Question about brisket IT while it's cooking

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drhorrible

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2014
4
10
Hey all, sorry for the newbie question. I am in the middle of my first smoke and I had a question.

I've been smoking for about 6 hours now, and for the past hour the IT of the brisket has seemed to stall out in the 150's. It rose really quick to 150 though, only took 2-3 hours. Now I'm curious if: the temperature is not reading right (brand new Maverick dual-probe), if this is normal and it just takes forever for the meat to travel the last 40 degrees, or if I'm doing something wrong.

According to the other temp probe, I've been successfully (more or less) keeping the temp in the 225-250 range (avging around 240). So I'd be surprised if I'm doing something wrong. However, I wanted to get some feedback so I can correct anything if needed mid-cook. I'm hesitant to take the lid off and poke it with my trusty thermapen, because I don't want to let the heat escape. But if it stays in the 150s for another hour then I might have to, to make sure it's not beyond that and the temp probe is just messed up (I've heard these Mavericks can have some probe malfunctions).
 
That's a classic brisket cook. You're in the stall. And you're thinking about doing what a lot of folks do.....panicking. Just stay patient. It may sit there for a while but once it gets going again it will get you to the finish line. If you want you can increase your temp but theres nothing wrong. Get to around 200 IT, wrap in a couple layers of foil with some juice, beer, cola, or whatever.... wrap in a towel and drop in a cooler for an hour or two. No peeking...Stay patient. The reward is worth it.
 
Yeah shortly after posting this I stumbled across some articles about this infamous "stall". It's almost like it's the meat's way of scaring all beginners. Well it worked!
 
I just smoked my first brisket and had the same thing happen. Hit mid 150s and it was like a brick wall then a slug match up the rest of the way.
 
open another beer... mix another cocktail .... 200` IT... you can wrap in foil now and PUSH it through the stall... but then you lose your bark....
 
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