Automated BBQ Temperature Control

We like smoked barbeque a lot — sidebars in this chapter show you our favorite recipes for pulled pork and for beef brisket — but to be right it has to cook on a very low heat for a long time to let the fat render out.We also like the flavor we get by smoking with charcoal logs — an electric smoker just doesn’t do the job right.

That combination, long, slow cooking with charcoal, is hard to do well.We keep the smoker at around 225°F, a temperature so low that it’s easy for the fire to go out. You can do it if you’re willing to tend the fire constantly, but we’re not that patient.