When I moved down to Charlotte in the midst of lockdowns, there wasnt much to do other than cook. I didn't really know anyone other than Ayla, and the restrictions did not make it easy to meet new people. Throughout our first year living in the apartment, we cooked almost every day. For hours at a time on weeknights and sometimes all day on weekends, we spent time learning, making mistakes, and perfecting the things we could. 

After that year, we bought our house. Our back yard was small, but functional. This is where things started to get out of control. 

On that first father's day, there was a sale for the Big Green Egg. Having never used a charcoal grill before and just purchasing a house, I figured there's no better time than now. We started small - just grilling easy cuts of meat. Once I had a handle of how to build a fire, that's when the real fun began. 

The first thing I smoked was a chicken. In my mind, I figured I would only have to keep the temp stable for a few hours. This way, I can get confident at building and maintaining a fire at a stable temperature for a short period of time. I did okay at best. It was edible; slightly dry, not seasoned enough, and chewy skin. 

My parents were over, traditional BBQ sides on the table, and we had fun. My mother asked me the question she always asks "What would you do different next time?" One of the most profound questions, in my opinion. Luckily for everyone, there have been a lot of next times. 

After cooking a bunch of chickens on the egg, I moved over to pork butts. Cheaper than brisket, and I have to maintain a fire overnight. 

That first butt was not great. Once again, it was slightly dry, not seasoned enough, and no bark. Looking back, the temp was probably too high and spiked a bunch of times, but more importantly, I took it off too early. 

Every BBQ cook will say - "stick a probe in and wiggle it around in the meat. It should feel like a knife in peanut butter." Maybe not the best analogy for me? 

Over the next few months and probably 15 attempts, I had it down. 

• Fire maintenance? check. 

• Seasoning? check.

• Bark? check.

• Moist? check.

Time to move onto the brisket.

I bought a Large Green Egg, big enough I thought. Nope! I had to cut a pretty large chunk of the flat off just to make it fit. The meat stretched out over the heat deflector, so either end was charred up pretty well. The meat iteslf was tough, dry, and over seasoned (I learned my lesson after the chicken and pork!) 

Fathers day once again, there was a deal on Masterclass, where Aaron Frankin walks thorugh his recipes. We picked it up and decided I need more room. The next day, my buddy David was helping me load a Traeger off of marketplace into my back yard. 

Briskets admittedly took me a while to get right - and they aren't cheap! Over the next few pages, I'll walk through what I have learned in hopes that your first few briskets are edible, and more importantly delicious.