BEAUTIFUL BRISKET!!!
Any particular reason this cook took so long other than it was a stubborn piece of meat? Do you think that the water on underneath was preventing the area around the meat from getting to put temps?
Also have any of you found that choice briskets become probe tender at higher temps than prime?
225° is just a low temp and just takes a lo-o-o-ong time to cook a brisket or pork shoulders. The age & breed of the cow/pig, what it was fed, how much exercise it had, etc. all come into play and you just never know.
The only way I know to avoid the stall is to wrap it sooner (after a good bark has developed - which is what I do) to overcome evaporative cooling, and/or increase the temp after smoking (like Bruce mentioned).
RPING----it is my opinion that you do not need a water pan in your MAK. Or any pellet grill for that matter.
I have a different take on this and I'll explain why. I think it depends greatly on where you live and the time of year. Where I live the air gets very dry during the winter months and that's when I notice a water pan/can helps tremendously. I can see a huge difference in the development of smoke ring and smoke flavor. Moisture is needed for nitric acid to form and be carried into the meat, as well as smoke.
Here's the caveat; the extra moisture can only help during the smoke period, so I add a can or pan of HOT water to get moisture into the pit as soon as possible. And in Summer, when the humidity is high, it doesn't seem to make any difference, so I forgo a water pan altogether.
Here are some pics of a brisket cook in the Winter with a can of water added, and you can clearly see a difference in water level before and after the cook.
Click the pictures to enlarge.
Hope this makes sense. It does in my brain but that aint sayin' much!
