I used to think a pellet smoker was the easy way out until I tried a real offset
Honestly, I ran a Traeger for about two years, thinking I was making real barbecue. It was super easy, just set it and forget it. Then my buddy in Austin let me borrow his old-school offset stick burner for a weekend. Tbh, the first cook was a mess. I couldn't keep the temp steady to save my life, and I went through a whole bag of oak splits in like 5 hours. But when those ribs came off, the bark and smoke flavor were just on another level. It wasn't just a different taste, it was deeper, like the meat actually worked for it. The pellet grill smoke always tasted kinda thin and one-note after that. Has anyone else made the switch and found a specific trick for managing the fire better?