The Stall -- Food Science

Dang you Smokin, Thought I would have an easy day with no problems. I have a butt in the A/Q that has been there 12 hours at 200°, at this time. It’s in stall, 155° for over 4 hours. After reading about the Texas Crutch it is at the perfect time to foil. Now is the time to decide. I had planned on just letting it go as usual to 195°. Decisions, decisions.

If I read you correctly,you are cooking the butt at 200*?

I might consider kicking the cooker up to at least 225*.That should help move thru the plateau and still be plenty lo/slo to break down the collagen and render the fat.

Just a thought,as the rare times we see butts crutched is when way behind schedule at a comp.

OK. I could believe the science...it may be moisture evaporation. Could be that fat and collagen break down during the whole slow cook, and moisture evaporation causes the stall. The important thing is knowing about the stall and how to deal with it.

Tom, I appreciate your input. Yes you read correctly. I do normally cook the butts at 225, today I am cooking this one for the freezer, as I am in no hurry, I thought I would try a lower temp and note the differences. The 8 lb. butt was wet aged for 14 days, injected, trussed, brined for 12 hours, rubbed and in the smoker with a liquid mix in a reservoir, all in search of good Q. Another thing is that I am cooking at a higher altitude than you which gets thing going a little sooner.

I don't understand the term "butts crutched" please explain.

Thanks again, will let you know the results, as I am anxious for the results myself. Decided to go as intended and not foil.

T

Cooking, and the preparation of food in pretty much all food groups or cuisines, is loaded with myth and folklore, and probably none more so than the area of BBQ. What I find interesting here is that two top scientists, Nathan Myhrvold and Greg Blonder, both of whom have many interests aside from their career fields, cooking among them, have independently dispelled the myth that the “Stall” is caused by collagen converting into gelatin. Discoveries such as this aren’t going to end global hunger, or bring world peace, but I find them interesting, nonetheless. Probably because I prefer fact over fiction 100% of the time.

I first encountered the subject when I read an article on it written by Myhrvold about 1 ½ years ago. I later read Blonder’s article which was the basis for the Amazing Ribs piece. Deciding to experiment, I smoked two boneless butts, around 7 lbs. each, until they were both in the neighborhood of 150°F. I double foiled one butt, and left the other alone. I don’t have my notes in front of me, but as I recall, the butt without foil started stalling around 165, while the foiled butt kept creeping along. The other thing I recall was that the foiled butt finished at my target temp of 195°F around 3 hours before the butt without foil finished. The foiled butt had less bark than like and normally get so I broke out the blow torch and resolved that problem.

Since I’ve had the “Stall” factored into my smoking times for so long, I normally don’t use the foil to beat it. However, I need to speed things up, out comes the foil. Like Pags said, the important thing is to know how to deal with it.

Smokin’ and others have mentioned that there is controversy and disagreement about the findings of Myhrvold and Blonder, but I’ve never seen much more than personal opinion. In some cases individuals seem to refuse to accept the fact that what they have believed in for years is incorrect. Kind of like finding out that there really isn’t a Santa Claus. What I have not seen is a rebuttal of their findings based upon scientific findings and facts to the contrary.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.T:
The 8 lb. butt was wet aged for 14 days, i
T

FYI: You're not suppose to "Age" pork, buy it and use it or freeze it as soon as you can.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.T:
... The 8 lb. butt was wet aged for 14 days, .
...T

Don't want to threadjack my own thread, but you can't/shouldn't ever age pork. Every butcher I've ever talked to said don't.

For the reason that wet aging doesn't work on pork (that's why they said).

Now, back to the stall.

If we want to talk Wet Aging Pork, please start a new thread

Not to thread jack, but what do you mean "there isn't a Santa Claus"?!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Smokin'
.....but adding foil to the equations creats more issue than it helps.

AMEN....doesn't take scientists to figure that out....lol!

quote:

Originally posted by cal:

quote:

Originally posted by Smokin'
.....but adding foil to the equations creats more issue than it helps.

AMEN....doesn't take scientists to figure that out....lol!

Cal-I'm curious as to what those specific issues are that you are referring to? Is it a comp related thing or something else? If you don't mind, I'd like a little insight. Thanks.

Yeah more comp related. PM sent.

Good article.... Makes a lot of sense. I had been struggling with my brisket and this provided some more clarity.

Really good info. Had I not read about the stall prior to smoking my first butt or brisket it would have really freaked me out

Sorry about the unanswered "butt crutched"

Foil is commonly known as the "Texas Crutch".

Several reasons it may have been used ,but the oilfield,salvaged pipe to make long,horizontal cookers could leave excess smoke/creosote on big meats,as could long cooks on mesquite without protecting the meats.Areas in the South may use brown paper grocery sacks,others use pillow cases for protection.

To toss in my usual thought,if we watch good cooks/caterers/comp cooks and most experienced cooks doing several cases of butts a day,they don't tend to complicate the absolute simplest of meats to cook-and consistently produce fine quality.

Might be a reason that good cooks only crutch as a "tool of necessity/last resort".

Just a couple of thoughts.

Thanks for the explanation.

"To foil or not to foil that is the question"

quote:

Originally posted by HAC111:
"To foil or not to foil that is the question"

Maybe that's where "Foiled Again!" comes from?