Help—14 lb packer in four hours

[Artvandelay]

Hoping for some guidance. I’m in the middle of a cook that I thought would take about 18-20 hours. I put a 14 lb brisket on at about 7:30. Almost three hours in and the temp is at 175. It never stalled and has been climbing steadily and is still going. The grate temp has been between 240 and 260 the whole time. Is that even possible? Any thought for what’s going on? It’s not anywhere near tender but I’m concerned about what the final product will be not to mention how I’m going to hold it until dinner tomorrow night.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[chef jimmyj]

The first question is the therm reading the smoke chamber temp tested accurate? If a built-in therm, they rarely are accurate and the temp could be much higher. If remote, probes do go bad, especially if they get wet...JJ

 

[Artvandelay]

Thx. Pretty sure it’s accurate. Maybe not to the exact degree but it’s likely not that much hotter. It’s a remote that’s only been used once. But even if it was off by 100 degrees, this seems super quick. Looks like I have hit a stall now at around 179. Not sure how long this will last. Probed the brisket with a wood skewer and it’s still encountering a lot of resistance. I’m looking for it to hit little resistance, correct?

 

[chef jimmyj]

That is bizarre. 4 hours to 140 is common but 180 is unusual. Yes, you want a probe to slip in with a little resistance, IF, you plan to serve within the hour. A Hot Brisket in foil, towels and a cooler, that it just fits in, will hold hot 5-6 hours. BUT...You need to cooler the meat after it has rested on the counter 15 minutes. If it is probe tender and you don't rest, it will keep cooking and will likely fall apart after holding all those hours. A typical stall is about 2 hours. But they can go much longer...JJ

 

[Artvandelay]

Thx. Hoping it will stall out for a while here. I also backed the heat off a little. I hope to take it off and get it in a cooler to hold so I will let it rest before doing that. Thanks for that tip.

 

[fivetricks]

I don't think of it as 4 hours to 140. I think of it as 4 hours until the stall generally. I think you're going to be ahead of your target but not as much as you're worried you are atm.

In my experience, they race up to the stall, then stall, then sort of creep out of the stall until finished

However, you def need to test all of your thermos. One or more of them is giving a bad reading I would guess. Luckily you'll have plenty of time to do that while your brisket is doing it's thing.

 

[JJS]

Probe placement could be an issue as well, I usually run 4 probes in a brisket to get a better idea of what is going on, it’s not uncommon to have one shoot to the moon while the others look “normal”

 

[radio]

As JJS mentioned, I would suspect probe placement IF you have tested the thermometer and know for a fact it is reasonably close. The probe should be in the center of the thickest part of the brisket and not near the surface of the meat. I would reposition the probe and see if that changes your reading. Good luck, and keep us posted on your results

 

[Artvandelay]

This is probably an issue as well. I have probed in other locations with an instant read thermometer and get temps as much as 10-15 degrees lower. It’s sitting at 196 right now on the probe that has been in the entire cook so it’s definitely slowed down a lot since my original panicked post. My timing is going to be off by a lot but still not as much as I feared last night.

 

[SmokinAl]

So how did it turn out?
Al

 

[schlotz]

There are two temps to monitor. First is the temp at the great next to the meat. Built in therms are notorious for being off. This is where a proven calibrated reporting remote comes in handy so you know without a doubt what temp you are smoking at. Second is the IT temp of the meat. Again a proven calibrated reporting remote properly placed in the middle of thickest part of the flat is the position you are looking for. It takes some practice to ensure you get it placed correctly. Too far in or barely in and it will be reading higher temps since the tip will be closer to the outside.

 

[Artvandelay]

Thx for the replies. It ended up taking 13 hours for the brisket, which seems super fast. I was monitoring both the internal temp and grate temp and I think they were both generally correct. My grate temp was around 250 the whole cook (my Kamado joe’s dome therm never registered a temp at all-it’s kind of useless) and I pulled the brisket at 204 based on the probe test.

My plan was for it to take between 17 1/2 and 21 hours so needless to say not ideal because we had set dinner time. I didn’t have time or space to cool and reheat and didn’t have oven space to create a warmer so I held it in a cooler with towels. Not a great outcome. The flat was pretty dry and the point kind of fell apart. I think I needed to cool it more before putting in the cooler but I was afraid of losing too much heat because I was holding it for so long (like 12 hours). All in all sort of a disaster but you live and learn. It was only my second full packer so hopefully it will be better next time.

Maybe I need to invest in a cambro to handle a situation where my timing is off. Definitely more toys that’s the answer.

 

[JJS]

More toys is always the answer!!

 

[schlotz]

Yeah these things can happen. Being prepared for them can help. I’m still keying in on temps being generally correct as part of the issue. BTW was the 14# before trimming or after? Was a 1/4” fat cap left on? As a point of reference I smoke at a known grate temp of 275° and while each brisket is different I plan in the range of 45-49 min per trimmed weight plus include a two hour rest. Holding for 12 hours is a tough go, sorry to hear you had to deal with that. Do agree that you want the IT to cool some before putting in a cooler to stop it from continuing to cook. Usually a 10-15° drop will suffice. A specific Cambro or large enough cooler to handle a full packer along with towels will do the job. Add your experience to your cooking notes and refer to them before smoking the next one.

 

[Artvandelay]

It was about 14 after trimming. I did leave a fat cap on but definitely should have let it drop more in temp before wrapping. I know a local bbq shop ( which has been getting national press) uses a warmer to hold for quite a while but I think it went too long in the cooler.

 

[fivetricks]

Yes, I've also been burned by going from smoker to cooler. Leaving them out on the counter for a good 30 mins is prob the best way to go. I say probably because I've always been too foolish to do so.