Warning: I thought offset stick burners were overrated hype, one brisket in Waco changed my mind
Two months back I told a guy at the meat counter that anyone bragging about cooking on a stick burner was just trying to sound fancy, then he invited me to his setup in Waco and I ate the best brisket of my life off a $400 Oklahoma Joe. The bark and smoke ring were unreal, nothing like my pellet grill could ever pull off. Now I'm shopping for one, so what's the real learning curve on fire management for a 16 inch offset?
Did you ever watch that old Aaron Franklin YouTube series where he breaks down fire management on offsets? I binged it before I bought my 16 inch and it helped a ton. From what I heard, the first few cooks are rough because you're learning to run a clean fire instead of just dumping charcoal and walking away. You'll fight temp spikes and thin blue smoke until it clicks, and a smaller chamber actually makes it harder since there's less room for error. Give yourself a few cheap cooks like chicken and ribs before you throw a brisket on there.