The Stall. The Zone. The Plateau. It has many names and it has freaked out many a backyard pitmaster. I know because they email me right in the middle of their cook. Panicky. 

You get a big hunk-o-meat, like a pork shoulder or a beef brisket, two of the best meats for low and slow smoke roasting, and you put it on the smoker with dreams of succulent meat dancing in your head. You insert your fancy new digital thermometer probe, stabilize the cooker at about 225°F and go cut the lawn. Then you take a nap.

The temp rises steadily for a couple of hours and then, to your chagrin, it stops. It sticks. It stalls for four or more hours and barely rises a notch. Sometimes it even drops a few degrees. You check the batteries in your meat thermometer. You tap on the smoker thermometer like Jack Lemon in the China Syndrome. Meanwhile the guests are arriving, and the meat is are nowhere near the 190°F mark at which it is most tender and luscious. Your mate is tapping her foot and you're pulling your hair out.

Sterling Ball of BigPoppaSmokers.com, a major retailer of grills and smokers and a successful competition cook says that "no matter what I tell customers, when the stall hits them, they are horrified. It seems to last forever. They crank up the heat. They bring the meat indoors and put it in the oven. They call me at all hours."

Many pitmasters have long believed that the stall was caused by a protein called collagen in the meat being combining with water and converting to flavorful and slippery textured gelatin. Called a "phase change" the conversion of collagen starts happening at about 160°F. Others have speculated that the stall was the fat rendering, the process of lipids turning liquid. Still others thought it was caused by protein denaturing, the process of the long chain molecules breaking apart (for more about these processes see my article on meat science).

But it is none of these things. It is much simpler, and there is a cure if you want it.

Dr. Greg Blonder, is a physicist, entrepreneur, and former Chief Technical Advisor at AT&T's legendary Bell Labs. He is also an avid cook, a barbecue lover, and the new resident myth-buster here at AmazingRibs.com. He set out to figure out what causes the stall. Boy, did he ever. This is one of the most interesting articles I've ever written, and it solves an age-old question once and for all.

Watch for more revealing articles based on research by Dr. Blonder.