The moment my brisket stalled at 160 and I panicked at a competition in Kansas City

I was at the American Royal in Kansas City last fall, 8 hours into a cook, and my brisket hit 160 internal temp and just stopped. I wrapped it in butcher paper and bumped the smoker to 275, but for 45 minutes it didn't budge. My buddy next to me said to just ride it out, the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. It finally crept up after another hour and turned out decent, but I lost 2 hours of time. So what do you do when the stall hits during a comp - wrap tight or stay the course?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_wren7d ago

WRAP tight? You're basically STEAMING your brisket at that point and killing your bark. That's the whole point of competition right? Bark score. I'd rather let it stall all day and lose that time than wrap and end up with soggy meat that the judges just push around with a fork. A lot of these guys never learn to trust the fire and just panic wrap, then wonder why they get knocked for texture. Ride it out, let the fat render, and you might lose an hour or two but at least you've got a product that actually has some presence on the plate.

felix987d ago

Honestly, "panic wrap" sounds like a new anxiety disorder I didn't know I had.