My Brisket is stalled out a 183.

[Dadoalex]

Dammit!!
Now you have me wanting to smoke a brisket!

It's addicting.

Ain't that the truth!
For me it's half challenge and half wanting a nice brisket sandwich.
When you get the flat and the point to come out right you know you nailed it.
The kids nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. I first started BBQing 35 years ago when there was no internet to help you along.
We had to find an old timer willing to show you the ropes. That and destroy a shitload of briskets,it was truly trial and error.

I know. We do have it better, but it is still quite a challenge. That's what we all really like about smoking briskets. You're taking an unusable cut of meat and making it into a mouth-watering, succulent thing of beauty.

I experimented with different woods, and found at a 3:1 pecan/hickory mix tastes the best.

When I first saw this I was sure it was a euphemism for your spouse's diet.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

Aaaaaand BOOOM. 203

That went fast!!!

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

Dammit!!
Now you have me wanting to smoke a brisket!

It's addicting.

Ain't that the truth!
For me it's half challenge and half wanting a nice brisket sandwich.
When you get the flat and the point to come out right you know you nailed it.
The kids nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. I first started BBQing 35 years ago when there was no internet to help you along.
We had to find an old timer willing to show you the ropes. That and destroy a shitload of briskets,it was truly trial and error.

I know. We do have it better, but it is still quite a challenge. That's what we all really like about smoking briskets. You're taking an unusable cut of meat and making it into a mouth-watering, succulent thing of beauty.

I experimented with different woods, and found at a 3:1 pecan/hickory mix tastes the best.

When I first saw this I was sure it was a euphemism for your spouse's diet.

I just showed her. She chuckled.

 

[xband]

This is getting tiring.

I threw that brisket on EARLY this morning before work and it has been steady all day, but now it has stalled at 183 for the past hour. If I can't break this stall, Imma have to oven it, and I hate doing that.

Pray to the god of meats that my brisket busts through soon.

Can you add water?
Assuming you're smoking. Place a pan of water in the smoker. The vapor moisture will help heat transfer in the meat.

He showed pictures of his briskets, frozen in blocks.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

My fire started to get really cold about 10 minutes ago, so I broke out the shop fan and got it back up to welding temp.


Should be good now.

What are you cooking it on?
I load my reverse flow Lang up with my log of choice usually red or white oak with 8 or 9 splits and let it burn down till I have a nice bed of coals and the temp evens out.
After that it's just a matter of tossing in a split or or two every couple hours to maintain the coal bed.

Oklahoma Joe's offset. Wife just got if for me, so it's my first brisket on this new one.

You've got better equipment than I do. I need to use straight firewood, and skip the charcoal.

The only thing I use charcoal for is too light the fire.
The Oklahoma Joe is a decent pit. Far better than some of the crap thats out there.
Put some fire bricks in the fire box and in the smoking chamber. It makes it way easier to keep your temps even.
I do that with all my smokers.
Get the thinner ones. They'll be 1 inch to 1.5 inches thick.
You can get em at most stores like Home Depot or online and they're cheap. You shouldn't need more than 9 or 10 of them.
View attachment 510827

Oh, the smoke CHAMBER. I thought you meant the firebox. I'm a dumb ass at times.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

My fire started to get really cold about 10 minutes ago, so I broke out the shop fan and got it back up to welding temp.


Should be good now.

What are you cooking it on?
I load my reverse flow Lang up with my log of choice usually red or white oak with 8 or 9 splits and let it burn down till I have a nice bed of coals and the temp evens out.
After that it's just a matter of tossing in a split or or two every couple hours to maintain the coal bed.

Oklahoma Joe's offset. Wife just got if for me, so it's my first brisket on this new one.

You've got better equipment than I do. I need to use straight firewood, and skip the charcoal.

The only thing I use charcoal for is too light the fire.
The Oklahoma Joe is a decent pit. Far better than some of the crap thats out there.
Put some fire bricks in the fire box and in the smoking chamber. It makes it way easier to keep your temps even.
I do that with all my smokers.
Get the thinner ones. They'll be 1 inch to 1.5 inches thick.
You can get em at most stores like Home Depot or online and they're cheap. You shouldn't need more than 9 or 10 of them.
View attachment 510827

How do I arrange them in the fire box?

Just lay them in the bottom of your firebox.
Just make sure you still have enough room above them as not to interfere with air flow.
I dont see it in your pic but isnt there a grate to lay your wood on leaving a gap for airflow?
Even if you dont have a grate,which you should, the principle is the same. The bricks hold heat when your fire starts to die giving you time to get it going again without losing a bunch of heat.
And again put them on the bottom of your smoke chamber for the same reason. It keeps your temps more even.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

I dont see it in your pic but isnt there a grate to lay your wood on leaving a gap for airflow?

Yes. That's just a pic I got off the internet. I have a grate on the bottom of both the firebox and the pit.

I have seen a video where the guy puts the fire bricks in the cooking chamber. Saves him fuel and keeps the temp up, so he says.

It makes sense. Brick/stone holds heat way better than the metal chamber. So, I'll give it a try.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Dammit!!
Now you have me wanting to smoke a brisket!

