If you're pressed for time, you can "fast forward" through the stall (like Joe said, around 163) on large cuts by using the "Texas crutch." The Texas what?? Simply put, pull the meat and wrap in heavy foil, or place in a foil pan and cover tightly with foil, and continue the cook. The stall, or plateau in temperature occurs when the fat and connective tissue in the meat begin to liquify and all that juice rises to the surface of the meat. Why does the temp stay steady for so long, or actually go down a bit?...evaporative cooling! Just like us when we get hot outdoors and start to sweat - the breeze will cool our bodies (pretty sure we were designed that way:). Cooking meat is the same. The Smokin-It smokers are pretty tight, but there is still air flow through them (if there wasn't, our wood would not smoke).
Pros to the Texas crutch: Will shorten cook time up to 2 hours on a brisket or butt. When foil wrapped, you'll see the temp steadily climb because evaporative cooling is stopped.
Cons: The bark is not as dry and chewy. One option is to wrap until temp reaches about 180, then finish the cook unwrapped to firm-up the bark. The other option is to just enjoy the flavor and moistness you'll have in your finished product.
If I have a lot of time to kill, I'll let it work it's way through the stall on its own. If I want to shorten cook time, I'll foil. I usually never foil a pork butt.
Here's a great explanation of the stall from amazingribs.com, and one on the Texas crutch, too:
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.htmlhttp://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/texas_crutch.html
