BBQ is supposed to be fun. Community. Gathering around a pit with a beer and eating good food. Somewhere along the way it turned into a competition over who has the most opinions about bark, smoke rings, and post oak.
I smoked a brisket last weekend. My neighbor came over, took one bite, and gave me a 10-minute lecture about my temp being too high and my wrap being too early. Bro it's a backyard cookout not a pitmaster competition.
Not every brisket needs to be competition-grade. Sometimes it's just meat and fire and a good time. Let people enjoy things.
The best BBQ I ever had was at a family reunion where my uncle cooked it in a homemade smoker made from a oil drum. No thermometer. No YouTube education. Just vibes.