Question 1

Is Best Smoke Days free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The zip-coded 7-day forecast, the score calculation, the cut and cooker toggles, the 50 metro pages, and the Friday email digest are all free. Pitmaster Tools is supported by Google AdSense and a small set of affiliate product recommendations — both are disclosed and neither influences the scoring math.

Question 2

Do I need to sign up?

Accepted Answer

No. The 7-day forecast works without an account — just drop in a zip and pick your cut and cooker. The optional Friday email digest does require a subscription so we know where to send it; you can subscribe and unsubscribe at any time, and we never sell or share your email.

Question 3

Why is my Saturday score lower than last weekend's was?

Accepted Answer

Most often the answer is wind or humidity — both swing more than headline temperature, and both have a stronger impact on the score for offset cookers and stall-sensitive cuts. Hover the confidence pill or open the day details to see the dominant penalty reasons. The methodology page breaks down each of the five signals.

Question 4

Which cuts does the score support?

Accepted Answer

Brisket (flat and packer), pork butt, spare ribs, baby back ribs, pork loin, whole chicken, spatchcock chicken, chicken thighs, whole turkey, turkey breast, fish, and lamb shoulder. The stall-risk penalty only applies to the long-cook cuts (brisket, pork butt, ribs, lamb shoulder); short-cook cuts like chicken or fish are unaffected by the stall signal.

Question 5

Which cookers does the score support?

Accepted Answer

Offset stick burner, pellet, kamado, kettle, and electric smoker. Each carries a wind-sensitivity coefficient (offset 1.5×, kettle 1.2×, pellet 1.0×, kamado 0.5×, electric 0.1×) and a baseline cavity humidity that affects the stall calculation.

Question 6

Does the forecast cover non-US locations?

Accepted Answer

Open-Meteo covers most of the world, so the 7-day forecast usually works internationally. The 50 pre-built metro pages and the Friday email regional segmentation are US-focused (six regions covering all 50 states + DC). International support is on the roadmap; for now, a non-US zip works for ad-hoc lookups but the regional digest will not match perfectly.

Question 7

How do I unsubscribe from the Friday digest?

Accepted Answer

Every email carries a one-click unsubscribe link. The link is signed with an HMAC-SHA256 token tied to your email, so no one else can unsubscribe you. If the link ever fails, email contact@pitmaster.tools and we'll handle it manually.

Question 8

Where does my data go?

Accepted Answer

Subscriber emails live in Cloudflare D1 with a one-way SHA-256-hashed idempotency key going to MailerLite — the email itself only appears in MailerLite for sending. ZIPs are stored alongside the email for region routing. Forecast queries are not associated with any user identifier. Affiliate clicks land on the merchant's site without forwarding your inputs. See the privacy policy for the full data map.

Best Smoke Days — FAQ

Frequently asked questions