Malcom and Meathead. You gotta get Meathead's book!
My daughter gave me a great birthday present: Meathead - The Science of Great Barbeque and Grilling.
I had made brisket and pulled pork on the Traeger with mediocre results. This time I was having 20 people over for an end-of-summer blowout and the meat needed to be way better than mediocre.
This book did two things for me. First, the detailed instructions for technique PLUS the science behind what is happening on the smoker (I have a BS degree in Food Science) really helped me understand how to turn out perfectly smoked/cooked meat.
I can't recommend this book strongly enough. Using this book will unlock your inner Meathead!
If you don't have it already, get this book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FX1AUNC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Guys' a master griller and has a food science PhD helping him go through a bunch of the myths of grilling and explaining what's happening, why it matters, and how to achieve it.
> Living in texas really makes me appreciate the savings in being able to obtain high quality cuts from the butcher and the availability of product to get comfortable with it.
Yeah, I started grilling in Michigan when I was a broke grad student. Local butcher had nice cuts of ribeye on sale regularly for $5/lb (back in early 2010s). I moved back home to CA, same quality of cuts cost $11-16/lb.
[Meathead: The Science of Great Barbeque and Grilling] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FX1AUNC/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_N3DFBXCFNBQ419578SB0)
Feel you would really benefit from meat heads book Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FX1AUNC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FE02AbHYEZAN6