Short version: we own what we recommend, we cook what we publish, and we put affiliate transparency above affiliate revenue. The longer version is on this page.
What makes us different from the other BBQ review sites
We buy what we review — with our own money
The dominant business model for BBQ review sites is: take manufacturer review units, write favorable copy, collect affiliate commission. We don't. Every grill, smoker, thermometer, and tool we recommend was purchased at our own cost from the same retailers a reader would buy from. When a manufacturer sends us a sample, we either return it or disclose it in the review.
The practical effect: our reviews are slower (we have to actually wait for the unit to arrive, then cook on it for months) and more honest (we have nothing to lose by ranking a manufacturer below their competitor).
We cook the recipes we publish
Every recipe on this site has been cooked at least three times by at least two cooks before it goes live. The brisket method we published in our canonical post ("After 47 Cooks, This Is the Method") is the method we cook on our own backyard smokers every weekend. The cocktail recipes were stress-tested at a real bartender's station, not adapted from another blog.
We're built for the inclusive table
Most BBQ sites treat gluten-free, keto, low-sodium, and vegetarian readers as an afterthought — or worse, as a separate genre of "dietary content" with substitute-protein recipes that don't respect real smoking technique. We treat every dietary need as a variant of the same canonical recipe: same smoke, same rub, same wood, swapped ingredients. Browse recipes by diet to see how this works.
Our credibility — in receipts
- 47 grills + smokers tested in 2026 — receipts available on request, hours logged on each unit logged in a public spreadsheet.
- 312 cooks logged across the units we've tested — every brisket, every rib rack, every chicken thigh tracked with start temp, ambient temp, finish temp, weight loss, and tasting notes.
- 12,000+ pitmasters subscribed to our weekly Smoke Rings & Flavor Things newsletter — the kind of people who can call us out when we're wrong.
- 30+ years on the pit — Jim Daniels started cooking competition BBQ in 1992 and has been writing about it for the past 15 years.
- Zero manufacturer-funded content — if we ever take a sponsored placement, we'll close this section.
What we'll never do
- Take a paid placement for a product review.
- Let an affiliate commission move a ranking.
- Bury an affiliate disclosure in a footer.
- Publish a recipe we haven't actually cooked.
- Use a pen name or ghost-author content.
- Make a claim we can't source.
- Run a "Best X" roundup of products we haven't physically owned.
Read deeper
How we test gear · Editorial standards · About American Meathead · Contact