Brisket stall at 140??

[vulnox]

Hi all!

I love this site, I have used it as reference for so much, from picking my MES 30, to the AMNPS, mailbox mod, and of course, how to prepare the food.

So far I have smoked steaks, briskets, ribs, candy bacon, etc.  I love smoking more than I ever imagined.

Today I hit an issue that has me concerned and looking for input.  I bought a packer brisket for the first time, my last three or four were all flats from the butcher.  It was a 13.5lb packer and I separated the point and flat before smoking because otherwise it won't fit in the MES 30.  

Point is on the bottom rack, flat is on the second rack.  I started up the smoker around 5:15 or so, and put the brisket in maybe around 5:45am after getting the AMNPS going in the mailbox and the smoker to about 215 degrees (it was set to 225 but wasn't fully warmed).

I have had it cooking since ~5:45am @ 225 and it hit  140 around 9am... and stopped...  The flat has been 140 since 9am, the point has been at 150 since around the same time.  The point has started rise again just now (12pm) but the flat still reads 140 on the dot.  My temp graph for my iGrill is just a flat line.

Every flat I have done before this hit the stall at 160 or so, but never 140.  I opened up the door and added another probe just to get a better idea of the ambient temp in that part of the MES and it says 210-220 depending on how recently the heating element kicked on, so that doesn't seem to be it.  I looked at the brisket and there was definitely some moisture on the top, looked like very small puddles where moisture had escaped and sat on the surface.

So have I just hit an early stall?  I was going to reopen the smoker and try to move the probe but I don't want to keep opening the door and make the issue worse.  I am probably going to wrap it at 1pm regardless of temp if this continues.

Thanks for any input!

 

[daveomak]

Turn the MES temp down to 200-205..... close the exhaust vent.... That is ONLY after you have applied required smoke.....

I apply smoke at temps less than 140.... then up goes the temp and vent is then closed.... always add smoke with exhaust wide open....

 

[curtlow]

Do you think it would do this if the probe was stuck in a hunk of fat?  What if you moved it to a different spot?

 

[vulnox]

I think the probe was in a bad spot (and still is).  I took the probe I was using for ambient temps and inserted it in a different section of the brisket and it currently reads 161 while the first probe I have been using all day says 143.  Maybe it's in an air pocket or something.  I don't like poking a bunch of holes in the brisket or removing things currently plugging holes so I am just going to leave them both in for now.

I unfortunately can't close the exhaust because I also started baby back ribs and they need to smoke.  I wrapped the brisket just recently and the temp is climbing at a steady rate.

Thanks all!  I think the disaster is averted.

Do people usually use two probes when doing a large brisket?  This is the biggest one I have ever done and might double probe any future briskets this large...