Help me understand the brisket crutch

FearlessTheEggNoob

I must be doing it wrong. I started my prime packer at 8AM with high hopes. Let it ride uncovered to 175ish then boated it in a foil covered pan to 195. I pulled it from the steamy pan and put it uncovered on the grid for the quick finish.

Immediately it dropped down to 170 and has been slowly creeping up to 180 in 1.5hrs. Its not tender yet so it needs to go longer. Apparently all I accomplished is delay the stall and steam off some of the rub.

Maybe 225 is too low. I don't know. Hopefully breakfast is going to be awesome... [-O<

Loosemoose

Hope it all works out for you. I just put one on and I'm new at this so I have no words of wisdom.
I'm sure it will be awesome whenever its done.

FearlessTheEggNoob

Thanks for the words of encouragement. One thing I've recently learned from my last sub-par result is how to take a brisket lemon and make brisket lemonade.
Smoked brisket shepard's pie

milesofsmiles

You might check out www.bubbatim.com. for some brisket tips, hints. Over 25 years of cooking briskets.

MaskedMarvel

Understand the crutch, or the stall? The crutch is wrapping in foil to prevent evaporation. It speeds up the cook. The stall is a temperature hold (or even a drop, as you experienced) from the evaporation off the meat. There was a really interesting experiment decades ago by Cecil Adams where he compared how quickly two cups of coffee cooled off - one cooling at rest, the other cooling with a hot hair dryer blasting the liquid. The hair dryer won - evaporation carries with it a LOT of joules.

FearlessTheEggNoob

MaskedMarvel said:

Understand the crutch, or the stall? The crutch is wrapping in foil to prevent evaporation. It speeds up the cook. The stall is a temperature hold (or even a drop, as you experienced) from the evaporation off the meat. There was a really interesting experiment decades ago by Cecil Adams where he compared how quickly two cups of coffee cooled off - one cooling at rest, the other cooling with a hot hair dryer blasting the liquid. The hair dryer won - evaporation carries with it a LOT of joules.

I thought the crutch woud power me past the stall. Next tme ill stay in the crutch much later. good german beer keeping mme going though.

LeoHat2

Basically, the stall is caused by the cooling effect of moisture in the meat. To put it crudely, the meat is sweating. By wrapping in foil (or whatever) you reduce the effectiveness of the sweating of the meat. Just as sweating in high humidity conditions reduces the cooling effect on your body. If you just let the meat go, eventually the meat runs out of moisture and the meat temperature spikes.  By wrapping the meat, the moisture is unable to cool the meat as rapidly, the meat still runs out of moisture and the temp spikes. It is just that the cooling has less effect.
The foil does not prevent evaporation, it just makes it much less effective. You sweat just as much in Atlanta as you do in Las Vegas, you feel hotter in Atlanta because your sweat doesn't cool your skin as much.
 

SmokeyPitt

Here is an interesting article;

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html

The key point is that the temperature will drop drastically once you unwrap it because it will release moisture.  I had this same thing happen on a butt but I was able to pull it even though the temp was only in the 180s.  I would imagine the time spent in the foil did help, but now that you have unwrapped it the IT might not be the best indicator that it is done.  After foiling I would just keep checking for tenderness and take it off once the probe slides in and out easily. 

BTW- that Shepherds Pie looks amazing! 

FearlessTheEggNoob

LeoHat2 said:
The foil does not prevent evaporation, it just makes it much less effective.

SmokeyPitt said:

Here is an interesting article;

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html

"It is important to remember that once you remove the meat from the foil, the temp will drop because the moist surface begins evaporating almost immediately, so it is important to take your meat up to target, about 203°F before you unwrap because it could drop to as low as 175°F after unwrapping"

THAT, is exactly where I went wrong. Think I'm going to make chili with it this time around.  ">

FearlessTheEggNoob

SmokeyPitt said:

BTW- that Shepherds Pie looks amazing! 

It was very tasty and super easy.

X amount of diced brisket to suit
1 bag of frozen birdseye steam in bag mixed veggies
1 can bush's navy beans
2 tubs of hormel's homestyle mashed potatoes
1 bag cheddar cheese
1 onion

saute diced onion in butter. warm up the veggies and mashed potatoes as per directions. layer meat, then veggies mixed with onion and navy beans, and finally mashed potatoes in a lg rectangular pyrex dish. cook in 400 degree oven until potatoes begin to brown on top ~30min. top with cheddar cheese.