First time I have had a steak stall....

[RonB]

On the menu tonight were two filets. They were about 1.5" thick and I front sear while flipping about every 30 sec and when I get the crust I want, I cook low until they reach 140°. It normally takes about 40 min total until done. Things proceeded normally until they reached 131°. It then took about 20 min for them to reach 135°, and total cook time was an hour. Sides were ready on time, so we ate them while hot.

They wound up with a grey band a bit wider than I expected and mine was a bit dry. My wife said hers was really good.





Well, the grey band is not showin' in the photo. It must have been better than I thought...

Anyone else ever have a steak stall?

[HawkerXP]

Not that I know of. That looks really good to me.

[Jfrosty27]

Never heard of that. But your steak looks perfect in the photo. I’d eat that anytime.

[bbqLuv]

Nope,

[Steve R.]

I don't think that qualifies as a stall. Maybe a little too low and slow?

[RonB]

Pit temp was about 250° and, at one point , the steak's temp dropped a degree.

[Steve R.]

RonB, that was my first and only guess. Strange, indeed. Great looking results, though!

[Stuey1515]

What Steve said

[Uncle Bob]

Since your bride got the better of the two at least one thing went your way.......................

[AudreyQC]

About the stall, the only time I seem to experience it, is when the outside temperature is low. I was cooking ribs the other day, the same way I always cook them; at 250-275 on a charcoal grill with smoke from wiskey barrell chips.

At one point, the inside temperature stalled at 75 (I was reaching for 95) and it never went higher. The outside temperature was kind of cold (don't remember what it was exactly, but mid-september in Quebec can be cold).

When the inside temp started to go down, and the boyfriend started to complain, I tried to push the charcoal temperature higher to quickly get it over with. The result was disapointing : final Inside temp was 80, meat was kind of rough but easily tear from bones.

I then realize that I had a similar experience during another cold cooking day.

Can it be linked? Is there a way to prevent that? Apart from moving to warmer climate

[RonB]

You can try insulating your cooker with a welder's blanket. That might help, but it could just be a coincidence... Maybe someone else will chime in.

[JGo37]

I'm thinking you had a really moist cut, and the meat stalled while the fluids evaporated. This happens to all cuts, but we don't notice when it's only for a few minutes. We notice when it's a big cut and the stall is in hours.

As to smaller cuts, the stall - if you watch for it carefully - will be measurable if the cut is highly marbled. Fats will liquify, and when the liquid fats start to evaporate a stall will occur until the loss of liquids is such that the evaporation doesn't offset the cooking and temps start to climb again..

Sometimes it's for a moment only, sometimes its seems like it's all day. In the case of a thick steak, you're about to pull that steak off soon and dig in anyway. This is a cut I'd let sit for a bit before eating, to let juices redistribute. Normally, like Meathead recommends, I don't wait to eat.

[NoCo Griller]

Very good points made! Some other basics:
- Are you letting the meat get to room temp before cooking?
- Only flip a steak once - don't keep flipping.
- Reverse sear recipes produce success on thick cuts.
You didn't go hungry so sounds like a success!

[RonB]

Sorry NoCo Griller but I'm gonna disagree with you. Letting the meat come to room temp lets it cook too fast making it more difficult to get a good sear. And when
you let a steak cook on one side too long, you get a wider overcooked, (grey), band. Look closely at the photo above - there is hardly any grey band. One more point - I front sear for better control of the finished product temp...

[JGo37]

I wasn't going to say anything, but since RonB you did - the colder the meat is when put to cook, the more smoke it grabs up front. I don't know if front searing changes that; I'll try it sometime. And we could have an encyclopedia of arguments for and against flipping. I've made plenty of steaks come out just right by flipping more than once.