Taming of the Smoke

Good smoke is key to good barbecue, says world champion pitmaster Tuffy Stone

Tuffy Stone tends to a burn barrel, a centuries-old way of burning fresh wood down to hot coals to use for barbecue. Ken Goodman​

If the smoke is billowing out of your backyard cooker in great clouds, you’re probably doing barbecue wrong.

That’s according to five-time world champion pitmaster Tuffy Stone, founder of the competition team Cool Smoke and restaurant Q Barbecue in Virginia. Stone cites oversmoking meats as one of the most common mistakes in barbecue, especially for beginners—himself once included.