Brisket/Boston Butt Low and Slow Question

bluegrasstiger · January 2012

Is the amount of time spend in the "stall" phase important? or is it more important just to get to the final meat temp?

I ask because I have noted that several recommend increasing the temperature to make the cook go faster, or wrapping in foil to "power through" the stall. So, is it better to have it stay in the stall as long as possible for maximum "rendering" or to get it to 195 or 200 or 205 regardless of time.

bluegrasstiger · January 2012

BTW, I'm cooking a brisket at 250 grate...about 300 dome... and everything is going according to plan after 5 hours. It's small and meat temp is at 165 and still rising nicely.

I was just wondering while watching the egg.

IrishDevl · January 2012

My advice, just let her go at the temp you have, don't adjust anything. Rise when ready.

ChanningJohnson · January 2012

Cook's illustrated talks about a temperature range where the fat renders best. I thought I remember it being between 165 and 180. Please correct me on that though. The longer it's in that range the better, I was lead to understand. I thought rendering the fat was why people take the internal done temperature well above safe consumption temperatures.

stike · January 2012

the reason it is taken to 200 or so is to render the fat but also (most important) to convert the tough collagen to melted gelatin.

pork butt cooked to safe temperatures only (140 or so) would be fatty and tough.
taken all the way thru the plateau, the fat has rendered a bit, and the gelatin (no longer binding the muscle fibers together) makes the meat succulent, replacing the water lost when cooked to such a high temperature

tnbarbq · January 2012

I try not to worry about how long the meat is in the stall phase. It's just something we have to deal with. Focus more on getting to finished temp and use the stall to enjoy another cold one.

Brisket/Boston Butt Low and Slow Question

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