Man I feel your pain, that happened to me two summers ago during a heatwave. My unit died on a Friday evening and every place was booked solid until Monday. I ended up buying a window unit from Home Depot just to survive the weekend while I waited on a repair guy. That little window unit saved my sanity, cost me like 300 bucks but I still use it for the garage.

yeah my first brisket did the same thing, i was pacing around the kitchen like a lunatic checking the temp every ten minutes. thought i totally screwed it up but it came out perfect after I just let it ride. that stall is terrifying the first time, feels like the meat is just giving up on you. i've learned to just plan for it now, start way earlier than i think i need to and have a beer ready for when it hits. nothing worse than an anxious cook staring at a flat thermometer.

Only 20 minutes in?" I would have tossed it against the wall.

That "over an hour" setup time is the real final boss. We tried the app for Mage Knight once, but the guy running the tablet kept accidentally ending phases. Now we just accept that the first thirty minutes of game night is just us sorting cards in silence.

But that delay could be a real fire hazard if something's actually wrong.