Unpopular opinion: I used a hair dryer to fix my brisket stall

I was 8 hours into a cook last Saturday and my brisket just sat at 165 degrees for what felt like forever. In a moment of pure desperation, I grabbed my wife's hair dryer and blasted the meat with low heat from about a foot away for a few minutes. It actually pushed it through the stall and I got a perfect bark, but my wife is still mad about the 'smoky salon' smell in her dryer. Has anyone else ever done something this weird that actually worked?

3 comments

3 Comments

caseyflores22d ago

My buddy tried that with a space heater on his pork shoulder last summer (it was a real panic move). It did push past the stall faster, but the meat turned out kind of tough and dry on the outside, like jerky almost. I'm with pat639, letting it ride is always better, even if you're staring at the temp for hours.

parkert7322d agoMost Upvoted

My cousin did something similar with a fan once. Ended up with a bark like shoe leather. Just gotta wait it out.

pat63922d ago

Call that a win? You just dried out the surface and messed with the natural cooking process. The stall happens for a reason, letting fat render and collagen break down. Rushing it with a hair dryer is a hack that gives you a worse texture, even if the bark looks okay.