Brisket help

[Rickg3669]

From what I’ve read my brisket has stalled at 155 . I let it continue to cook for about an hour than took out wrapped in butcher paper and still at 155. Any tips to get it going

 

[CMTiger]

did you raise temp after the stall?

 

[Rickg3669]

Yes to 250 from 225

 

[CMTiger]

Interesting.....I've never done a brisket as I'm also new to Traeger. How long has it been? My understanding is that for a brisket a lengthy stall isn't uncommon. I've read you can help beat it by adding a pan of water for moisture.

 

[CMTiger]

The increase from 225 to 250 really isn't "that" great IMO. Are you using the Trager ambient probe? If so you may not even have the temp much higher than your desired finished temp.....so it'll take awhile.

I'm going to stop typing now though and let some experienced people take over.

 

[JamesB]

From what I’ve read my brisket has stalled at 155 . I let it continue to cook for about an hour than took out wrapped in butcher paper and still at 155. Any tips to get it going

Patience….
What is the true ambient temp of your grill? Depending on the size of your brisket, you could be looking at 4-6 hours after you wrap
Planning on a midnight meal??

 

[Slimpicker]

you can leave it at 250° and wait, don't open the grill or take the meat out again... when you remove meat "during" the stall you just made the wait longer...

Don't touch nothing till that meat is 200° IT

 

[JamesB]

Interesting.....I've never done a brisket as I'm also new to Traeger. How long has it been? My understanding is that for a brisket a lengthy stall isn't uncommon. I've read you can help beat it by adding a pan of water for moisture.

More moisture wouldn’t help the stall, but might make it worse. The stall is caused by moisture evaporating from the meat, causing evaporative cooling. Once the meat reaches a certain temp (around 150) the fibers contract forcing the moisture to the surface, cooling the meat.

 

[CMTiger]

More moisture wouldn’t help the stall, but might make it worse. The stall is caused by moisture evaporating from the meat, causing evaporative cooling. Once the meat reaches a certain temp (around 150) the fibers contract forcing the moisture to the surface, cooling the meat.

Ok the opposite of what I said.....pretty big distinction

 

[Rickg3669]

Couple hours later . Now Im 167 . Progress

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I thought that we were to wrap it after the stall was over and temps started to rise, no?

 

[Slimpicker]

I thought that we were to wrap it after the stall was over and temps started to rise, no?

lets put it this way, I'd never wrap as low as 150 anyway... the "stall" has no PERFECT temp it happens at, it can happen anywhere around the 150s to the mid 160s

The stall may begin at an internal temp that’s anywhere between 150 and 170°F, depending on the particular piece of meat (size, shape, surface texture, moisture content, injection, and/or rub) and the cooker (gas, charcoal, logs, pellets, airflow, water pan and humidity),

Meathead Goldwyn – amazingribs.com

Three common stall misconceptions to avoid​

The cause of the stall has been debated in pitmaster circles since we first noticed it was happening.

The problem is that a lot of the theories that cropped up, and their proposed solutions, were focussing on the wrong culprits.

With multiple experiments showing that evaporative cooling is responsible for the stall, here are a few older misconceptions that have been myth busted.

1. The stall is caused by latent heat lipid phase transition​

It’s a bit of a mouthful, right?

In layman’s terms, the latent heat lipid phase transition is when the collagen in your meat combines with water and changes into gelatin.

This transition is an integral part of the cooking process, as the rigid structure of the collagen transforms into soft flavourful gelatin.

The latent heat lipid phase transition also occurs at about 160°F, exactly when the stall normally starts.

This led to pitmasters, understandably, to blame the transition for the stall.

However, collagen only accounts for about 2% of the overall structure of your meat. There just isn’t enough collagen in your brisket or pork butt to offset the heat of your smoker as it transitions to gelatin.

2. The stall is caused by protein denaturation​

At between 140°F and 150°F, proteins in the meat start to denature.

Denaturation is a process proteins undergo when exposed to sufficient heat.

The heat energy causes them to unfold from a complex 3D shape into a looser arrangement. This enables them to more easily combine with other substances, such as water, in your meat.

This transition does happen, and at around the same temperature as the stall typically starts. However, there isn’t enough protein in your meat for it to offset the heat energy produced by your smoker.

3. The stall is caused by fat rendering​

On the surface, this theory seems more viable than the protein-based methods.

A pork shoulder is about 15% fat.

The team at Genuine Ideas tested this theory by cooking a chunk of pure beef fat and a cellulose sponge soaked in water in the same oven.

They then monitored the temperatures to see if the rendering of the fat cause it to stall. Their results overwhelmingly disproved this theory.

The fat continued to rise in temperature as expected, while the sponge hit a heat plateau at just under 150°F, stalling just like you would expect a cut of meat to do.

This because the fat simply melted, rather than evaporated, a process that uses far less thermal energy.

What types of meat/cuts are most affected by the stall?​

Unfortunately, avoiding the stall isn’t as easy as choosing another piece of meat to cook.

Evaporative cooling, the cause of the stall, is down to two things: The fact that most meat is about 65% water and the low and slow cooking process.

The combination of the size of the piece of meat you’ll be cooking, the low temperature and the high water content makes the stall a part of the cooking process.

The stall is especially feared when cooking a brisket or pork butt.

How long can the stall last?​

For brisket, the stall normally starts after two to three hours once the internal temperature of the meat is around 150°F. The stall can last for as long as 7 hours before the temperature of the meat starts to rise again.

Once the temperature does start to rise, it can go quickly. It’s common for a brisket to make the final jump from around 170 – 203°F in an hour or two.

 

[tommyb50]

The purpose of wrapping is to beat the stall, by sealing the meat in paper or foil after you've reached 160ish IT you retain moisture that steams within the wrap powering you through the stall.
If you're unsure of grill temp you can always wrap and move it to the oven.

 

[JamesB]

I thought that we were to wrap it after the stall was over and temps started to rise, no?

No….
Wrapping in foil stops evaporation. Wrapping in paper slows down evaporation. Both methods are used to “get through” the stall.
Wrapping after the stall kinda defeats the purpose…
If I wrap at all, it’s after the protein looks the way I want it and the bark is set( that usually happens for me somewhere between 160-170 IT), and as Slim said, not some magic number.

 

[CMTiger]

No….
Wrapping in foil stops evaporation. Wrapping in paper slows down evaporation. Both methods are used to “get through” the stall.
Wrapping after the stall kinda defeats the purpose…
If I wrap at all, it’s after the protein looks the way I want it and the bark is set( that usually happens for me somewhere between 160-170 IT), and as Slim said, not some magic number.

All the youtubers I watch don’t even really temp it for the first several hours. They are going on look and feel to tell them when to wrap.