How long does the "stall" last?

tarponjack · May 28, 2017

I started 9 hours ago. Temp constant between 220 and 280. For the last two hours the internal temperature has been a constant 162 f. Am I in the stall? Any ideas?

ndelo · May 28, 2017

Yup. How long it lasts depends on size of meat and cooking temp. Wrapping will help power through it but can also change the characteristic of your cook (softening bark, stewing meat). That being said, a lot of people foil. I always foil pork butt but never brisket. Jus a preference.

SmokinAl · May 29, 2017

What you are experiencing is one of the most frustrating parts of smoking a butt or brisket.

I've had the stall last 6 or 7 hours.

Now I smoke brisket & butts at 270-280, they very seldom will stall at those temps.

And the meat is just as tender & juicy.

Al

tarponjack · May 29, 2017

After 12 hours I just gave up. Wrapped the 7 lb shoulder in foil and put it in a cold oven over night. It was 177 degrees when taken from The smoker. In morning it was tasty but dry. It is only good chopped not as pulled like I hoped.

buffalobbqpete · May 30, 2017

I always wrap it in heavy duty foil with some apple juice right around 165/170. Just make sure it's sealed up good and it won't take long at all to get to where you want it. Maybe another 2 hours like that.

noboundaries · May 30, 2017

Like Al, I was a BIG proponent of hot n fast. Still am when in a time pinch.

Since I'm still deciding if I'm retired or not, I've adjusted my butt and brisket smoking to account for the available free time.

I'll put the meat on the smoker between 6-8 PM at 225-235F chamber temp, no meat probe, just Maverick chamber probe. I'll watch TV, play on the computer, then go to sleep. When I wake during the night for older man issues, I'll check the chamber temp, then go back to sleep. When I wake up for the final time in the morning, the meat has been on the smoker usually 12 hours or so. I'll put the meat probe in the meat. It is ALWAYS still in the stall, with temps in the mid to high 160s.

At that point I crank the chamber temp up to 275, leave the meat unwrapped, and it is usually an hour before I see any internal temp movement. The meat usually finishes between 11 AM and 3 PM, briskets quicker than butts.

The stall is meat's way of driving smokers insane. Guess what, it works!

Tarponjack said:
After 12 hours I just gave up. Wrapped the 7 lb shoulder in foil and put it in a cold oven over night. It was 177 degrees when taken from The smoker. In morning it was tasty but dry. It is only good chopped not as pulled like I hoped.

Yep, not smoked long enough, that's why it was dry. Counterintuitive, but the collagen had not melted.

joe black · May 30, 2017

Like Al said, I am cooking my butts hotter now and the last one blasted right through the stall and was at 204* at 6 hours. This is not typical. The thickness of the butt, the density of the muscle and other factors with the collagen, etc. will determine how fast it cooks.

Just like the saying, "it ain't done until it's done".

tcaptain · May 31, 2017

Tarponjack said:
After 12 hours I just gave up. Wrapped the 7 lb shoulder in foil and put it in a cold oven over night. It was 177 degrees when taken from The smoker. In morning it was tasty but dry. It is only good chopped not as pulled like I hoped.

I cook Pork butts the majority of the time and I have to wonder if your thermometer either in the meat or in the cooker is off?

I used to get the stall around 160F for a few hours, but never that long. Typically a 6-7lbs butt will take me 12 hours just about bone-in, a little under 10 boneless. That's running between 225 and 260F. I did one on Sunday that way. 10 hours, brought it up to 200F, let it rest an hour....perfect texture.

However, I should mention that I wrap those butts now when they hit 160F (On sunday that was about 5 hours in). Beats the stall every time.

tarponjack · May 31, 2017

Well, I have some new things to try. Either stay up all night or wrap at the stall. Can't wait to give them a try.

Thanks to everyone that replied.

Rings Я Us · Jul 3, 2017

Lmao @ old man issues. [emoji]128512[/emoji]

rickplaysbass · Jul 18, 2017

This damn stall is killing me today. Brisket has been smoking since midnight. I was hoping for a late lunch today but it's been parked @ 160 for a year and a half.

colleen · Jul 20, 2017

I ended up with a pork butt taking 24 hours last week! Yikes...it turned out great but holy cow that was a long time!

rickplaysbass · Jul 20, 2017

Brisket ended up taking 22hrs. Cheese and rice

Rings Я Us · Jul 20, 2017

Wonder if that's a new record?

22 hours and didn't end up using the oven. [emoji]128514[/emoji]

rickplaysbass · Jul 20, 2017

I was beyond a loss. Never gone more than 14 before. I have no idea what the issue was. It just hung out between 150-160 FOREVER. FOR-EH-VER

Rings Я Us · Jul 20, 2017

Lmao.. that sux! Your mouth watering and stomach growling.. lol

rickplaysbass · Jul 20, 2017

Lunch became deli sandwiches and dinner was frozen pizzas. Lmfao

Rings Я Us · Jul 20, 2017

Haha... I did that once too.. ate pork at 11 pm.

rickplaysbass · Aug 9, 2017

Well, this cook had me perplexed. Sooo, I picked up and iGrill and used it to measure the ambient temps on my MES during last night's pork butts. Come to find pout that my thermostat must have "shifted." 225 on my MES was actually reading 170-180 on the iGrill. Had to get up to 260-275 to get temps running 215-230ish. Makes sense why the damn thing took 22 hrs to finish and didn't finish until I pumped the MES to 275 now.

How long does the "stall" last?

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