Rained out mid cook at a comp in Tulsa, had to improvise
Last month at the Tulsa BBQ Showdown, we were 4 hours into a brisket cook on my offset when the skies opened up and killed my fire completely. I panicked and threw it in a cheap gas grill I had in the truck, wrapped in foil, and finished it there. It came out tender but lost that smoke bark, and the judges scored us 23rd out of 40. Has anyone else had to switch cookers mid race and saved the meat, or should I have just let it go?
That 23rd place finish tells me you made the right call, because a tough, dry brisket would've landed you in the 30s for sure. We do this weird thing where we treat the cooker like it's sacred, but really the meat just needs steady heat and time, no matter where it comes from. Same way you'll grab a spare tire from a buddy's trunk to get home, you adapt with what's on hand and the end goal stays the same.