Watched a guy at a contest in Lockhart use plain white bread to test his fire temp on a stick burner

He pulled a slice off the loaf, held it over the firebox for 10 seconds, and said 'when it toasts in 8 seconds you're at 275, 10 seconds puts you at 250' and I've been using that trick ever since, anyone else got a weird pitmaster hack like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.ben23d agoMost Upvoted

@rowanharris makes a good point, I read somewhere that bread moisture content totally screws that timing method.

rowanharris1mo ago

That white bread trick is actually pretty solid, but I gotta ask - are you using cheap store brand bread or the thick Texas toast style? Cause I tried it with some hearty sourdough once and it took almost 15 seconds to toast, threw my whole reading off. I'm still stuck on the guy testing fire temp at a contest in Lockhart though, that town is basically the Vatican of barbecue so he probably knows his stuff. I'm wondering if you've ever compared it side by side with a digital thermometer to see how close the timing actually gets.

sarah_mason1mo agoMost Upvoted

Sourdough's a bad choice for that trick, you need the cheap fluffy stuff that toasts in like 2 seconds. @rowanharris That timing method is just one of those weird kitchen hacks that's good enough to get you in the ballpark but not replace a real thermometer, like using your hand to guess oven temp or the water drip test for cast iron.