some questions

[Kansas City Kid]

As a new guy to smoking, I have a couple of questions. If anyone has the knowledge, i greatly appreciate your input.

When cooking a brisket (or other meat) does your cooking temp ever stall out.  It seems I could almost see a steady increase in my meat temp up until around the high 140's. Then it seemed like a chore to crank each additional degree out of it.   Towards the end of my cook around the 8 or 9 hour mark I went ahead and let the smoker get to 230 degrees or so just to try and push the internal temp higher. (Most of my days cooking was down around 210 degrees)  But still at 230 it was difficult to get that internal temp to climb.    Anyone else ever see this?

Also,  I did two briskets, One on the lowest rack and one on the 3rd up position.  Which one would be done first?   I thought the low one is closer to the heating element but heat rises so maybe the upper one should cook faster. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks again for any help you can provide.

[Smoking Duck]

Hey KCKid,

That stall that you refer to is commonly called the "plateau."  It is at that point where the collagen and fat are breaking down inside the meat and what really makes the meat so tender and moisty.

I've experienced it in every brisket and pulled pork I've done and is very normal.

To me, it's the hardest part of the smoke because it's like watching water boil and you really want to get to eating.....but it is the most important part of the smoke to ensure the most tender piece of meat IMHO.

Also, the piece closest to the heating element should finish sooner.  You may want to consider rotation to try and time them close together if that's your goal.


Marc

[owrstrich]

kck...

lean cuts like tri tip... sirloin roast... prime ribb... beef tenderloin... pork tenderloin... they do NOT stall...

fatty cuts like brisket... pork butt... they DO stall...

check this out...

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180

owrstrich

[Artmiester]

The Duck's got that right KCKid. My buddy and I got our DBSs' at the same time and were kind of expecting the plateau after reading some of the posts here but not as exacting and predictive as it turns out. When smoking large cut(s) of pork at 220F internal temp will hang at 154F for 1-1/2-2hrs. and then begin climbing steadily to the desired temp. Also,when doing an 8# pork shoulder for pulled pork it's gonna be 20 hours to get to 195F every time for me. It's really spooky sometimes. Hope this helps ease the mystery. Smoke on and welcome to the forum!  ;D ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

I answered a couple of questions on your other post.

Tough cuts of meat such as brisket, butts and the like will cook differently depending on how much connective tissue they have. So just because one brisket is closer to the heating element does not necessarily mean it will be done first. I have smoke two brisket at the same time and thought the smaller one would finish much faster than the one that was 3 pounds larger. To my surprise the larger one finished 3 hours sooner.