Holding pattern

[cheech]

When smoking salami (in particular) the meat starts to creep up to temp then it seems to hold at a given temp like forever then after some time it will finally start to rise again.

I have had this happen every time I smoke meat.

Is there someone here that can explain this to me?

 

[scott in kc]

Cheech, with butts and briskets, I've always attributed this to being the temp range where the fat begins to render out. As the fats "melt" and render out the temp of the meat doesn't change much until this process is mostly completed.

This could be one of those things I read once and always assumed to be true that isn't true at all. I'm anxious to see some other opinions on this.