The Paradox of the Stall


 
A

Andre A

TVWBB Member
We've all heard about the Stall. Some people wrap and some power right through it. Others just take their time and wait it out. While I know no one way is better, I do have a question about the science of the stall.

Ultimately, the stall occurs when the juices are starting to squeeze of our the meat which in turns cools the brisket down. Therefore people wrap to power through it. Can someone then explain to me if you don't wrap and you see the stall through, what is it the prevents you from cooking all the juices right out of the meat. Is this the tremendously small window everyone talks about when it comes to pulling the meat of the cooker? It seems that just on face value, wrapping is the safer(not better) option to ensure a non dried out brisket.
 
Yes, wrapping is indeed the way to go with brisket, but you can stop the evaporative cooling with butcher paper without steaming the bark.
 
Dave/G said:
Maybe you've seen this already, but if not, might be of interest to you
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html
Click to expand...

Far be it me to argue with Dr Blonder, but Meathead highlighted in yellow a statement made by Blonder that shows he's not too familiar with cooking on a wsm. He says that adding a water pan to a cooker slows down the cook. If anything, cooking with water will actually speed up a cook a bit. Ever tried holding your hand long over the vent when the pan was simmering?
 
There are folks that do not wrap but the spritz frequently to keep a brisket moist.

The analogy is doing heavy exercise in a dry environment like the desert. You sweat and the evaporation cools you to maintain safe body temperature. Over time if you do not drink to replace the water lost you have the potential to become dehydrated. If you exercise heavily in a very humid environment, something like Washington DC in mid-August, you will feel very uncomfortable because your sweat will not evaporate, it will just drip off of you. You get no evaporative cooling and will most likely get overheated. Its the same thing with brisket. By keeping the brisket surface moist, you do not get evaporative cooling and do not loose as much moisture. The down side is that you have to open the pit up to spritz on a fairly regular basis and for an 18-20 hour cook, that is a pain. Spritzing and wrapping at the stall with foil or butcher paper is a great compromise that works to maintain moisture inside the meat.

I personally did not wrap when I started doing briskets and just left them unattended in the smoker for the entire cook. The flats turned out tender but dry. I started wrapping and they stayed tender and became much more moist. I and others found the finished product to be much better. Take our advice and wrap at the stall, you will thank us.

-- Mache
 
Mache said:
I personally did not wrap when I started doing briskets and just left them unattended in the smoker for the entire cook. The flats turned out tender but dry. I started wrapping and they stayed tender and became much more moist. I and others found the finished product to be much better. Take our advice and wrap at the stall, you will thank us.
-- Mache
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Ok You wrap. Using what??? Foil or butcher paper? What is your in experience better?
 
The general consensus is that unwaxed butcher paper gives you a better bark, flavor, and texture because it is semi-permeable which is a fancy way of saying that it does release some moisture. Most people find that if you double wrap in foil you retain almost all of the moisture, the brisket steams in is own juices more as opposed to being roasted, becomes more pot roast-like, and has a softer bark. Its a matter of preference, but I like butcher paper better.

-- Mache
 
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Mache said:
The general consensus is that unwaxed butcher paper gives you a better bark, flavor, and texture because it is semi-permeable which is a fancy way of saying that it does release some moisture. Most people find that if you double wrap in foil you retain almost all of the moisture, the brisket steams in is own juices more as opposed to being roasted, becomes more pot roast-like, and has a softer bark. Its a matter of preference, but I like butcher paper better.

-- Mache
Click to expand...

And where does one find butcher paper? Something tells me that since I'm cooking with it, I don't want to use what i find at Office Depot.
 
So to tag along with this topic.. what about parchment paper, safe to cook with and lets the smoke flavor permeate thru?

Tim
 
Dave Russell said:
Far be it me to argue with Dr Blonder, but Meathead highlighted in yellow a statement made by Blonder that shows he's not too familiar with cooking on a wsm. He says that adding a water pan to a cooker slows down the cook. If anything, cooking with water will actually speed up a cook a bit. Ever tried holding your hand long over the vent when the pan was simmering?
Click to expand...
That's not what he said. He said:

"Will basting the meat, injecting, or putting a water pan in the smoker impact the stall? "There is no question extra humidity will slow down the cooking process, whether it comes from a water pan or wet mop." When we baste, whether by mopping, brushing, or spritzing, we cool the meat just by the fact that the liquid is cool. It then sits on the surface and evaporates prolonging the stall. When we put a water pan in the cooker, the moisture evaporates from the surface and raises the humidity in the cooker, slowing the evaporation from the meat, and slowing the cooking. "In low and slow cooking this allows the meat's interior to catch up with the surface temperature" explains Blonder.

Until now I had always believed that water pans were important to keep the cooking chamber high humidity and thereby reduce moisture loss from the meat. Apparently it does this somewhat, but they also cause the cook to take longer. But this is no reason to stop using water pans because the moisture in the atmosphere inside the cooking chamber mixes with the smoke, influences flavor, and lets the meat's interior catch up with the exterior so it cooks more uniformly. Water pans also help stabilize the temp in a charcoal fire because it heats and cools slowly and this tends to even out spikes and valleys in a cooker."


http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html
http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/stallbbq.html
 
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Correct. Water in the pan helps to stabilize temps. With restricted airflow it also helps maintain lower cooktemps if that is desired.

Evaporative cooling takes place almost regardless of anything else. Moisture drawn to the surface evaporates and cools the surface a bit irrespective of cooktemp. Mopping or spritzing adds moisture and it too fosters evaporative cooling. (However basting with something fat-based can speed cooking a bit.)

I cook brisket exclusively at high heat. Because I don't use butcher paper for anything I don't have it and don't see the need to bother getting it. I use foil myself. I couldn't care less about bark texture on brisket (I do with butt, ribs and some other cuts) but it is simple to re-establlsh by a few minutes of direct heat before serving.

Whatever you use, wrapping meat during cooking makes heat transfer much, much more efficient it also, obviously, eliminates evaporative cooling. As temps rise inside the wrapper moisture can be lost to it but is contained. Meat will re-absorb some or much of this moisture during cooling - as long as it is not well overcooked.
 
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