Smoking Brisket Today - No Stall!

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kilimanj99

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 4, 2020
4
3
I've smoked several briskets and this is the first time there was absolutely no stall. I did do a few things differently to try them out this time, I wonder if one of them was the cause?

Things I did the same as always:
1. Started the smoke at 250 degrees
2. Use a Masterbuilt 40" electric smoker
3. Vents open to half
4. Meat on top middle rack

Things I did different
1. I used a water pan on the bottom rack to try to get a little more moisture
2. This was the first time I injected a brisket. Used a beef stock base injection. The interesting thing about this is that I did a home cured and smoked ham a few weeks ago and injected that too with the same no stall results and a super fast cook.
3. Used a Wegmans brisket. I usually go to a farm to get a fresh cut brisket. The Wegmans brisket was a bit smaller and thinner but not significantly. It was roughly 10-12 pounds after trimming.

Well after about 2 hours I found the internal temp was already over 100 so I lowered the smoker to 225. Another hour and it was already up to 145 ish where I was expecting a stall to start, another hour, 165!!! Cooking so fast. Why? Thermometer is good, tried another to make sure. Poked it in a few places too. One thing I'm noticing is that the bark isnt as crusty and black as normal. I think the injecting and or the water pan is causing this. It's definitely juice I can tell just by looking at it. I may wrap it in a few minutes anyway just to preserve the moisture. I'd like to have a nice crust though first. Maybe I'll remove the water pan too.

Will post pics when its done.
 
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... and that it did, stalled at 170, a little higher and faster than normal but at least it happened. Maybe the probe is a little off or not in the best place, even though I poked around a little. Wrapped up and entering phase 2!
 
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This has been the craziest meat. After wrapping at 170, it took 5 hours to get to 195. I was running out of time so I moved it to the oven and turned the heat up to 300. 30 minutes later the temp was down to 190. I think I'm just going to pull it, let it rest, and hope for the best.
 
Hi there and welcome!

Kilimanj99 meet brisket :P

You are right my friend. Probe placement on a brisket is like the most difficult thing to get right in the world, so i use 3 probes hahaha.

Also when cooking a brisket or a pork butt plan to finish 4 hours before eating time. If u finish early then double wrap tightly in 2 layers of foil and then 3 bath towels and set on the counter. If u dont finish early well u have 4 hours of buffer :)

Best of luck!
 
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So true! Many times I've felt the Butts or Briskets were cooking too fast. Lowered the cook temp. Then when the stall finally happens, it takes sometimes 3 hours, or 5 hours, or whatever it feels like taking LOL. So I've learned to leave the cook temp where I am comfortable regardless of the early fast cooking before the stall. If it's done too soon, well you know the rest. That's why I always tell my Wife when she asks what time will it be ready, it's ready when it's ready. And we go from there. We plan on a certain timetable, and work within it as best as we can.

Mike
 
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Well I removed it and let it rest shortly after the last message and despite all the weirdness I had it turned out spectacular. I was told that it was my best brisket yet. Go figure. It was pretty dam good and I could barely do the hang test with out breaking apart by gravity. It just melted in my mouth. I also can't believe the entire brisket was eaten by 6 adults and 8 children (who don't usually eat much).
 

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Looks great! Glad it worked out, and everyone enjoyed it.

Mike
 
Well I removed it and let it rest shortly after the last message and despite all the weirdness I had it turned out spectacular. I was told that it was my best brisket yet. Go figure. It was pretty dam good and I could barely do the hang test with out breaking apart by gravity. It just melted in my mouth. I also can't believe the entire brisket was eaten by 6 adults and 8 children (who don't usually eat much).

Great job there!

Yeah it disappears fast!
Its always funny to me when people post things like "a brisket is too big/much for just me and my wife..."
I always think "If u make a good brisket it is never enough even for 2 people!" hahahha

I honestly try not to buy any briskets smaller than 15 pounds if i can avoid it. After trimming fat I usually have 11-12 pounds of brisket left, and then when i trim off the thin flat meat the main intact chunk is probably down to 9-10 pounds (I still smoke the trimmed away thin flat meat in a way that keeps it from burning up).

I would bet that 10 pounds of brisket smoked probably loses 30% of mass once done so 7 pounds would be left.
Once eating and going back for seconds 2+ pounds of brisket is gone. Do the same for dinner and a total of about 4 pounds is gone. This leaves just a few pounds and if its really good u may eat it again the next day and/or the day after. So when it is all said and done over 2-3 days of eating on it you only have maybe 2 pounds left.
Imagine if someone comes and initially eats it with u and takes a little home... that means 2-3 days later the brisket is probably gone.
It's never enough hahahah :D
 
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This has been the craziest meat. After wrapping at 170, it took 5 hours to get to 195. I was running out of time so I moved it to the oven and turned the heat up to 300. 30 minutes later the temp was down to 190. I think I'm just going to pull it, let it rest, and hope for the best.

I cooked my first brisket (12lb) this weekend,
and it got up to 150F in 2.5hrs at 275FOK Joe offset. large 1/2 tray alum water pan, and drip pan with 1/4 of water. So it had a lot of moisture plus injected 1hr prior to cook with straight beef broth.
Wrapped @155F in butcher at 4.5hrs as bark looked good. Assuming I wrapped somewhere in the middle of the stall it rose to 170 nicely after heating back up.
Then it stalled again.......CREPT till 190...so glad every one was enjoying the water and appetizers
as I sweated out over the fire, breaking franticly to search the freezer for hot dogs.
Started the gas grill and did a few vegs. Turned around and 198.
Guests were getting out of water, pulled it, rested under towel 45 min.
sliced and it disappeared. all raved, nut if you ask me the flat was dry as I cooked it facing up by accident and also trimmed a bit too much fat off of it. Point was incredible!
4.5hr unwrapped
7.5hrs butcher wrapped
45min hold
low temp 265F
high temp 290F
last hr or so took it to 300-320F

?Brings up a question....does anyone use various different temp ranges at various times,
ramp temp up? ramp down?
I have heard the term power into the stall to gain momentum.
 
