The rules every American Meathead writer follows — whether they're publishing a recipe, a gear review, or a long-form technique essay.
Our writing-and-publishing rules
1. Every claim is sourced
If we write "brisket internal temp should hit 203°F before the rest," we either cooked the brisket and measured it ourselves, or we cite the source (USDA, a pitmaster we trust, peer-reviewed food science). Vague claims like "experts say" never pass our edit. Specific claims with named sources do.
2. Every recipe is tested at least three times
No recipe goes live until it's been cooked at least three times by at least two different cooks. Cooking variations get noted (e.g. "the brisket finished 20 minutes faster in the convection-fan Yoder vs the standard Workhorse"). Failed cooks become troubleshooting sections.
3. Dates that matter are real dates
When a buying guide says "Updated May 2026," it means the picks were re-tested or re-confirmed in May 2026. We do not bulk-update post dates to gain SEO freshness. We do not bury the last-real-test date in a footer caveat. If a guide has not been re-tested in the past 14 months, the "Updated" badge is demoted to a quieter "Last reviewed" label so the reader knows.
4. Affiliate links are disclosed in the same paragraph as the recommendation
The FTC requires affiliate disclosure to be "clear and conspicuous." Our interpretation: the disclosure can't be in a footer the reader will scroll past. Every "See price →" CTA is tagged rel="sponsored". Every recommendation that links to a paid affiliate is paired with a visible "Disclosure" line in the same section.
5. Corrections are dated, named, and public
When we get something wrong, we fix it in place AND add a dated correction note at the bottom of the post. Silent edits to fix factual errors are not allowed. Corrections that change the meaning of a recommendation (e.g. "we initially said the Pit Boss 850 was the best budget pick; after further testing we've moved that nod to the Z Grills 700E") generate a separate "What changed" post that links back to the original.
6. We don't do AI-generated content as the primary author
We use language tools to help with editing, outlining, and copy-editing — the same way most professional newsrooms now do. But the source-of-truth content on this site (cook times, gear verdicts, ingredient ratios, temperature recommendations) comes from cooks we've actually run and gear we've actually used. AI-generated "reviews" are not reviews. We publish neither, and we've been cleaning the legacy archive of inherited AI-spam content as we audit it.
Who writes here
Every American Meathead post carries a byline of the actual person who wrote, cooked, or tested the content. Bylines are real names and link to author pages with credentials, social profiles, and full post history. We do not use pen names. We do not use ghost-bylines on content the named author didn't actually produce.
How to flag something
If you find a factual error, a broken affiliate link, a dated-but-not-updated piece of content, or anything that doesn't feel right — email editors@americanmeathead.com. We answer every email. Corrections that result from reader catches get the reader credited (with permission) in the published correction note.
Related: How we test gear · Why trust us