It's addicting.

Ain't that the truth!
For me it's half challenge and half wanting a nice brisket sandwich.
When you get the flat and the point to come out right you know you nailed it.
The kids nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. I first started BBQing 35 years ago when there was no internet to help you along.
We had to find an old timer willing to show you the ropes. That and destroy a shitload of briskets,it was truly trial and error.

Ain't that the truth. A friend made ribs and brisket recently on a Traeger. He told me he put it on like 5 a.m. I said, "you've been tending it since then?" and he pulled out his phone. I guess he can check on and control that grill from anywhere. Good and bad. I used to tell the wife that she needed to go get more beer because I couldn't leave the grill. LOL

Yeah.
I have a Mak 2 Star General pellet pooper. The thing cost almost 5k with all the extras.
I will say it is very accurate and I have the remote with all the alarms and shit so I can go to bed and it'll let me know if something isnt right.
While there's something to be said about how easy it is to use when your smoking a 20 lb brisket the pellet poopers just dont have the flavor of real wood.
It's like the B&B BBQ wood you can buy at Academy here in Houston. It's kiln dried which makes it burn exceptionally clean....but it actually burns to clean like the pellet poopers do.
To get that real BBQ taste you have to go with naturally dried logs. They keep more of the essential moisture that gives you the flavor.
Finding a source for the naturally dried wood is a bitch even here in Texas and it's expensive as Hell!!

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

My fire started to get really cold about 10 minutes ago, so I broke out the shop fan and got it back up to welding temp.


Should be good now.

What are you cooking it on?
I load my reverse flow Lang up with my log of choice usually red or white oak with 8 or 9 splits and let it burn down till I have a nice bed of coals and the temp evens out.
After that it's just a matter of tossing in a split or or two every couple hours to maintain the coal bed.

Oklahoma Joe's offset. Wife just got if for me, so it's my first brisket on this new one.

You've got better equipment than I do. I need to use straight firewood, and skip the charcoal.

The only thing I use charcoal for is too light the fire.
The Oklahoma Joe is a decent pit. Far better than some of the crap thats out there.
Put some fire bricks in the fire box and in the smoking chamber. It makes it way easier to keep your temps even.
I do that with all my smokers.
Get the thinner ones. They'll be 1 inch to 1.5 inches thick.
You can get em at most stores like Home Depot or online and they're cheap. You shouldn't need more than 9 or 10 of them.
View attachment 510827

Oh, the smoke CHAMBER. I thought you meant the firebox. I'm a dumb ass at times.

No,No...you had it right.
Put them in the firebox and the smoking chamber.
If they take up too much room in your fire box to the point you cant get enough wood in it you can skip those,but they do help a lot when you can put them in the fire box.

 

[Dadoalex]

This is getting tiring.

I threw that brisket on EARLY this morning before work and it has been steady all day, but now it has stalled at 183 for the past hour. If I can't break this stall, Imma have to oven it, and I hate doing that.

Pray to the god of meats that my brisket busts through soon.

Can you add water?
Assuming you're smoking. Place a pan of water in the smoker. The vapor moisture will help heat transfer in the meat.

He showed pictures of his briskets, frozen in blocks.

Ok then.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I dont see it in your pic but isnt there a grate to lay your wood on leaving a gap for airflow?

Yes. That's just a pic I got off the internet. I have a grate on the bottom of both the firebox and the pit.

I have seen a video where the guy puts the fire bricks in the cooking chamber. Saves him fuel and keeps the temp up, so he says.

It makes sense. Brick/stone holds heat way better than the metal chamber. So, I'll give it a try.

It really makes a difference in lower cost smokers that dont use 1/4 inch steel in their construction.
The thicker steel obviously will hold more heat. But it helps with the thicker steel smokers as well.

 

[Natural Citizen]

A always thought it was best to just wait it out.

I just got one of these from Home Depot a little while back.

I haven't even seasoned it and did the first burn yet.

It's okay for what it is.

 

[Concerned American]

Dammit!!
Now you have me wanting to smoke a brisket!

It's addicting.

Ain't that the truth!
For me it's half challenge and half wanting a nice brisket sandwich.
When you get the flat and the point to come out right you know you nailed it.
The kids nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. I first started BBQing 35 years ago when there was no internet to help you along.
We had to find an old timer willing to show you the ropes. That and destroy a shitload of briskets,it was truly trial and error.

Ain't that the truth. A friend made ribs and brisket recently on a Traeger. He told me he put it on like 5 a.m. I said, "you've been tending it since then?" and he pulled out his phone. I guess he can check on and control that grill from anywhere. Good and bad. I used to tell the wife that she needed to go get more beer because I couldn't leave the grill. LOL

Yeah.
I have a Mak 2 Star General pellet pooper. The thing cost almost 5k with all the extras.
I will say it is very accurate and I have the remote with all the alarms and shit so I can go to bed and it'll let me know if something isnt right.
While there's something to be said about how easy it is to use when your smoking a 20 lb brisket the pellet poopers just dont have the flavor of real wood.
It's like the B&B BBQ wood you can buy at Academy here in Houston. It's kiln dried which makes it burn exceptionally clean....but it actually burns to clean like the pellet poopers do.
To get that real BBQ taste you have to go with naturally dried logs. They keep more of the essential moisture that gives you the flavor.
Finding a source for the naturally dried wood is a bitch even here in Texas and it's expensive as Hell!!
View attachment 510863

Wow, I grew up in west TX and S. NM and we had mesquite for the taking about everywhere--back in the 60's, don't know about now.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Dammit!!
Now you have me wanting to smoke a brisket!

