Quick Start Guide
Short on time? If you only remember five things from this guide, make them these.
- Start with pork shoulder, ribs or chicken instead of brisket
- Keep your smoker between 225–250°F for most cooks
- Cook to internal temperature, not time
- Don't stress about tiny temperature changes
- Rest the meat before slicing
That’s honestly about 80% of what you need to know. The rest comes with practice.
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Table of Contents
Before We Start...
People often ask why the website is called Burning Brisket.
The answer is simple.
Because we actually did.
When we first started getting into barbecue, we made just about every beginner mistake you can imagine. We burnt brisket on a kettle barbecue, bought an offset smoker because we thought that’s what “real” barbecue meant, then discovered the hard way that you can’t just pop out to the hardware store while an offset is running. We came home to a dying fire, a cold smoker and a very late dinner.
Like a lot of beginners, we thought great barbecue had to be complicated.
It turns out it doesn’t.
Eventually we discovered pellet smokers, which made it much easier to fit barbecue around work, renovating the house and family life. Later, once we’d built more confidence, cooking on an offset became enjoyable too.
That’s why Burning Brisket exists.
Not to teach competition barbecue.
Not to convince you that you need to spend every Saturday babysitting a fire.
Just to help ordinary backyard cooks make really good food without making barbecue harder than it needs to be.
The goal isn’t to cook perfect barbecue. The goal is to cook barbecue that makes your family ask when you’re making it again.
If you’re just getting started, this is everything I’d tell a friend who bought their first smoker.
What Does Smoking Meat Actually Mean?
Smoking meat is simply cooking food slowly over indirect heat while wood smoke adds flavour.
Unlike grilling, where food cooks directly over high heat, smoking uses lower temperatures over a much longer period. That slow cooking gives tougher cuts of meat time to become tender while picking up that smoky barbecue flavour everyone loves.
It sounds complicated.
It really isn’t.
Whether you’re cooking on a pellet smoker, charcoal smoker, electric smoker, kamado or offset, the basics are exactly the same.
You need:
- a steady cooking temperature
- good airflow
- enough time
- and a meat thermometer.
Everything else is just refining your technique.
Step 1: Choose the Right Smoker
One of the biggest misconceptions in barbecue is that you need the “right” smoker before you can cook good food.
You don’t.
I’ve cooked on pellet smokers, electric smokers, charcoal smokers, kamados, drum smokers and offsets over the years. They all have strengths and weaknesses, but every one of them is capable of producing excellent barbecue.
The best smoker is simply the one you’ll actually enjoy using.
Pellet Smokers
If somebody asked me today which smoker was easiest to learn on, I’d say a pellet smoker without hesitation.
Fill the hopper with pellets.
Set your cooking temperature.
Let the smoker do the work.
That doesn’t mean pellet smokers magically cook the food for you. You still need to season the meat properly, cook it to the correct internal temperature and learn when it’s finished. They simply remove most of the stress that comes with managing a live fire.
For people with jobs, kids or busy weekends, I honestly think they’re hard to beat.
Electric Smokers
Electric smokers are another excellent choice for beginners.
They’re simple to use, affordable and perfect if your main goal is learning how barbecue works before worrying about managing charcoal or wood.
They’re particularly good for people who don’t want to spend all day tending a fire but still want that low-and-slow cooking experience.
Also read: Best Electric Smokers Under $300
Charcoal Smokers
Charcoal smokers are where many people fall in love with barbecue.
They produce fantastic flavour, but they also ask a little more of you.
You’ll need to learn how airflow affects temperature, how to add charcoal during a cook and how different weather conditions change the way your smoker behaves.
None of that is particularly difficult.
It just takes practice.
Also read: Best Charcoal Drum Smoker
Offset Smokers
I don’t usually recommend an offset smoker as someone’s first barbecue.
Not because they’re bad.
Because they’re demanding.
Managing a live wood fire for ten or twelve hours while learning everything else about barbecue can be overwhelming.
Ironically, after years of cooking on other smokers, I actually enjoy using an offset far more than I did when I first bought one. Once you already understand how meat cooks, learning fire management becomes much less intimidating.
If an offset is your dream smoker, you’ll absolutely get there.
I just wouldn’t feel like you have to start there.
Don't Let Your Smoker Become an Excuse
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that people often blame their smoker for problems that really come down to experience.
It’s easy to think:
“If only I had a better smoker…”
In reality, you’ll learn far more by cooking ten pork shoulders on a basic smoker than constantly upgrading equipment.
Every cook teaches you something.
The confidence comes from experience, not price tags.
