PSA: a 78 year old pitmaster in Lockhart told me his fire never touches the meat, and I finally tested it
I always ran my offset with the meat right over the coals because that is how my dad did it back in Lubbock. Last month I drove out to Lockhart and watched a guy named Earl cook on a 1,000 gallon tank he built in 1974, and he kept the brisket about 3 feet from the fire the whole time. He said the smoke does the work and the flame just makes soot, and when I got home I moved my grate to the far end to try it. Best bark I have gotten in 6 years of cooking, no bitter taste at all. Has anyone else made that switch on a smaller offset, and did you have to add more wood to keep temps up?
Moved mine to the far end last summer and it was a total game changer, way cleaner smoke flavor. Yeah you burn through more splits but once that stack heat evens out the temps hold just fine.