I tried his method on my next run and my wife said it was the best rack I ever made. Has anyone else gotten game changing advice from a random stranger at a rest stop or diner?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ryan1mo ago

Picked up a brisket trick from a trucker in Wyoming that I still use today.

linda_butler281mo ago

Wait, did you learn that trick from one of those old-school guys who runs the 80 corridor through Rawlins? I used to think brisket was all about fancy rubs and 12-hour smoker babysitting, but then a guy at a rest stop near Laramie told me to wrap it in butcher paper at the stall and throw it in a cooler for two hours. Completely changed how I look at the whole process. Have you found that trick works with cheaper cuts of meat too, or is it pretty specific to brisket?