Step 2: Start With the Right Meat
If I could stop one beginner mistake, it would be this:
Don’t start with brisket.
I know.
Brisket is the meat everyone wants to cook.
It’s also one of the most expensive cuts you’ll buy and one of the least forgiving.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to cook brisket eventually.
I just think you’ll enjoy the whole hobby much more if you build your confidence first.
Here’s what I’d recommend instead.
| Meat | Difficulty | Why it’s a great first cook |
|---|---|---|
| Pork shoulder | ⭐ | Extremely forgiving and difficult to ruin |
| Pork ribs | ⭐⭐ | Faster than brisket and hugely rewarding |
| Chicken thighs | ⭐ | Cheap, quick and forgiving |
| Whole chicken | ⭐⭐ | Great for learning temperature control |
| Brisket | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Leave until you’ve built some confidence |
Pork Shoulder Is My First Recommendation
If you’ve never smoked anything before, buy a pork shoulder.
Seriously.
It’s inexpensive compared to brisket, it’s packed with fat and connective tissue, and it’s incredibly forgiving.
If your smoker runs a little hotter than planned… It’ll probably still turn out great.
Dinner runs an hour late… It’ll probably still turn out great.
You accidentally leave it resting longer than expected… Still great.
You learn so much from your first pork shoulder without the pressure of worrying about ruining an expensive cut of beef.
Don't Be Afraid to Practise
One thing I wish I’d realised sooner is that every barbecue doesn’t have to be perfect.
Some of my favourite cooks have also taught me the biggest lessons.
Sometimes you’ll overshoot the temperature.
Sometimes you’ll under-season the meat.
Sometimes dinner won’t be ready when you expected.
That’s normal.
Every experienced backyard cook has done exactly the same thing.
The only difference is they’ve done it enough times to know what to change next time.
Step 3: Keep the Seasoning Simple
When I first got into barbecue, I thought every piece of meat needed an elaborate rub with twenty different ingredients.
It doesn’t.
Some of the best barbecue I’ve ever eaten was seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper.
As you’re learning, keeping things simple makes it much easier to understand what each part of the cooking process is actually doing.
For beef, I usually stick with:
- Coarse salt
- Coarse black pepper
For pork and chicken, a simple barbecue rub works perfectly well.
You can experiment with more complicated flavours later.
Right now, you’re learning how to cook meat—not how to mix spices.
Step 4: Pick the Right Wood (But Don't Overthink It)
One of the first rabbit holes new barbecue cooks disappear down is wood choice.
Should you use oak?
Apple?
Cherry?
Hickory?
Mesquite?
Honestly, they’re all good options.
Yes, different woods produce different flavours, but the difference is nowhere near as dramatic as the internet sometimes makes it sound. A good piece of meat cooked well with oak will taste far better than a poorly cooked piece of meat smoked over the “perfect” wood.
If you’re just getting started, I’d keep it simple.
- Oak – My personal favourite because it works with almost everything.
- Apple – Mild and slightly sweet. Great with pork and chicken.
- Cherry – Similar to apple but gives meat a beautiful colour.
- Hickory – Stronger smoke that works really well with pork and beef.
- Mesquite – Very strong. I’d leave this until you’ve got a few cooks under your belt.
If you’ve read much of Burning Brisket, you’ll notice I mention oak quite a bit.
That’s not because I think it’s the only wood worth using. It’s because I genuinely like the flavour, it’s versatile, and it means I don’t spend half my life wondering whether I should have used something different.
Sometimes simple really is easier.
Step 5: Get Your Smoker Ready
Before the meat goes anywhere near the smoker, let it properly come up to temperature.
It sounds obvious, but it’s a mistake plenty of beginners make.
If you throw cold meat into a smoker that’s still heating up, the fire is often still settling, the smoke can be dirtier, and temperatures tend to bounce around more than they need to.
Instead:
- Light the smoker.
- Let it reach your cooking temperature.
- Give it another 10–15 minutes to stabilise.
- Then put your meat on.
That little bit of patience makes the whole cook easier.
Step 6: Aim for a Steady Temperature
If there’s one thing beginners stress about more than anything else, it’s temperature.
Your smoker says 225°F.
A few minutes later it says 238°F.
Then 231°F.
Then 243°F.
The temptation is to start adjusting everything.
Don’t.
Small temperature changes are completely normal.
The meat doesn’t know whether it’s sitting at 228°F or 237°F.
What hurts your cook is constantly chasing every little fluctuation.
Think of your smoker like driving a car.
