Old Topic Revisited - Are We Pitmasters and Experts? Or Just Good Rookies?

you can lead the horse to water...

I consider myself a semi-competent enthusiast at this point. Anytime I start to feeling like I'm a master or have this figured out, I find a good way to humble myself

One thing I've slowly learned, and my girlfriend has to keep telling me, is that we have different levels of expectations. I'll try something I cooked and think "meh, needs work" and her family will eat that same thing and tell me I need to open a food truck. By no means do I think that's a path I should follow...but compared to what they cook, mine is pretty alright.

We also (thanks to this forum, in my case) have exposure to a lot of new ideas. Both in technique and in recipes. Without a doubt, I take bigger swings because of what I read on here. If I was on my own, I'd never have thought of pork belly burnt ends, pig shots, griddled burgers or fried rice, etc. The information and inspiration here makes me look infinitely smarter in the kitchen.

I think to join a forum like this, you have to be very passionate about the subject. I've never joined a forum for using Excel spreadsheets, but I'm sure on boards for BBQ, cars, and cigars. I'll never pretend to be an expert or pitmaster, but I can put out a pretty solid meal, and have a lot of fun doing it. I used to also be in the 'if it's not done ____ way, it's not proper!" and this board has shown me that there is a lot to be said about personal preference. Now I don't cringe or cry when the nephew puts BBQ sauce on my pulled pork right away. I've tried to stop being so snobby about cooking-let people eat what they enjoy!

A combination of passionate and aficionado. Passionado is how I'd describe a lot of the crew on this site.

Joel it is nice that they hold you in such high regards and I’m sure that any one on one tutoring is better than a video as long as it’s from a competent person.
As far as you original question I don’t think that I am a pitmaster by any means, I know how to produce consistently good results on the equipment that I have but there are so many more things to learn and master and when you are only dabbling in it part time it is hard to acquire the skills and knowledge that a true pitmaster posses. The same way good cooks don’t like to be called chef.

I'm nervous anytime I cook for a crowd.
I'm pretty confident in my skills as long as everything goes right.
It's when things go wrong that the *Master* part of pitmaster comes into play.
I'm not a master, but as Aaron Franklin says, You learn to make good BBQ by making a lot of bad BBQ.

I can't remember the last time I made something inedible, but I've had a few cooks that could have been better.

EDIT: Just remembered the last inedible cook.
We call it "The Great Chicken Inferno!"
Sometimes, at night, I still hear the screams...

I’m amazing in my own mind... in reality I just like to play with fire. Before I took up bbq I was “that guy” with all the fireworks every July 4th.

I can always fine someone who does it better than me. I like what I cook, other folks love what I cook, I help others learn how to do it and I'm confident in cooking for 2-200. Master? no! I know how to do a pretty decent job most of the time but I get lucky a lot too. And sure, I'd like to master it someday but there is a lot of playing with fire to get from here to there.

I know what I like in BBQ and I am still striving to get there on each cook. Even if what I make is good, I immediately start thinking what I will do different next time. That's what makes it fun. Although after 35 years of experimentation, I think I have a pretty good chili recipe now and I make it the same each time for the last 3 - 4 batches......

I think a lot of us can turn out some top notch BBQ on OUR terms in limited qty. Think about the TLC that one brisket or 2 racks of ribs get? We pull and eat it when it’s perfect after babysitting for hours on end.

I feel like some of my best cooks are as good or better than anything I’ve tasted elsewhere but realistically.... Everything else I’ve ever tasted was ON MY terms not the cooks.

I show up and order and start wondering where my food is if it’s much of a wait. My customers (guests) get fed free bbq and for their inconvenience are served free beer and whisky. This sorta sets the mood for “ this was the best Q ever man” comments.

Timing, quantity & cost/profit are huge variables that the backyard master doesn’t have to worry about. The great restaurants and pit masters do.

I might be a day late on this one but it is my first time on the boards in quite some time but I'll give it my best reply.


I feel as though my level is whatever anyone wishes to call it. I once had someone get REAL crappy with me when I said how much my friends and family really do enjoy my que and I innocently joked and called myself a Pitmaster. Ohhh you know how it went from there.



So as the argument went on this person asked me how many calls I have ever gotten? I had to think for a quick second for the proper words and how to use them simply because my mouth has no filter.


So my answer was real simple. I said, I have got LOADS!!!! This person looked at me half cocked and asked where my trophies were and I said no, not them calls but calls from friends and family asking was I cooking this weekend or could I cook for them if they brought over something. But that's not the same this person said. Really?? Why because there is no trophy or check that would amount to 1/100 th of the amount of money it would cost me to get a call on a stage?



