The stall: why your brisket or pork butt stops climbing
Somewhere around 150 to 170°F, large cuts of meat often stop gaining temperature for an hour or more. It is normal.
What is happening
Large cuts such as brisket and pork butt are wet. As the surface warms, moisture evaporates, and evaporation cools the meat, much like sweat cools skin. When the cooling from evaporation balances the heat coming from the smoker, the temperature stalls.
Three ways to deal with it
- Wait it out. The stall ends on its own, and meat that is never wrapped gets the firmest, darkest bark. It adds time, sometimes several hours.
- Wrap. Wrapping in foil or butcher paper (often called the Texas crutch) stops most of the evaporation and gets the meat through the stall faster. Foil gives the fastest finish and softer bark; butcher paper lets a little moisture out and keeps the bark firmer.
- Raise the smoker temperature. Going from 225°F to 275°F shortens the stall, though it can dry out leaner cuts.
Plan for it
The times on this site are ranges that already allow for a typical stall. If you cook without wrapping, aim for the slow end of each range, and give yourself a buffer: it is easy to hold a finished brisket wrapped in a cooler, and hard to speed up one that is running late.