Brisket Stall Planner
Turn weight and pit temp into a stall window
Brisket stall, cook times and planning FAQ
What is the brisket “stall”?
The stall is the flat spot in the cook where the internal temperature of the brisket seems to stop climbing for an hour or more, often somewhere around the mid 150s to 170°F. As surface moisture evaporates it cools the meat, a bit like sweat on your skin, so heat from the smoker is used to dry the outside instead of raising the internal temperature.
How accurate is this stall planner?
It is a ballpark tool. Real-world briskets vary with grade, trim, fat cap, thickness, smoker design, fire management and how often you open the lid. Treat the times here as a planning guide so you know roughly when the stall might hit and how much total time to allow, then let your thermometer and probe feel have the final say.
What pit temperature should I use for brisket?
Many backyard cooks run between 225–275°F. Lower temps usually mean longer cooks with a gentle render; hotter cooks are faster but can shrink your margin for error. The planner accepts 200–300°F and adjusts the hours-per-pound model to match, but low-and-slow still wins for most people.
How many hours per pound should I plan?
At classic low-and-slow temps, a lot of briskets land somewhere near 1–1.5 hours per pound, sometimes more. This tool nudges that range up or down based on pit temperature and gives you a minimum and maximum window so you can plan with a buffer instead of a single hard number.
Does wrapping change the stall time?
Wrapping in foil or butcher paper (the Texas crutch) tends to shorten the stall because evaporative cooling is reduced. The planner does not ask whether you wrap, so it assumes a middle-of-the-road stall. If you always wrap early, expect your real stall to be shorter than the longest end of the estimate.
Can this replace a leave-in meat thermometer?
No. A stall planner is only there to help you schedule your day. Food safety and true doneness still depend on internal temperature, rest time and how the flat and point feel when probed. Always use a reliable meat thermometer and follow current temperature guidelines for beef roasts.
How much resting or holding time should I allow?
Many pitmasters like at least one to two hours of rest/hold time in a warm cooler or holding box. The planner suggests a typical rest buffer window you can add on top of the cook to work backwards from your target serving time.
Does this work for pork shoulder or other cuts?
The model is tuned for beef brisket, which behaves a bit differently to pork butts, ribs or poultry. You can borrow the “stall” idea for other cuts, but for accurate timing you will want a tool or rule-of-thumb built specifically around that meat.
How to use this brisket stall planner on cook day
This planner turns a couple of quick choices — how big your brisket is and how hot you plan to run the pit — into an estimated cook window, a likely stall window and a simple rest buffer. Instead of guessing whether you will eat at 5 p.m. or 10 p.m., you can sketch the day and build in time for the stall and a good long hold.
1. Pick your unit and enter trimmed brisket weight
Choose whether you want to think in pounds (US-first default) or kilograms. Enter the trimmed weight of the brisket you are actually cooking, after you have taken off hard fat and any big hunks you do not plan to smoke. The tool converts behind the scenes so you will see both lb and kg in the summary either way.
2. Set your target pit temperature
Next, type in your planned pit temperature in °F. Many people like 225–250°F in a stick burner or charcoal smoker, while pellet grills often run around 225–275°F. The calculator expects something between 200–300°F and uses a simple hours-per-pound curve that shrinks as temperature rises.
3. Read the cook time range and stall window
Hit Plan stall and cook window and the left column shows an estimated cook window from minimum to maximum in clear “hours and minutes” format. The right column shows roughly when, measured from the time you put the brisket on, you can expect the stall to begin and end if it behaves like a typical low-and-slow brisket at that pit temp.
You will also see a rest/hold buffer suggestion, usually around one to two hours, which you can add on top of the cook time when working backwards from a target serving time.
4. Work backwards from your serving time
Once you know the cook window + rest buffer, it’s easy to do the last step by hand: start with when you want to slice and serve, subtract the suggested hold time, then subtract the upper end of the cook window. That time is your rough “meat on” moment. With a bit of experience on your own cooker you will get a feel for whether you can lean toward the shorter or longer side.
5. Let temperature and tenderness overrule any estimate
No planner can see inside your brisket. Use this tool as a sanity check for the schedule, but still cook by internal temperature and how the flat feels when probed. Follow current food-safety guidance for beef roasts, and remember that most folks serve brisket when it is both past the safe minimum and tender enough to give minimal resistance to a skewer.
Treated that way, the brisket stall planner becomes a stress reducer: it gives you a realistic time window, highlights when the stall is most likely to drag, and helps you build in a proper rest instead of racing the clock.
How the brisket stall planner math works
Briskets are famously variable, so the maths here stays deliberately simple and transparent. The goal is not to predict to the minute, but to give a realistic window you can plan around and adjust as you learn your smoker.
1. Converting everything to pounds internally
Whatever unit you choose, the planner converts the trimmed brisket weight to pounds:
weight_lb = weight_kg × 2.2046 (if you started in kilograms)
All timing estimates are tied to hours per pound. At the end, the tool converts back so you see both lb and kg in the result, with your chosen unit shown first.
2. Hours per pound as a function of pit temperature
The model assumes that at classic brisket temps around 225°F, many cooks see roughly about 1.3 hours per pound on average. As pit temperature rises, time per pound drops. The planner uses a simple straight-line curve between roughly 200°F and 300°F so hotter pits give shorter hours-per-pound numbers, and cooler pits give longer ones.
Multiply that rate by your brisket weight in pounds and you get an approximate midpoint cook time. The tool then wraps a minimum and maximum band around that midpoint to reflect the fact that some briskets finish early and some take their time.
3. Estimating the stall window
In practice, many briskets hit the stall roughly in the middle half of the cook. To model that, the planner treats the stall as a window that begins at about a third of the midpoint cook time and can extend to a little over two-thirds. For example, if your midpoint is 12 hours, the stall might be shown as starting somewhere around 4 hours in and ending near the 8 hour mark.
These are relative times from when the meat goes on, not clock times, so you can use them with any start time just by adding hours.
4. Rest and hold buffer
Once the cook window is known, the tool adds a conservative rest / holding buffer, typically around 1–2 hours. That reflects common practice: briskets often benefit from a long hold in a warm cooler or hot box before slicing, and the buffer also protects you if the cook runs a little long.
5. Safety and doneness
The planner does not guess internal temperature. Safe serving and ideal texture still depend on cooking the brisket to at least the current safe minimum temperature for beef roasts and then to the tenderness you like, usually somewhere in the 195–205°F range where the collagen has broken down. Always confirm with a thermometer; time estimates are only a scheduling aid.
Because everything is kept simple and visible, you can adjust the rule-of-thumb for your own cooker, make notes after each cook, and slowly tune the numbers until the stall planner feels like it was built just for your backyard.
References and further reading on brisket, stalls and food safety
Use this planner alongside trusted low-and-slow and food-safety resources:
- AmazingRibs — Understanding and beating the barbecue stall — deep dive into what causes the stall and why wrapping helps you power through it.
- Texas A&M Meat Science — Cooking and smoking barbecue — overview of low-and-slow cooking temperatures and principles for big cuts like brisket.
- FoodSafety.gov — Safe minimum internal temperature chart — current guidance on safe internal temperatures and rest times for beef roasts and other meats.
- Serious Eats — Texas-style barbecue brisket guide — practical, step-by-step walkthrough of trimming, smoking, wrapping, resting and slicing brisket.
For every brisket you cook, jot down trimmed weight, pit temperature, actual cook time, stall timing, internal temperatures and rest time. Pair those notes with this planner and you will quickly dial in timings that match your own smoker and favourite style of brisket.