My buddy Jake once brought a brisket to a church potluck that he'd babysat for 14 hours straight on his Traeger. That $85 might cover the meat and pellets, but not the 3 AM wake-up calls to check the temp or the panic when the stall hits. @brian_ramirez is right that you learn stuff, but you also learn how much your sleep is worth. I'd rather just pay a pro to smoke it overnight and pick it up at noon, honestly. There's a reason barbecue joints don't have folks standing around watching pits all night for minimum wage.

Same thing happened to me last year, awful feeling. @leo612 is right about the notebook.

Huh, never really thought about it that deep. I mean, I still use compressed air sometimes and haven't noticed my stuff dying faster, but maybe it's just not that big of a deal either way.

Tell me about it. Had to learn the hard way that my way isn't the only way.

That's a rough Monday for sure. Had the same thing happen to me a few months back with a whole strip loin that just felt like it was fighting me the whole way. Realized halfway through I'd been so busy that morning I forgot to even look at my knife, and the edge was rolled over in a couple spots. A quick trip to the steel and a minute on the stone fixed it right up. Sometimes you just gotta stop and take care of your gear before you can take care of the meat.