It's addicting.

Ain't that the truth!
For me it's half challenge and half wanting a nice brisket sandwich.
When you get the flat and the point to come out right you know you nailed it.
The kids nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. I first started BBQing 35 years ago when there was no internet to help you along.
We had to find an old timer willing to show you the ropes. That and destroy a shitload of briskets,it was truly trial and error.

Ain't that the truth. A friend made ribs and brisket recently on a Traeger. He told me he put it on like 5 a.m. I said, "you've been tending it since then?" and he pulled out his phone. I guess he can check on and control that grill from anywhere. Good and bad. I used to tell the wife that she needed to go get more beer because I couldn't leave the grill. LOL

Yeah.
I have a Mak 2 Star General pellet pooper. The thing cost almost 5k with all the extras.
I will say it is very accurate and I have the remote with all the alarms and shit so I can go to bed and it'll let me know if something isnt right.
While there's something to be said about how easy it is to use when your smoking a 20 lb brisket the pellet poopers just dont have the flavor of real wood.
It's like the B&B BBQ wood you can buy at Academy here in Houston. It's kiln dried which makes it burn exceptionally clean....but it actually burns to clean like the pellet poopers do.
To get that real BBQ taste you have to go with naturally dried logs. They keep more of the essential moisture that gives you the flavor.
Finding a source for the naturally dried wood is a bitch even here in Texas and it's expensive as Hell!!
View attachment 510863

Wow, I grew up in west TX and S. NM and we had mesquite for the taking about everywhere--back in the 60's, don't know about now.

You cant cook with mesquite by itself.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Dammit!!
Now you have me wanting to smoke a brisket!

It's addicting.

Ain't that the truth!
For me it's half challenge and half wanting a nice brisket sandwich.
When you get the flat and the point to come out right you know you nailed it.
The kids nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. I first started BBQing 35 years ago when there was no internet to help you along.
We had to find an old timer willing to show you the ropes. That and destroy a shitload of briskets,it was truly trial and error.

Ain't that the truth. A friend made ribs and brisket recently on a Traeger. He told me he put it on like 5 a.m. I said, "you've been tending it since then?" and he pulled out his phone. I guess he can check on and control that grill from anywhere. Good and bad. I used to tell the wife that she needed to go get more beer because I couldn't leave the grill. LOL

Yeah.
I have a Mak 2 Star General pellet pooper. The thing cost almost 5k with all the extras.
I will say it is very accurate and I have the remote with all the alarms and shit so I can go to bed and it'll let me know if something isnt right.
While there's something to be said about how easy it is to use when your smoking a 20 lb brisket the pellet poopers just dont have the flavor of real wood.
It's like the B&B BBQ wood you can buy at Academy here in Houston. It's kiln dried which makes it burn exceptionally clean....but it actually burns to clean like the pellet poopers do.
To get that real BBQ taste you have to go with naturally dried logs. They keep more of the essential moisture that gives you the flavor.
Finding a source for the naturally dried wood is a bitch even here in Texas and it's expensive as Hell!!
View attachment 510863

Wow, I grew up in west TX and S. NM and we had mesquite for the taking about everywhere--back in the 60's, don't know about now.

Mesquite is great for cooking steak or fajitas hot and fast in the form of coals.
Other than that it should be used sparingly when BBQing. If you used just mesquite to BBQ with you'd end up with a bitter hunk of meat.

 

[Missourian]

Not if it's good brisket!!!
Ya dont need no teef to eat my beef!!!! As they say.

Exactly what I was thinking. If your brisket needs chewin'... you're doin' it wrong.

 

[excalibur]

I always use oak with maybe a few splits of pecan to sweeten it up a bit.
Rub it with 50/50 salt and pepper and a little garlic powder. And spray it down with some apple cider mixed with coke every once in a while.

Coke? Don't let Hunter Biden hear that.

 

[Flash]

It is called the Texas Crunch.

Both pork and beef will stall at about 160 for 2-3 hours when slow smoked. It takes that time to break down the fat.

It will break and then the temp will rise pretty fast.

I usually wrap after the stall at about 170. It is ready at about 205.

 

[JohnDB]

A always thought it was best to just wait it out.

I just got one of these from Home Depot a little while back.

I haven't even seasoned it and did the first burn yet.

It's okay for what it is.

This one actually does a pretty fair job with pork ribs. (Not baby back)
6hrs @ 200-250 and they are awesome.

It's not exactly fuel efficient like an egg...so you will go through at least one to two bags of charcoal and some wood for the 6 hours...but the three slabs of ribs will be divine.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

ummm brisket tacos

try an electric smoker, maybe you could control the temp and time