Spent 6 hours on a brisket stall that never came? Or did I do it wrong?

Ran a 14 pound brisket on my offset last Saturday in Nashville and the internal temp sat at 160 for over four hours, no wrap or anything, and I thought my pit was broken. Turns out my thermometer probe was touching a fat seam the whole time, so the real meat temp was climbing, but I didn't figure it out until the meat hit 203 and came out way overdone. Has anyone else chased a phantom stall for that long, or do you trust your probes more than I do now?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma_jones20d ago

the same thing got me with a chuck roast a few months back, i had it on the kettle and it showed 155 forever, so i just let it ride thinking it was a real stall. turns out the probes were sitting in that same fat seam, and by the time i checked with my thermopen the meat was already past 210 and fell apart into mush. what works for me now is i set a timer for every 45 minutes and do a quick probe check in a few different spots, especially near the thickest part of the muscle away from any visible fat lines. @paige_craig is spot on about the wiggle test too, if the probe slides in with zero resistance and feels greasy, that's a bad sign. i also stopped trusting the built in probe for the final temp, i always pull it out and use my instant read on the flat and point separately. the phantom stall is real but at least now i know it's my fault, not the meat's.

paige_craig20d ago

I've totally been there, man. That same thing got me last summer with a pork butt. It read 165 for like three hours and I was about to curse the sky, then I realized my probe was dead center in a fat cap. Now I always do a quick poke test around the meat with an instant read if the stall feels too perfect, and I give the probe a little wiggle to make sure it's not swimming in fat.