The Stall - what do you do (non brisket)?

[Namaxy]

Heya -

Did a cook with some huge Beef short ribs. Dry brined overnight, dry rub, ribs were probably 45F when I started. Gravity feed smoker, Fireboard with probe to the pit, and probe to the largest rib, controlling a pit viper fan. I'm new to using Fireboard - I've used BBQ guru original forever. Analysis is completely new to me, so bear with my newbness. I'm very used to the stall with briskets...I've done a foil crutch, cranked the pit, tied doing brisket in 2 pieces, you name it.

Here is my Fireboard graph. Pit was set to 225, meat to 203. You see the pit come to temp, pit temp drop and fan speed spike when I loaded the pit, then a steady progression with stable pit 225 until the meat hit 153 ish. It was something like 2:30Pm to almost 6PM with the stall. I didn't want to wrap, so around 6pm I spiked progressively up to 250, then 275, and finally 300. The ribs hit temp around 8:30, did a short 30 minute cambro, and they were fantastic.....though at 9 PM. I thought I would serve at 8 PM so I mismanaged the stall, or didn't think things through.




I was expecting some stall, but very surprised how stubborn it was with the short ribs. Looking at the short ribs pre cook, they obviously had a lot of moisture.


Also, Friday here in the Northeast was extremely humid. But still the stall felt longer than usual. I have less experience with beef ribs than most anything else. I plan for and usually manage a brisket stall better than this. Does this seem normal? I had my ball valve, stack and Pit viper locked down pretty tight. Maybe I need to look at the gaskets on my Stumps?

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

looks about on par with the few beef rib cooks I've done at 225 maybe only a smidge longer stall, I do beef ribs at 250-275 now after a 1 hour run at 200 but I have to play games different with a pellet grill for best smoke.

[Richard Chrz]

I tend to run plate ribs at 260-275 the entire cook, often 7-9 hours, I plan for 9, and wrap and drop temp about an hour before they’re done (right around 195) , just to increase the rendering time, and in butcher paper, as my experience has been good with this method, but certainly only one way.

[DaveD]

That looks very normal to me. I always budget 9-10 hours at least for beef ribs, get them on no later than 8am, usually earlier. The stall is a good thing IMO, gives time for all that rendering to yield the ultra tender and juicy outcome.

I see stalls in most things - racks of pork ribs, or butts, chuck roasts...

The FB analysis tool is good but it's an approximation of course. Don't put TOO much faith in it. Good luck!

[realdocBBQ]

Agree with above, absolutely looks normal.

Love the FB, been using it for years and can't get enough of it!

As for analysis of your cook... I think the time is about the right. The stall does seem a bit longer than usual, especially in light of the fact your dino ribs were already separated, as well. Usually I do beef ribs in a single rack, I don't cut them apart. When they're cut like yours were, you should get a shorter cook time and of course, more barky due to surface area. I'm sure you DID get a shorter cook time than you would have earlier, also. If those had been still joined, you would have likely had another couple of hours. I know that seems crazy, but beef ribs especially, for me, seem to take longer than other cuts. I think due to the rich marbling, they render slower (as opposed to just drying) and have always seemed to take for-ev-ER.



Also, just as above - I almost never do 225ºF anymore. I have done dozens, maybe hundreds of cooks over the years, and have tried all kinds of different temps, and have used nearly every kind of smoker - except the gravity feed like you've got, lol. But ultimately, I have come to the conclusion that 'low and slow' is a relative term. For one thing, yes, you did get your ribs on after 1100AM. I always, schedule 8-10 hours for beef ribs - but I also run mine at 250-275ºF, too. Honestly, no way I would run them at 225ºF - especially the way I do them, as a full rack. They would ASSUREDLY take 12h or more. If you're really trying to pour the smoke on, running that way the first couple of hours maybe isn't harmful, but definitely once I get into the stall, I'm turning it up little by little or just all at once.

Imparting energy into the meat is a function of the gradient - the temperature difference between the meat and the surrounding environment over time. When you got into the stall, you had a ΔT of about 72ºF, so not a huge difference between the meat and the environment for the heat energy to transfer into the meat. While cranking to 250ºF or 275ºF doesn't seem like a big deal, it is a relative increase of 33% or 66% in the ΔT over the lower temp. This allows a lot more energy transfer and will cut your stall time significantly.

