The time my brisket stalled for 8 hours at a Memphis contest

I was at the Memphis in May festival last spring, and my brisket hit the stall at 165 degrees and just sat there. I mean, it did not move for over 8 hours. My fire was steady at 250, but the internal temp would not budge. I had a crowd of judges coming in 3 hours, and I started to panic. I wrapped it in butcher paper with a little tallow, cranked the heat to 275, and just prayed. It finally pushed through and finished with 45 minutes to spare. Has anyone else had a stall that brutal, and what's your go-to move?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_burns19d ago

Man, at that point I'd have started talking to the brisket, offering it a promotion or something. Eight hours is a full work shift, I'd have been demanding to see its manager.

vera_johnson920d ago

Eight hours is insane, that must have been torture. My last stall went six hours and I almost gave up. Wrapping and a small heat bump is the only thing that ever works for me too.

lewis.terry20d ago

Honestly that kind of stubborn stall feels like a weird life lesson. You can do everything right, keep the fire steady, and still just hit a wall for hours. Makes me think about other stuff, like when you're saving for something big and the progress just stops for no clear reason. Sometimes you gotta change your wrap, or your plan, and give it a little more heat to finally push through.