Stalled Out for Hours

Finally_Got_A_BGE

The last two cooks I’ve had terrible stalls. I’ve never had a stall last more than two hours. The last two cooks I’ve had taken double-digit stalls. One was a beef roast and one was a pork shoulder. Both of them never came to a proper bark just stayed a sandy crust. I’ve been cooking them low and slow anywhere from 230 to 250. I use a drip pan with liquid to keep it moist. I wrap once it gets to 160 in butcher paper. Then it stays there until I jack up the temperature to 300 or 350 to get it moving. It still takes a while after the turn up. What am I doing wrong? Unfortunately it’s been a while since I smoked.

Finally_Got_A_BGE

One additional comment. I had just bought a new used egg. Should have kept the old one I guess!

lkapigian

My thought is you are probably running a lower temp than you think , check dome thermometer calibration 

JohnInCarolina

Get rid of the liquid in the drip pan.  That will help.

CP92

It happens for sure. I've only had it happen once and my process has always been the same. Those big pieces of meat take on a life of their own and create a micro climate for sure. Pull it and put it in the oven especially if you're wrapping. You're not getting any more smoke at that point anyway.

Regards,
Chris 

Foghorn

I've had that happen once after a butcher paper wrap on a brisket.  It was about 165 when I wrapped it.  I was cooking at 230 or so.  As near as I can tell, I may have used too much paper (it was a sloppy wrap, much like my use of Christmas wrapping paper which is a source of amusement for my kids) and there were some significant air pockets that acted as insulation from the heat for many hours.  The meat temp dropped for several hours and took many more hours before it finally climbed.

Since then I have watched Aaron Franklin's video where he wraps his brisket with a very precise process.  I'm still not as good at it as he is, but at least I don't get the very prolonged cook because of sloppy wrapping.  This may or may not have contributed to your issue but I thought I'd throw it out for consideration.

fishlessman

230 dome is too low and if the gage is reading off this will happen. add a water pan as john mentioned and you could be cooking at 200 or less at the grate level. i cook often at 230 dome to prolong the cooks as thats convenient for me....those cooks can take 18 hours or more with several noticeable long stalls.