Brisket Didn’t Stall? | This is why

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Brisket didn’t stall

If you’re ever wondering why your brisket did not go through the stall, just consider how hot you cooked the piece of meat and whether or not you happened to wrap It.

Brisket doesn’t always go through a stall, since every piece of meat is different.

There are also some signs you can start to look for as to whether or not your brisket meat is actually going through a stall or not.

Usually, brisket will happen to go through a particular stall around 150°F and 175°F.

This is the most common range of temperatures that most Pit-masters will expect a lengthy stall at.

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Does brisket always stall

Not every brisket is the same, therefore, you can’t always expect a stall to happen throughout every single cook.

It is very common for a brisket to go through one, but just be aware that there are certain cases where it will not happen.

Sometimes briskets are done a lot quicker than others.

Specifically, I’ve had brisket that have been on the smoker for just around six hours and have come fully up to temp and our pro tender.

I’ve also had others that have gone through the same cooking process but have taken twice as long as the brisket that did not go through the stall.

Common temperatures that you can expect a brisket to go through a stall at or around 150°F and 175°F.

As noted above, these are some of the most commonly experienced temperature is that you can expect a start to happen at.

As you start to cook your brisket at various ambient temperatures, these stall periods can fluctuate greatly.

It’s also very common to begin wrapping a brisket right at around 150°F.

This can effectively push a brisket through the entire stall itself.

If someone were to not wrap a brisket, they are more prone to experiencing a stall with their meat.

That being said, there are some fringe cases where even though you don’t wrap a brisket at around 150°F and just leave the brisket on throughout the entire day to cook, it will still just push through the temperature range noted above.

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Is it possible for a brisket to not stall?

It is certainly possible for a brisket to never experience a stall whatsoever.

When you place the internal temperature probe into the thickest part of the meat, and the temperature rises way past 150°F and all the way through 175°F in a very short period of time, you can consider the brisket to have never had a stall to begin with.

Usually, the stall for a particular brisket will range between 2 to 3 hours.

This also depends greatly on the ambient temperature at which you are smoking your brisket at. 

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Why is my brisket not stalling

A brisket that never goes through the stall can be the result of several factors including the grade of the meat, the intramuscular fat content of the meat, and even the ambient temperature at which you smoke the brisket at.

These are some of the most common factors that can push a brisket through the stall.

Not only that, but another search factor that can greatly influence the internal temperature increase through the stall, is due to whether or not you happen to have wrapped the piece of barbecue.

The grade of the brisket you have can influence whether or not it will go through a stall.

That is because as you get higher on the grade hierarchy (prime, choice, select), you can start to experience different cooking variations.

What I mean by cooking variations is just that higher grades of meat such as prime and choice, will have a lot more intramuscular fat between all of the connective tissue’s.

This intramuscular fat is a lot easier to render than the proteins present within the brisket.

Since it is a lot easier to write her down, the internal temperature will happen to increase a lot quicker.

Ambient temperatures play another significant factor as to why a brisket will either stall or not.

Let’s take the example of smoking a brisket at around 225°F.

That is a pretty low temperature to be smoking any kind of barbecue.

It’s also commonly known as a low and slow type of cook.

That means you can certainly expect a brisket stall that will last around 3 to 5 hours.

It just makes sense when you think about it that way.

When you cook a brisket that has an ambient temperature of around 300°F, then certainly, you can expect the brisket to cook a lot quicker and even power through the stall of around 150°F and 175°F.

One of the last most prominent causes as to why a brisket may not go to the stall at all, is due to whether or not you wrapped it.

If you happen to wrap a brisket that is effectively increasing the ambient temperature at which you are smoking it at.

In other words, briskets tend to cook a lot quicker when they are wrapped compared to when they are not wrapped.

Of course, there are always cases of brisket that still are not wrapped but our smoked at high enough temperature is that will frankly power through the stall, but more often than not, whenever you hear about a brisket that did not stall, it is due to both high ambient temperatures in conjunction with having wrapped the piece of meat.

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What if my brisket doesn’t stall

If your brisket does not stall, don’t worry at all. In fact, consider it a blessing.

The brisket stall is one of the most dreaded times of cooking that particular piece of meat.

That’s just because it takes several hours for the barbecue to cook all the way through that internal temperature range.

It basically just adds on another 3 to 5 hours to the entire cook.

Therefore, whenever you have a brisket cook that does not even show signs of going through a stall, then be very happy!

The sooner you can get through a brisket cook, the sooner you can start to rest it and then slice into it and eat it.

After all, that’s the overall goal for cooking meat isn’t it?

As noted in previous sections within this post, if the brisket does not stall do not worry whatsoever.

But, just be aware that you may have been cooking it at a higher temperature than normal leaving reason to indicate that you need to rest a brisket adequately.

When you cook a brisket at higher temperatures, you need to be very conscious of the internal temperature and how quickly it actually is rising because if it went through the entire stall, It can certainly go through the done temperature quickly so just be very cognizant of that.

As the brisket internal temperature rises way past 175°F (which is the end of what is known as the stall), consider how quickly it is rising.

You don’t want the internal temperature to reach way past 200°F in internal temperature.

That specific temperature happens to be exactly when a brisket can be considered done.

It basically is just when all of the connective tissue and intramuscular fat has completely render down, leading to a nice juicy brisket.

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How long does it take a brisket to hit the stall?

Depending on the ambient temperature at which you are smoking a brisket out, you can expect about five hours after the start of the cook to begin experiencing the stall.

Common temperature is to start smoking a brisket at are anywhere between 225°F, 250°F, and 300°F.

These are all significantly different temperature ranges, and can greatly influence how long it will actually take to reach the famed (or should I say dreaded) stall.

For a temperature of around 225°F, expect the internal temperature to reach 150° in internal temperature at around the longer range of that timeframe.

As you start to cook the brisket at higher temperatures, expect the Time frame to hit that stall temperature to be greatly decreased.

Another factor that can definitely play into the length of time it will take to potentially hit the stall temperature, is the weight of the brisket you were smoking.

A lot of the times, you can expect about one hour per pound of meat that you have.

That means for larger cuts of brisket, it will take longer for the internal temperature to reach the stall range than perhaps a smaller piece of brisket.

As with any type of suggestion, These are just purely estimations but can be great guidelines to follow.

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Temperatures that brisket stalls 

Temperatures that brisket typically stalls that are anywhere between 150°F and 175°F.

Sometimes, briskets can rise all the way up to let’s say 160°F, but then just sit there for several hours before jumping past 175°F.

Other times, briskets will stay flat directly at 150°F and not move for 3 to 5 hours, then all of a sudden they will jump way past 175°F and before you know it the brisket will be done at around 200° in internal temperature.

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Why does brisket stall

One of the reasons why a brisket go through a stall at all, is due to the fact that the moisture content within the brisket itself is being excreted outside of the meat and actually cools the internal temperature simultaneously.

It’s a weird phenomenon, but happens just about every cook.

Unless, you are wrapping a brisket at high temperatures at which point you may not experience such a thing.

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Final thoughts

Briskets that don’t go through stalls are still fantastic pieces of BBQ.

It’s not all the time that you can expect to have a brisket that will cover around 150°F and 175°F, so just be aware of how you were kicking it.

If it is a high-grade of meat, large piece of meat, or if you are wrapping it, there may be a high likelihood of no stall happening for your brisket. No two briskets are the same.