Saw a guy at a Memphis rib joint using a hair dryer on his brisket

I was at Payne's Bar-B-Que yesterday and the pitmaster in the back had a pink hair dryer plugged in next to the smoker. He was holding it up to a brisket, blowing air on the bark for like 5 minutes. I asked him about it and he just said 'It fixes the stall, trust me.' Has anyone actually seen this method work, or was he just messing with me?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianhernandez1mo ago

My buddy tried that once, ruined his bark.

elliot_hall621mo ago

Yeah, ruining the bark is a real risk. My friend got impatient and wrapped his brisket way too early, it steamed instead of smoked. Honestly the whole thing turned out mushy and he was so mad.

miam111mo ago

Oh man, is there anything worse than wrecking a good bark? I did the same thing as elliot_hall62's friend last summer. Got spooked by the stall, wrapped it in foil at like 160, and basically made a pot roast. The outside was just this sad, soft, dark paste. Zero crunch. Tasted fine but the texture was all wrong.