I thought my brisket stall was a fire problem for a whole afternoon | BBQ Pitmasters - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

Sarah Davis · 2026-03-20T17:45:06.110171+00:00

Last weekend, my brisket hit 150 degrees and just stopped climbing for over four hours. I kept fiddling with the air vents on my offset, thinking my fire was dying. Turns out, I had the probe in a weird pocket of fat, not the flat. A friend came over, moved the probe, and the temp read 190 almost right away. Has anyone else had a probe placement issue throw them off that badly?

sean486mo ago

Probes have a personal vendetta against me.

4

shane_wilson4mo ago

My last brisket hit 152 and stayed there for five hours before I finally pulled it. I smoked through a whole bag of lump charcoal chasing a stall that didn't need chasing. My point is, I think you should trust your fire management more and your probe less. Learn to read the bark, the feel of the meat when you poke it, and the smell coming off the smoker. If your fire is steady and your temps are consistent, that probe is lying to you 90% of the time. I stopped using a remote thermometer altogether after the third time it told me my pork shoulder was still at 165 when it was actually 204 and falling apart.

3

caseya746mo ago

Your probe was just taking a long nap.

1

johnson.betty6mo ago

My old Weber kettle taught me to check the probe in at least three spots before I panic. That fat pocket trick gets me every single time, especially near the point. I keep a second cheap instant read thermometer just to double check the main probe's reading. It saves so much stress and keeps me from messing with a perfectly good fire.

1