Stall Time


 

PaulBz

TVWBB Fan
I did a brisket cook yesterday. I wrapped in butcher paper at 180 after the stall. I hit 196 though and it stayed there for 2 full hours without moving. Did I maybe use too much paper and the heat wasn't getting through? I even put another thermometer in the meat as I thought one was maybe broken and they were both at 196 for two full hours. Well I had company coming over so I just pulled, let rest for an hour and ate. It was not as good as it should have bee. Definitely dry. Any thoughts? I have never heard of a stall time at 196.
 
At that point you should start checking for tenderness and quit worrying about internal temp. That is weird though. I've had it happen before. I have no idea why it happens.
 
In my experience (which is very limited with brisket) - brisket can't be predicted. The packer I cooked last year moved right on past the expected stall temps, and finally stalled at 199*F for about 2.5hrs.

Brisket is weird, and every piece of meat is different.
 
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What was your grate temp at the time ? As the meat approaches ambient temp (grate/chamber), it takes longer for each incremental step increase in temp.

As for the brisket itself, was it dry and crumbling apart ? Or dry and tough ?
 
The grate was 225 which is what I put the thermometer on. It went from 180 to 196 in about 2 hours. But then stalled for two hours at 196 and never climbed above that. Everyone else said they loved the brisket. But they could have been biased. I thought it was a little dry. It was not crumbly but I thought a little dry. The last brisket I cooked I thought was better. But I only let it rest for one hour instead of the three the other one rested. I'll try again and start it way early next time.
 
Paper does make a pretty good insulator and with ambient in the smoker just 29 degrees higher than the brisket, it could be the two things combined to keep it from getting above 196.

I've found most of the people eating my food seldom make critical comments. To some extent I think it's just them being polite, but I also think most people are used to rather boring home cooked food. The vast majority of people who prepare food do so because they have to, not because they like to. It's a chore to them and they just want to do an adequate job and be done with it. Most people who seriously take up BBQ, particularly those around these forums, are looking for the best quality they can turn out. It's just a whole other level of caring about the outcome. So the quality of what you're turning out is so vastly better than what most folks are used to eating at home they don't see the small shortcomings that you do. I'm always looking for the flaws in my food so I can try to avoid them the next time. I suppose years of having "process improvement" pounded into my head at work has rubbed off in other areas. Unless you invite over another BBQ enthusiast who understands you're looking for honest feedback you're unlikely to get much in the way of negative comments unless you really mess up. My dad was the toughest food critic I've ever had. He would complain about the tiniest flaws. No comment from him was high praise indeed.
 
Paper does make a pretty good insulator and with ambient in the smoker just 29 degrees higher than the brisket, it could be the two things combined to keep it from getting above 196.

I've found most of the people eating my food seldom make critical comments. To some extent I think it's just them being polite, but I also think most people are used to rather boring home cooked food. The vast majority of people who prepare food do so because they have to, not because they like to. It's a chore to them and they just want to do an adequate job and be done with it. Most people who seriously take up BBQ, particularly those around these forums, are looking for the best quality they can turn out. It's just a whole other level of caring about the outcome. So the quality of what you're turning out is so vastly better than what most folks are used to eating at home they don't see the small shortcomings that you do. I'm always looking for the flaws in my food so I can try to avoid them the next time. I suppose years of having "process improvement" pounded into my head at work has rubbed off in other areas. Unless you invite over another BBQ enthusiast who understands you're looking for honest feedback you're unlikely to get much in the way of negative comments unless you really mess up. My dad was the toughest food critic I've ever had. He would complain about the tiniest flaws. No comment from him was high praise indeed.

That's a heck of a write-up, Jay. I couldn't have said it any better. Just today, I smoked a marinated pork roast, and I put the roast on too early (was pushed for time) before the charcoal pit had burnt off some undesirable odors, and the odor carried over to the meat. I was disappointed, but others thought was great. Back on topic now.
 
