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OFFSET PIT · 250°F · WHITE OAK + ALMOND3149 Mission St · Bernal North, SF
Baby BluesMission Smokehouse

Bernal North · San Francisco · Since 2013

Brisket cooked by fire, not by the clock.

We burn California white oak and almond in an offset pit on Mission Street. Memphis dry-rub baby backs, prime brisket, and catering for 15 to 200 guests. Below, the same math our pit crew uses to plan a cook.

Plan a cook Catering guide
  • 250°F pit
  • 203°F probe-tender
  • 15–20% wood moisture
  • 145°F+ hot hold

Free pit tools

Thermal stall, cook-time & catering poundage

Two calculators. The first tells you how long a packer brisket or pork shoulder takes, when the evaporative stall hits (155°F–170°F), how long to rest, and how many split logs to stack. The second tells you what to buy and cook for 15 to 200 guests.

1. Cook time & stall planner

Estimates for an offset smoker. Cook to feel, and always check safe temperatures with a thermometer.

Total cook–
Stall window–
Rest–
Light the fire–
Split-log consumption–
climb to 155°Fstallfinish to 203°Frest

2. Catering poundage (15–200 guests)

Cooked weight is what lands on the plate. Raw weight is what you buy.

Meats
What to cook
ItemCookedRawPit load

How the pit breathes

Offset smoker airflow, in one picture

An offset smoker is a draft machine. Fresh air comes in low through the intake, the fire heats it, and the draw of the stack pulls the heat and smoke across the meat. Choke the intake and the fire smolders. Close the stack and the smoke goes stale and bitter. Open both, tune with the intake, and the smoke runs thin and blue.

Offset smoker airflow Air enters the firebox through the intake damper, passes over the fire, flows as heat and smoke through the cook chamber, and exits through the stack at the far end. Firebox coal bed + split Intake damper air in: 1/2 open Cook chamber · grate level 250°F at the grate heat + thin blue smoke travel left to right 203°F 203°F Stack draft pull keep open Thin blue smoke = clean burn
Air in at the intake damper, over the coal bed, through the cook chamber, out the stack. Temperatures are a typical 250°F cook.

Wood-smoke flavor profile

Oak for weight, almond for sweetness, apple for fruit

We score our woods by taste, not by lab. These are the pit crew’s tasting notes out of 10, and the reason a brisket gets oak while a rack of ribs gets almond with a little apple. The full chemistry is in our wood-smoking science notes.

California white oak
Brisket and beef ribs. Deep, steady, a little earthy.
Almond
Pork shoulder and baby backs. Clean, nutty, gently sweet.
Apple
A split or two with ribs and poultry. Light fruit on top.
Wood smoke flavor profile: white oak, almond and apple scored out of 10 Smoke weightWhite oak: 7 of 10 for smoke weight7Almond: 5 of 10 for smoke weight5Apple: 3 of 10 for smoke weight3SweetnessWhite oak: 3 of 10 for sweetness3Almond: 6 of 10 for sweetness6Apple: 7 of 10 for sweetness7Fruit noteWhite oak: 1 of 10 for fruit note1Almond: 3 of 10 for fruit note3Apple: 8 of 10 for fruit note8Bitter if smolderingWhite oak: 6 of 10 for bitter if smoldering6Almond: 3 of 10 for bitter if smoldering3Apple: 2 of 10 for bitter if smoldering2
White oakAlmondApple
Pit crew tasting notes, 0–10. Higher is stronger. “Bitter if smoldering” is what you get when the fire runs starved of air.

Pitmaster logbook

Pit notes by Otis Vance

Fire lit · pre-dawn

Start the fire in the firebox with a small bed of coals, then add one split at a time. The pit is ready when the grate sits at 250°F and the smoke from the stack is nearly invisible. If it looks like milk, open the intake.

Hour 5 · 155°F

The stall. Moisture is leaving the surface faster than the pit can heat it, so the probe stops climbing. Do not turn the heat up. Wrap, or wait. Both work. Wrapping is faster, waiting keeps the bark crisp.

Probe-tender · 203°F

Temperature is a hint, not a verdict. The probe should slide in like it’s going into soft butter. If it grabs, give it another half hour and check again.

The rest

Nobody likes this part, and it matters more than any rub. Brisket needs at least an hour wrapped, and two is better. Hold it at 145°F or above until you carve.

Keep exploring

Menu & rub architecture

Memphis dry-rub ribs, 14-hour brisket bark, Carolina pulled pork, cast-iron sides.

Bay Area pit catering

Carving stations and Cambro holding across San Francisco, Oakland, and the Peninsula.

Family BBQ game night

A butcher-paper rib table, blind sauce flights, and trivia between courses.