That's my analysis, essentially the same as my fellows above. Turn up the heat, and plan a longer time, too. I'll agree, the above graph and the length of the stall DID seem excessive to me initially - until I looked at the set temp. When I saw it was at 225ºF, it immediately made perfect sense. So, yeah - experiment with a 25-50ºF degree higher temp on a few cooks and compare them to your 225ºF cooks. I have found, personally, I certainly enjoy the reduction in cook times, and I do not notice a reduction in quality of the meat, or the bark.

Give it a shot!

[DaveD]

Great analysis DFPS! I too have graduated from 225F/107C to 250F/120C as my standard low and slow temp. It's a trivial thing on the Pit Boss, just turn the knob one more step, and for whatever reason, the SnS kettle loves to sit at 250F/120C with very little tending...

[Namaxy]

That looks very normal to me. I always budget 9-10 hours at least for beef ribs, get them on no later than 8am, usually earlier. The stall is a good thing IMO, gives time for all that rendering to yield the ultra tender and juicy outcome.

I see stalls in most things - racks of pork ribs, or butts, chuck roasts...

The FB analysis tool is good but it's an approximation of course. Don't put TOO much faith in it. Good luck!

Thanks! Agreed. Main mistake was assuming that since the plate was already cut at the butcher, it would have been a shorter cook. It was, just not as much as I thought.

Re the FB analysis capability, I don't think I'm going to obsess too much over it. This was my first cook with the new FB. For years it was just the original BBQ Guru, which meant manually checking the pit. It bit the dust and I went with the Fireboard to replace it.

[DaveD]

I love my FB! Having six inputs and the really nice app that does the data plots is great. It superseded my SnS-500, a radio-frequency device with no net capability...

[Namaxy]

Agree with above, absolutely looks normal.

Love the FB, been using it for years and can't get enough of it!

As for analysis of your cook... I think the time is about the right. The stall does seem a bit longer than usual, especially in light of the fact your dino ribs were already separated, as well. Usually I do beef ribs in a single rack, I don't cut them apart. When they're cut like yours were, you should get a shorter cook time and of course, more barky due to surface area. I'm sure you DID get a shorter cook time than you would have earlier, also. If those had been still joined, you would have likely had another couple of hours. I know that seems crazy, but beef ribs especially, for me, seem to take longer than other cuts. I think due to the rich marbling, they render slower (as opposed to just drying) and have always seemed to take for-ev-ER.



Also, just as above - I almost never do 225ºF anymore. I have done dozens, maybe hundreds of cooks over the years, and have tried all kinds of different temps, and have used nearly every kind of smoker - except the gravity feed like you've got, lol. But ultimately, I have come to the conclusion that 'low and slow' is a relative term. For one thing, yes, you did get your ribs on after 1100AM. I always, schedule 8-10 hours for beef ribs - but I also run mine at 250-275ºF, too. Honestly, no way I would run them at 225ºF - especially the way I do them, as a full rack. They would ASSUREDLY take 12h or more. If you're really trying to pour the smoke on, running that way the first couple of hours maybe isn't harmful, but definitely once I get into the stall, I'm turning it up little by little or just all at once.

Imparting energy into the meat is a function of the gradient - the temperature difference between the meat and the surrounding environment over time. When you got into the stall, you had a ΔT of about 72ºF, so not a huge difference between the meat and the environment for the heat energy to transfer into the meat. While cranking to 250ºF or 275ºF doesn't seem like a big deal, it is a relative increase of 33% or 66% in the ΔT over the lower temp. This allows a lot more energy transfer and will cut your stall time significantly.

That's my analysis, essentially the same as my fellows above. Turn up the heat, and plan a longer time, too. I'll agree, the above graph and the length of the stall DID seem excessive to me initially - until I looked at the set temp. When I saw it was at 225ºF, it immediately made perfect sense. So, yeah - experiment with a 25-50ºF degree higher temp on a few cooks and compare them to your 225ºF cooks. I have found, personally, I certainly enjoy the reduction in cook times, and I do not notice a reduction in quality of the meat, or the bark.

Give it a shot!

Thanks! Good advice. I guess old habits die hard. With full plates, or big cuts, I've just started much earlier assuming a long stall. Then given the time and conditions, cranked up the heat at some point, aiming to pull and rest an hour before serving. Meaning 225 to start, then hitting the heat later. Which also means firing the pit at 5AM when I had big cooks planned. As I mentioned above, my main mistake was thinking that since the ribs were already cut would have meant less time...it was less, just not as less as I thought LOL.

I'm definitely going to follow your advice, with more heat earlier. I think a fun experiment would be 250-275 throughout, compared to a 225 start while the wood is really smoking for the first 60-90 minutes, then go right to 275. And certainly with full racks!

thanks again!