If you constantly jerk the steering wheel every second, you’ll never drive in a straight line.
Temperature works the same way.
Make small adjustments.
Then leave it alone.
Every Smoker Behaves Differently
This is something that took me a while to appreciate.
A pellet smoker might sit within a few degrees all day.
A charcoal smoker naturally wanders up and down.
An offset smoker moves around even more depending on your fire.
That doesn’t mean one is “wrong.”
It’s simply how those cookers work.
Don’t compare your smoker to someone else’s.
Learn how your smoker behaves instead.
Step 7: Cook to Temperature, Not Time
Recipes can tell you approximately how long something takes.
They can’t tell you exactly.
Every brisket is different.
Every pork shoulder is different.
The weather is different.
Your smoker is different.
If you only remember one thing from this guide, make it this:
Cook until the meat is done—not until the clock says it should be.
A meat thermometer takes almost all the guesswork out of barbecue.
Rather than wondering whether your pork shoulder has cooked for long enough, you simply check the internal temperature.
Easy.
It’s one of the biggest reasons I recommend buying a good wireless thermometer before spending money on lots of BBQ gadgets.
Step 8: Don't Chase Smoke
This surprises a lot of people.
New barbecue cooks often spend more time watching the smoke coming out of the chimney than they do watching the meat.
You don’t need huge clouds of smoke pouring out all day.
In fact, that’s usually the opposite of what you want.
You’re aiming for clean smoke.
Sometimes you’ll barely even notice it. Like, is the smoker still on?
That’s perfectly normal.
The smoke flavour builds slowly over hours.
More smoke doesn’t automatically mean better barbecue.
Step 9: Give Yourself Plenty of Time
One of the easiest ways to ruin a barbecue is running out of time.
We’ve all done it.
You tell everyone dinner will be ready at six.
Five-thirty arrives.
The meat still isn’t finished.
Suddenly you’re turning temperatures up, skipping the rest and hoping for the best.
Try not to put yourself in that position.
I always prefer finishing early.
If the meat is ready before everyone arrives, wrap it and let it rest.
Most barbecue actually benefits from a decent rest anyway.
Being early is far less stressful than trying to rush the last hour.
Step 10: Rest the Meat
This is one of those steps that’s incredibly easy to skip.
Especially when everyone is hungry.
But resting really does make a difference.
As meat cooks, the juices are moving around inside.
Cut into it immediately and a lot of those juices simply end up on the chopping board.
Give it time to rest and they redistribute back through the meat.
As a rough guide:
- Chicken – 10–15 minutes
- Pork ribs – 15–20 minutes
- Pork shoulder – 30–60 minutes
- Brisket – 1–2 hours (or even longer if you’re holding it properly)
It’s worth the wait.
Common Beginner Mistakes
If I could go back and give myself advice before my first smoker, these are probably the things I’d say.
Starting with brisket
Everyone wants to cook brisket.
Almost everyone enjoys barbecue more if they don’t start there.
Learn on pork shoulder first.
Your wallet will thank you too.
Opening the lid every five minutes
Every time you lift the lid, heat escapes.
Trust your thermometer.
You don’t need to check the meat constantly.
Buying every BBQ gadget
It’s incredibly easy to convince yourself you need another gadget.
Honestly, you probably don’t.
Spend your money on good meat.
Spend your weekends cooking.
Experience teaches you more than accessories ever will.
Trying to copy competition barbecue
Competition barbecue is designed to impress judges with one perfect bite.
Most of us are cooking dinner for our family.
They’re very different goals.
Don’t worry about every tiny detail you see on YouTube or BBQ forums.
Focus on making food everyone enjoys eating.
Thinking every cook has to be perfect
Some of our best family barbecues have involved things not quite going to plan.
Dinner ran late.
The bark wasn’t perfect.
The ribs were a little overdone.
Nobody cared.
People remember sitting around the table together far longer than they’ll remember whether the brisket had the perfect smoke ring.
That’s one of the biggest reasons I enjoy barbecue now far more than when I first started.
Equipment You Actually Need
One of the biggest surprises when you first get into barbecue is just how many gadgets people try to sell you.
Temperature controllers.
Spray bottles.
Rib racks.
Meat claws.
Injector kits.
Special gloves.
Special knives.
Special scissors.
Special everything.
The truth is you can make fantastic barbecue without filling the garage with gear.
If I was helping a friend buy their first smoker today, this is what I’d recommend.
Must-Have's
A Smoker
It doesn’t have to be expensive.
It doesn’t have to be the biggest.
It just needs to suit the way you’ll actually cook.
