These notes are the decisions that move a long cook: when to light the fire, when the stall is real, when to wrap, and when the meat is actually done. Each page answers one of those and then explains why, so hour eight feels like a choice you already made instead of a guess.
By the meat
Brisket
How to smoke a brisket
The whole cook, from trim to the slice, with the brisket rub and a probe in the flat.
Pork
How long to smoke pork butt
About 10 to 12 hours for a 5 pound butt at 225°F if you leave it unwrapped.
Ribs
Dry rub for ribs
The full rib cook isn't written yet. The rub is, and it's the part that burns if you pile on the sugar.
A packer has time to build bark, so salt and pepper are enough, and that mix is the brisket rub. A butt can take paprika and a spoon of sugar and still pull when the bone lets go. Ribs are a shorter cook, so treating them like a packer dries the meat before the bend is right. Chicken is hotter and faster still, and that page isn't up yet. The brisket clock would overcook a bird, so start from the cards above and keep the sugar off it.
Fix a problem
Brisket
The brisket stall
The surface is evaporating around 150 to 170°F, which holds the center even while the fire is fine.
Pork
Pork butt stall
The same cooling, on a shoulder, usually near 150°F.
Wrap
When to wrap brisket
Wait until the bark is dark. Wrapping the minute the temperature flattens steams the crust you just built.
Wrap
When to wrap pork butt
Around 160°F if you want the clock to move, and only once the bark is set.
The wrap
Butcher paper vs foil
Foil is faster and softer. Paper breathes and often adds 1 to 2 hours.
Rest
How long to rest brisket
Two hours, and the center stays at or above 140°F.
Done
Brisket internal temp
About 203°F and a probe that slides like soft butter.
Done
Internal temp for pulled pork
About 203°F, then a bone that wiggles free.
Waiting out the stall keeps the bark drier, because the surface can keep drying in the pit air. Foil buys time when guests are already on the way, and it softens that crust. Pink butcher paper is a different cook: it breathes, so the bark stays drier and the clock usually runs longer. Those choices each have their own page above. Pick the texture you want, then start the fire early enough for it.
Plan a cook
Clock
Brisket calculator
Weight, grate temperature, wrap, and the time you want to slice.
Clock
Pork butt smoking time calculator
The same shape for a butt, with a shorter rest.
Probe
Meat thermometers for smoking
What has to be in the meat before any of these temperatures mean something.
Seasoning
Brisket rub
The salt-and-pepper mix the brisket pages assume.
You'll want a probe you trust before any of these temperatures mean much. The thermometer notes are where to pick one, and the brisket rub is the seasoning the brisket method uses. If a Meater keeps dropping, that's a radio problem of its own, on Meater not connecting.