Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what data Pitmaster Tools collects, how third-party analytics services may process information, and what choices you have regarding cookies and privacy rights.

What data we collect

Pitmaster Tools does not require account creation. Aside from data you choose to send us by voluntarily submitting the Submit a Cook form (described below), the calculators run in your browser and do not ask you to submit names, phone numbers, mailing addresses, or payment information.

The site also stores limited first-party data in your browser to support your experience. Cookies set by analytics providers are covered in the Cookie policy below. The entries we store in your browser:

pitmaster_consent (cookie): whether you accepted or rejected non-essential cookies; it expires after 365 days.
pitmaster_tu and pitmaster_wu (local storage): your temperature unit (°F or °C) and weight unit (lb or kg).
smoke-ledger-theme (local storage): your light or dark theme choice.
pitmaster_explicit_zip_v1 (local storage): the ZIP code last used by the local-weather features, so future visits can prefill your forecast.
pitmaster_session_zip_v1 (session storage): the ZIP code last used in this tab, kept for this browser tab only; it is cleared when the tab closes.
pitmaster_cut and pitmaster_cooker (local storage): the cut and cooker last used for a smoke-weather forecast.
pitmaster_active_plan_v1 and pitmaster_saved_plan_v1 (local storage): your current plan and your saved plan: the inputs of each, such as cut, weight, cooker, temperatures, serving time, ambient conditions and altitude, plus a ZIP code only when one was explicitly set.

Cook log submissions

If you voluntarily submit a cook through our Submit a Cook form, Pitmaster Tools stores the cook details you enter - the cut, weight, cooker type, wrap method, timing, the pit temperature you ran (and whether that figure was read from a file you uploaded or typed in by hand), and the stall temperature and duration you observed - together with the ZIP code you provide. The ZIP code is stored so we can later attach historical weather to that cook and calibrate our stall-prediction model; it is not used to identify you. Providing your email address is optional; if you choose to provide it, we store it only so we can follow up with you about your contribution - otherwise the details above carry no name or contact information. Each submission records the time you gave consent. We do not sell or share this cook data, and we do not create an account for you. Submitting a cook is entirely optional. To request deletion of a cook you submitted, contact us at contact@pitmaster.tools.

If you upload a probe export on the cook-log page, we store that file exactly as you supplied it. When the file can be read, it is your browser - not our server - that reads it to work out the stall temperature and how long it lasted, and we keep the original so those numbers can be recalculated more precisely later. That does not always happen. Your file may be in a format we cannot yet read, or it may hold no probe readings we can use, or none of its probes may have been in the meat - in those cases nothing is worked out from the file at all and you enter the stall numbers yourself. We still keep the file, on the same terms as any other upload, so we can read it properly once we support it. The file may contain details you did not type into the form, such as the names you gave your probes, your device model, or session notes your app recorded. If you upload a file and then submit the Submit a Cook form, we keep that file for as long as we maintain the cook-time model, because it is raw material it is calibrated against. If you upload a file but never submit the form, we do not keep it: it is deleted automatically within about a week. Uploaded files are never published, never served from a public address, and never sold or shared with third parties. To have an upload deleted, email contact@pitmaster.tools.

Third-party services used on the site, such as Google Analytics and Cloudflare Web Analytics (both described below), may process page-view data, and Google Analytics may set cookies or similar technologies in your browser when enabled. Those third parties may collect device, browser, approximate location, page-view, and referral data according to their own policies.

Google Analytics

Pitmaster Tools uses Google Analytics to understand overall site usage. Pitmaster Tools does not show advertising.

In every region, Pitmaster Tools defaults Google Consent Mode's analytics and advertising signals to denied. Google Analytics loads only after you explicitly accept and may then set first-party analytics cookies named _ga and _ga_<id> to measure site usage. Accepting grants analytics storage only; the advertising signals (ad storage, ad user data, and ad personalization) stay denied. Reject keeps all four signals denied, prevents Google Analytics from loading on later page views, and removes analytics cookies already set.

Cloudflare Web Analytics

Pitmaster Tools is served through Cloudflare, which adds its Web Analytics script to our pages to measure page views and page-load performance. Cloudflare Web Analytics sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser, and it does not track you across sites or build a profile of you, so it runs whether you accept or reject the cookie banner.

For each page view it reports the page address, the referring page, your browser and device type from the user agent, and load-time measurements to Cloudflare. Cloudflare uses your IP address to determine your country and does not use it to identify you. See Cloudflare's privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/.

Cookie policy

First-party cookies are cookies set by Pitmaster Tools itself. Pitmaster Tools uses a consent-status cookie to remember whether you accepted or rejected non-essential cookies.

In addition to cookies, Pitmaster Tools uses first-party local storage to remember display preferences such as measurement units and the light or dark theme across visits, along with a saved ZIP code for the local-weather features, your last forecast cut and cooker, and your cook plan (each key is listed under "What data we collect" above). These values are kept in your browser. When a local forecast loads, whether you request it or a weather page opens it automatically, the request sends Pitmaster Tools' weather service a ZIP code, or, if none is available, the service uses an approximate location derived from your IP address, along with the cut and cooker for that forecast. After you accept analytics, the cut and cooker type are also reported as analytics events. The service caches the forecast by ZIP code and date, for no more than about 30 hours, and caches ZIP-to-place lookups for longer; those cache entries are keyed by ZIP code, not by you.

Third-party cookies are cookies set by outside providers, such as Google Analytics. Cookies such as _ga and _ga_<id> are outside the key list above; their names and lifetimes are set by Google. Those cookies are used to measure site usage.

If you reject non-essential cookies, the analytics and advertising consent signals stay denied, Google Analytics does not load on later page views, and any analytics cookies already set are removed, along with the Google AdSense cookies (__gads, __gpi, __eoi) that may remain from before the site stopped showing ads. Essential browser storage used to remember your consent choice may still be stored so the banner does not reappear on every page load.

Your GDPR and CCPA rights

If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with similar privacy laws, you may have rights to request access to personal data, correction, deletion, restriction of processing, objection to certain processing, and data portability where applicable.

If you are a California resident, you may have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act, including the right to know what categories of personal information are collected, the right to request deletion of personal information held by a business, and the right to opt out of certain sharing or sale activities where applicable.

Pitmaster Tools does not maintain user accounts. Two things about the cook-log page are worth stating plainly: a probe export you attach to the Submit a Cook form is uploaded when you pick the file - and again if you then tell us none of its channels was in the meat - not when you submit the form; and our endpoints keep short-lived records keyed to your IP address, for about an hour, to limit automated abuse. Many privacy requests may still need to be directed to the third-party providers that place cookies or process data on the site. If you want to know what we hold about you, or want something deleted, write to contact@pitmaster.tools and we will tell you and act on it - that is a better route than inferring it from this page.

How to opt out

Choose Reject on the cookie banner to keep Google Analytics from loading. Google also offers a browser add-on that opts you out of Google Analytics on every site: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

You may additionally control cookies through your browser settings, including blocking or deleting existing cookies.

Contact

If you have privacy questions or requests related to this site, contact: contact@pitmaster.tools.

Changes to this policy

Pitmaster Tools may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, service providers, or site functionality. The current version is always the one posted on this page.

Last updated: October 13, 2026