A stranger poked my brisket and gave me a one-liner I still think about

Last summer at a small cookoff outside Austin, I had my brisket resting and this older fella walks up, no bib, no plate, just stares at it. He pokes the flat with his index finger, nods real slow, then says "she's done but she ain't happy." I laughed because I thought he was joking, but then he walked off without another word. Turns out he was a retired pitmaster who won the whole state back in the 90s, and someone told me later that he only pokes meat he respects. Anyway, I sliced it and it was decent but a bit dry near the point, so he wasn't wrong. Have any of you ever had a random stranger call out your cook before you even cut into it? What did they say?

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richard_mason14d ago

Take it for what it is, man. Sounds like a cool moment to tell your buddies about, but you're honestly overthinking it. He poked your meat, said some cryptic stuff, and dipped. That's just how old pitmaster types are, they love acting mysterious. You said yourself the brisket was a bit dry, so maybe he just saw what you already knew and put it in a funny way. Respect or not, a poke and a vague line doesn't change the fact that your cook was mid. People love turning random encounters into some deep lesson, but at the end of the day, it's just a dude who knows his BBQ saying your flat was overdone. I'd just work on your moisture and call it a day.