A wireless meat thermometer
If I had to choose between buying a fancy accessory or a good wireless thermometer, I’d buy the thermometer every time.
Cooking to internal temperature rather than guessing by time will improve your barbecue more than almost anything else.
Long tongs
You’ll use them every cook.
Buy a decent pair.
Fuel
Whether that’s pellets, charcoal or wood.
Good barbecue starts with having enough fuel to finish the cook.
Running out halfway through isn’t much fun.
Also read: Best Lump Charcoal | Best Charcoal Briquettes
Nice to Have's
Once you’ve cooked a few times, these become useful.
- Heat resistant gloves
- Butcher paper
- A chimney starter for charcoal
- A large cutting board
- Aluminium trays
Things I'd Wait Before Buying
This might surprise a few people.
I wouldn’t rush out and buy:
- Meat claws
- Fancy spritz bottles
- Rib racks
- Expensive knives
- Injector kits
- Pellet storage bins
- BBQ tool sets with 27 different utensils
If you discover later that you genuinely need something, buy it then.
I’d much rather see you spend your money on another pork shoulder than another gadget.
You’ll learn far more.
FAQs About How to Smoke Meat
What’s the easiest meat to smoke?
Pork shoulder.
It’s forgiving, inexpensive, difficult to dry out and makes fantastic pulled pork.
If you’ve never used a smoker before, it’s where I’d start.
What’s the best temperature for smoking meat?
For most low-and-slow barbecue, somewhere between 225°F and 250°F is ideal.
Don’t worry if your smoker moves around a little.
Small temperature changes are completely normal.
How long does smoking meat take?
It depends entirely on the cut of meat.
Chicken may only take a couple of hours.
Pork shoulder and brisket often take 10–14 hours.
Rather than planning around time, plan around internal temperature and always allow yourself more time than you think you’ll need.
Do I need an expensive smoker?
Not at all.
Some of the most enjoyable barbecue I’ve cooked has been on relatively inexpensive smokers.
A more expensive smoker might make things easier or add extra features, but it won’t magically make better barbecue.
Learning how your smoker behaves is far more valuable.
Should I soak wood chips?
No.
Dry wood burns cleaner.
Soaking wood mostly delays combustion and creates steam before the wood starts producing smoke.
What’s the best wood for beginners?
Oak.
It’s versatile, works with almost every type of meat and is the wood I reach for most often.
If you only ever kept one smoking wood on hand, oak would be a great choice.
Why did my meat stall?
The “stall” is completely normal.
As moisture evaporates from the surface of the meat, it cools the meat at almost the same rate your smoker is heating it.
This can make the internal temperature appear stuck for hours.
Be patient.
Eventually it’ll start climbing again.
If you’re cooking larger cuts like brisket or pork shoulder, wrapping can help push through the stall.
Why isn’t my meat tender?
Usually one of two things has happened.
Either it hasn’t cooked long enough. Or, it hasn’t rested long enough.
Most tough barbecue simply needs more time.
What Should You Cook Next?
Once you’ve got the basics down, I’d recommend trying one of these.
Final Thoughts
When we first got into barbecue, I honestly thought it was something you had to dedicate your whole weekend to.
There were endless rules.
Endless opinions.
And it seemed like everyone online was trying to make it more complicated than it needed to be.
Over time, I’ve realised the opposite is true.
The people who consistently cook great barbecue usually do the basics really well.
They choose good meat.
They keep a steady temperature.
They cook to internal temperature instead of the clock.
Then they let the meat rest.
That’s about it.
If there’s one thing I’d like you to take away from this guide, it’s this:
Don’t wait until you think you know everything before lighting your smoker.
You’ll learn more from cooking one pork shoulder this weekend than you will from reading another ten hours of barbecue advice online.
And if something goes wrong?
Welcome to the club.
We’ve burnt brisket.
We’ve let fires go out.
We’ve had dinners run hours late.
We’ve made all the mistakes you’re trying to avoid.
The good news is every one of those cooks taught us something, and every barbecue since has been a little better because of it.
So don’t worry about cooking perfect barbecue.
Cook barbecue that fits into your life.
Cook barbecue your family asks you to make again.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what really matters.
Kate Brown is the founder of Burning Brisket, where she shares hands-on smoker reviews, barbecue gear guides, and practical tips for backyard BBQ. She has cooked extensively on charcoal, pellet, electric, and kamado smokers, using real-world experience to help beginners choose the right equipment and make better barbecue at home. Her focus is honest, straightforward advice that makes smoking and grilling easier without unnecessary complexity.
