That moment my brisket decided to stall at 3 AM, still salty about it

Tbh, I got so caught up in the party prep that I forgot to watch my fire temps on the WSM. Around 3 AM at my buddy's place near Austin, the temp dropped to 190 and the bark turned into this tacky mess. I panicked, wrapped it in butcher paper and shoved it in the oven to force it through. It finished okay, but the texture was off, not the flat-out fail I feared, just disappointing. My question is, how do you all handle a middle-of-the-night stall when you're exhausted and the guests are coming at noon? Is there a trick I'm missing besides just staying awake?

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davis.emma17d ago

...and honestly that 3 AM panic move is exactly what I would do too, but maybe the real issue is you're treating it like a crisis when it's not. The stall is just the meat sweating, it's not broken. I've had briskets sit at 160 for four hours and come out better than ones I babied. You could've just left it alone and gone back to sleep, the temp would've climbed back on its own. Oven finish is fine for pulled pork but for brisket it always messes with that collagen breakdown, you get that weird soft-then-tough thing. guests at noon means you had plenty of time, that thing would've been done by 9 AM easy. But hey, if you need the control to feel calm, you do you.