And when my family is all bucket mouths that can't stop talking long enough to eat half the time. When I sit down to my plate and NO ONE is talking, that is a big deal to me. I have one friend who will NOT eat finger food. This fella is over there licking his fingers clean!



So no, I'm not a pro, I've never gotten any "calls", I don't do it for a living, I simply do it for the time I get to spend with my friends and family. I learned a couple years back that life is not guaranteed tomorrow so enjoy it today and that I do.



So Novice, back yard pro, it don't matter to me none my title. I just enjoy the hobby of building cookers and cooking and spending that quality time with the ones I love and some that might be a little mad at me that day. Either way, It's all good!

Definitely not expert. I feel pretty comfortable with charcoal, gas and pellets. Never tried a stick burner in my life nor other forms of cooking with solid wood.

One thing I've realized is that things we take for granted -- and know aren't hard -- are perceived as much harder to learn by people who haven't tried. I've had numerous people amazed that I can dial in a temperature on a Kamado just by tweaking the vents. "how did you learn to do that?" We all know that it's really not that hard. If you've only used an oven and gas grill though, you don't know that and might look intimidating.

Going back to the "expert" thing. I do okay but that's in large part to having the right tools. My thermopen for instance has made a huge difference. I also have probe thermometers to monitor cooks or pit temp. I'm waiting for the day when I'm at a family gathering somewhere after someone has talked up my skills and I'm asked to cook something on a grill I don't know (not too bad) with a bag of Matchlight and without any form of thermometer. When I think "Pitmaster" it's someone with enough experience to work around that type of challenge.

The other problem that I have is the more comfortable I get the more lazy I get. I'm not sure I'm cooking better pulled pork or brisket than early on for instance because I don't sweat the details as much. Do the details make a massive difference, generally no. Doesn't mean they have no impact though.

Hard question to answer.
I have tried for years to always have a better cook than the last time, and along comes a situation and I have to figure it out. Sometimes i do, sometimes I find out afterwards what I coulda, shoulda woulda done after thinking about it.

I can relate to many of the others comments on this subject, always striving and trying to please myself first and hope others like what I have cooked also. But who does not like the confirmation of others?

I am just doing what I love, and that, is pretty much that. Should I ever get the chance to compete with others, well, that will prove it self out then.

Untill then I just keep enjoying the Art of the Que as best as I can.

Since "D" has shown enough of an interest to come by to help you a few times, a $20 investment plus the first bag of charcoal is a good investment. I've only mentored a few people from scratch over the years, but the best thing I can share is to teach "D" a few techniques. If you show someone how to make a recipe, they can only make one thing, teach them technique and they can cook several recipes and even create their own.

In the photo world there are photographers and guys/girls-with-cameras (aka gwc).

If anyone whose ability I respect wants to call me something eventually, that will mean something. Until then, I'm just a guy-with-smoker

My opinion,if anyone cares.You will never shoot par golf playing once a week.Same with grilling/ smoking.Can you go to the golf course and have a great time? Sure you can,if you like golf.I hate it.I could be home cooking instead.I will never be a Chef or a pitmaster.My friends and family enjoy what I cook and I enjoy cooking it.That is all that matters to me.Go teach that young lad to use that Weber my friend.You will not regret it.There are many things he could be interested in worse than learning to cook/smoke/ grill.

My family and coworkers think I'm pretty good then I go to a bash (we've got one here in Texas next month) and i get reminded there's a bunch of phenomenal cooks on this site.

However, I can drink beer pretty good.

We all have to make food. Might as well try and make it taste good. But the romantic notion of “Pitmaster?” Lol we’re all just hacks with fancy toys. :lol: I liken it to a guy with a canoe or a bass boat who wants to be called “Captain” or “Commodore.” Aye, aye! Lol

“I think of myself as a hack. Because, one, it’s true. Two, it stops you from getting highfalutin notions—above your station. And three, you’re just a hack anyway.“

-Joe Strummer

This is a question of love. Master or hack, rookie? It is the depth of your love and I put it on parallel to my love now.

A master has a mojo. Like love it can be lost and regained. This is because you do not depend on digital solutions but the spirit. You look at the art of BBQ and master it like the Natives mastered their environment and saw a spirit in a tree or rock.



It is LOVE and its execution of that emotion upon meat.


Are we just a back seat, tryin' to get it while can?
Are names on tattoo, or a number on a hand?
Are we just last call kissin' or will be be reminiscing with each other for the next 40 years?
Are we written in stars babe, or are we written in the sand?



Simply put - If you cook the meat instead of the machine you are a Pitmaster. The variance is expression. You know what the meat is doing beyond the therm. You know what is happening to the collagen by the sound and smells of the drippings on the plate. Your probe is feedback not on the digital but by resistance felt in your hands.