I cooked my first brisket (12lb) this weekend,
and it got up to 150F in 2.5hrs at 275FOK Joe offset. large 1/2 tray alum water pan, and drip pan with 1/4 of water. So it had a lot of moisture plus injected 1hr prior to cook with straight beef broth.
Wrapped @155F in butcher at 4.5hrs as bark looked good. Assuming I wrapped somewhere in the middle of the stall it rose to 170 nicely after heating back up.
Then it stalled again.......CREPT till 190...so glad every one was enjoying the water and appetizers
as I sweated out over the fire, breaking franticly to search the freezer for hot dogs.
Started the gas grill and did a few vegs. Turned around and 198.
Guests were getting out of water, pulled it, rested under towel 45 min.
sliced and it disappeared. all raved, nut if you ask me the flat was dry as I cooked it facing up by accident and also trimmed a bit too much fat off of it. Point was incredible!
4.5hr unwrapped
7.5hrs butcher wrapped
45min hold
low temp 265F
high temp 290F
last hr or so took it to 300-320F

?Brings up a question....does anyone use various different temp ranges at various times,
ramp temp up? ramp down?
I have heard the term power into the stall to gain momentum.

I'm glad it worked out for ya, almost every brisket cook can teach you something... especially the first one hahaha.

I rock 275F the whole time. If i could safely do 325F or a little higher in my smoker I would because briskets don't care what temp they are smoked at (I don't want to destroy my smoker insulation with higher temps).

The magic in dealing with the stall is to simply plan to have enough time. At a constant 275F running naked the whole time a brisket takes me a little over an hour a pound (untrimmed weight).
Knowing that I take the weight of the brisket +4. Take that number and subtract it from when you want to eat and that is when you start the brisket on the smoker.
The brisket SHOULD finish 4 hours before eating time (the +4) but if it doesn't there are 4 more hours to allow it to finish before eating time.

I would bet $100 that the flat was dry because it was still under cooked. If dry and tough then a brisket flat is undercooked. If try and crumbly then it is over cooked.
I believe the collagen tissue doesn't start to break down and become juicy until you hit 190F and then it takes some time. You pulled at 198F.
A brisket is done when it is tender never by temp. The temp of 198F is usually the indicator to start checking for tenderness by stabbing all over (especially thick center part of the flat) with a kabob skewer or temp probe and when it goes in like butter ALL OVER then the brisket is tender and therefore ready :)
The Point is hard to mess up and is always super juicy and amazing. This is because its got a lot of fat throughout it. The Flat is the problem child because it only has fat on the outside so u must break down the collagen to get tender and juicy.

I hope this info helps and congrats on a bunch of happy eaters! :)
 
I'm glad it worked out for ya, almost every brisket cook can teach you something... especially the first one hahaha.

I rock 275F the whole time. If i could safely do 325F or a little higher in my smoker I would because briskets don't care what temp they are smoked at (I don't want to destroy my smoker insulation with higher temps).

The magic in dealing with the stall is to simply plan to have enough time. At a constant 275F running naked the whole time a brisket takes me a little over an hour a pound (untrimmed weight).
Knowing that I take the weight of the brisket +4. Take that number and subtract it from when you want to eat and that is when you start the brisket on the smoker.
The brisket SHOULD finish 4 hours before eating time (the +4) but if it doesn't there are 4 more hours to allow it to finish before eating time.

I would bet $100 that the flat was dry because it was still under cooked. If dry and tough then a brisket flat is undercooked. If try and crumbly then it is over cooked.
I believe the collagen tissue doesn't start to break down and become juicy until you hit 190F and then it takes some time. You pulled at 198F.
A brisket is done when it is tender never by temp. The temp of 198F is usually the indicator to start checking for tenderness by stabbing all over (especially thick center part of the flat) with a kabob skewer or temp probe and when it goes in like butter ALL OVER then the brisket is tender and therefore ready :)
The Point is hard to mess up and is always super juicy and amazing. This is because its got a lot of fat throughout it. The Flat is the problem child because it only has fat on the outside so u must break down the collagen to get tender and juicy.

I hope this info helps and congrats on a bunch of happy eaters! :)

Excellent Comments....
Spot on as it fills in alot of the questions remained in my head,
as i searched collagen chemistry and brisket thermodynamics all day today (monday)
as I smoked beef back ribs today just to relax after the stressful brisket cook with people coming over thing.
Good to know that the flat is a problem child, as i will spend more time concerned with what he is doing. At this point the Point can do what it wants (no pun intended).
Thanks
 
Excellent Comments....
Spot on as it fills in alot of the questions remained in my head,
as i searched collagen chemistry and brisket thermodynamics all day today (monday)
as I smoked beef back ribs today just to relax after the stressful brisket cook with people coming over thing.
Good to know that the flat is a problem child, as i will spend more time concerned with what he is doing. At this point the Point can do what it wants (no pun intended).
Thanks

Hahha that's the ticket man.
When u probe a brisket put the temp probe in the thickest yet center-most portion of the Flat muscle.
It is very hard to get good and accurate placement of a probe so I use 3 probes from different angles and guess what... usually only 1 is placed properly. How do I know? It's the one that is like 10 degrees lower then the other two haha. I go based off the probe that is reading the lowest temp.

Keep at it man, u will learn a ton here and be blowing everyone away with your bbq! :)
 
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