To your comment Jay, I say
"Here, Here!"
Your statement about us (and I paraphrase) " giving a hoot" about the end result is oh so true, so many people just eat to survive and find "No joy in Smokeville". Our gain, we value the effort and take some real pride in what we feed our friends and family.
I have spent several days getting products ready to grill and smoke while we are on vacation, it's good to have vacation projects made ahead of times so the maximum time is spent as casually as possible!
 
Thanks guys. Great comments. I totally agree about most people liking my food. I'm trying to get more people to come over and try it. But people are busy and doing stuff. I wish I could get more people over. I don't really want to post it on facebook because half of those people I don't really know. I think I wrapped it too much in paper. I need to use less next time and it will climb better. And I'm reading Aaron Franklin's books. I really need to get good on knowing exactly when it's done. You can't use 203 is what he says, you need to feel it. But I also don't want to keep opening and closing the cooker. I guess at 195 I need to start checking for doneness? And exactly how to tell that I need to work on.
 
I really need to get good on knowing exactly when it's done. You can't use 203 is what he says, you need to feel it. But I also don't want to keep opening and closing the cooker. I guess at 195 I need to start checking for doneness? And exactly how to tell that I need to work on.
When I'm doing a cut that's new to me I tend to pay more attention to temperature. Once I become more familiar with the type of meat I'll use the temp mostly to guide me when to start checking for the right feel. I'm a relative noob when it comes to brisket but based on my last cook I'd say the feel of properly done is very similar to pork butt. I use the thermometer probe and insert it in several different spots. I don't much care about the temp. What I'm looking for is almost no resistance to the insertion. Not quite like warm butter, but not far off.

My suggestion is to start probing by hand when your thermometer indicates it's getting close. The center, at least with pork butt, is going to be the last part to be ready so you should at some point start to feel very little resistance to the probe near the surface and then it will fight back just a bit as you get to the part that isn't quite done. Start checking before you think it's fully done and you'll notice what I'm talking about. This will give you a guide to what you're looking for. You want the whole thing to feel just as yielding as the outer part.

For brisket you're going to want to check all over. I had assumed the point end, being far and away the thickest part, would be the last section to be done, but on my last cook the point felt like butter when I was still getting some resistance much further out on the flat.
 
I cooked my first 4 or 5 briskets using 203. I think it's probably a great place to start. I got really lucky in that worked for the most part. I got that from Amazing Ribs. Later he changed the article to talk about feel and probe test, etc. I later started cooking primes and found they were tender at lower temps. The finishing temp also depends on what temp you are cooking at. Anyway, typically your point is tender before your flat is. I'd do a comparison between the point and flat. Use some kind of probe or skewer. I use my thermopen probe. Compare the flat to the tenderness your point is most likely already at when you are are in the 190 plus temp range. That should give you a better idea of when the flat is done.

If its not ready, wait 30 minutes and test again. You may find in some cases your temp is over 205. You may find yourself pulling it in the low 190's.
 
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For brisket you're going to want to check all over. I had assumed the point end, being far and away the thickest part, would be the last section to be done, but on my last cook the point felt like butter when I was still getting some resistance much further out on the flat.

The point and the flat are comprised of different muscle groups and have different characteristics. Kind of like how one side of a t bone is a NY strip and the other is the Filet. The point is less dense than the flat and has a lot more marbling. It's usually done before the flat is ready, but, it isn't harmed in any way by cooking it longer. So, use the flat to determine when the brisket is done. When it probes tender at the thickest part of the flat, it's ready.
 
Since I only (mostly) just cook for myself I cut the point from the flat right through the center line and smoke them as 2 pieces. Always have.
 
On my last Prime packer brisket I had a stall last nearly 2 hours...

Wrapped in red paper my Thermoworks Smoke didn't move at all in temp...and after a while...started to actually drop a degree or so.

In the end...the flat was a hair dry and the point was absolutely perfect!
 

 

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