Yard Bird stall?

[Roget]

Does chicken stall? (as pork butt does)

I have two chickens in the Bradley. (first time for chicken for me)
Everything was moving right along. Temp was rising on both. They were about 4 degrees apart.
At 163 degrees one just stopped for about an hour.
The other one kept rising until it passed the stalled bird.
The stalled bird finally rose to 165 while the other is at 166.
Are stalls normal in chicken?

[beefmann]

i think it does, have had a turkey that stalled on me at 160 for little over an hour

[Ka Honu]

Thanks for asking - it got me to do a little research and I learned some stuff.  If you'd asked me yesterday, I'd have said that it really shouldn't since there's less fat and collagen in a chicken than in a butt and that melting fat and collagen is what causes the stall.

Turns out that the stall has pretty much nothing to do with melting collagen and fat.  Who knew? 

I looked at a lot of science guy stuff and they pretty much agree (even though I didn't really understand most of it).  The easiest to read is on AmazingRibs.  Their bottom line is that the stall around 150-160^o "is caused by moisture evaporating from the surface and cooling the meat just like sweat cools you on a hot day. It has nothing to do with fat or collagen. If you wrap the meat in foil, the humidity in the foil is close to 100% but there is no evaporative cooling, so this method, called the Texas Crutch allows you to power through the stall."

For the most part, the researchers don't specifically mention poultry but the principal has to be the same so, yes, you could get a stall.

[Saber 4]

That's some interesting research, thanks for sharing with us all....Every night I learn so much just reading the new posts.

[Wildcat]

Read some of the old posts as well. Unless I am mistaken this topic has been discussed before.

[Ka Honu]

Read some of the old posts as well. Unless I am mistaken this topic has been discussed before.

I guess I'm just a slow learner.

[Wildcat]

Read some of the old posts as well. Unless I am mistaken this topic has been discussed before.

I guess I'm just a slow learner.

Did not mean anything negative my friend. I have been here a long time and remember reading something on here similar in the past. There are many posts on here that have been stated before. It is good to see some of them making the rounds again because they are important and many of the newer members have not read those old posts. I am glad that you posted the information and it is obvious that you found this information from another source.  Seems like it was either Habs or one of our famous brisket smokers that posted this information before. The evaporation factor sure makes for good common sense. During the stall period the connective tissue also breaks down. Lots of good things happening.

[Habanero Smoker]

Science is not perfect, and you will often see opposing thoughts. I'm still in the old camp, but if the article on the Amazing Ribs site has validity, the rapid break down of collagen still has something to do with the stall. It is at that internal temperatures 160° - 165°F that the collagen begins to rapidly break down releasing a large amounts of water; which will work itself to the surface. Sometimes you will see a very brief stall around 140°F; it could be possible to see it at 163°F if your probe is not deep enough. At that temperature protein molecules rapidly begin shrinking, and releasing a lot of its moisture; thus bringing the meat temperature down.

Evaporation does cool the surface of the meat, and does prevent some heat from radiating toward the center, so I can see how that can contribute to the stall. This is a good time to also mention that evaporation cools the ambient temperature around the meat, which can be as much as a 40°F difference. So it is important not to place your pit probe too close to the meat.

[Wildcat]

"This is a good time to also mention that evaporation cools the ambient temperature around the meat, which can be as much as a 40°F difference. So it is important not to place your pit probe too close to the meat."

lol - I experienced this when I first started smoking with the OBS. Never had this issue with chunk wood. Probably because I had more room to place the probe.