Danger zone info

[chef jimmyj]

I saw a post where a member tossed an entire Brisket because his smoker failed to bring it up beyond 140*F after 8.5 hours. Just thought I might clarify the 140*F in 4hr guideline a bit....JJ

 

[DanMcG]

Ok just to add a bit to the good info posted here already. If it's an intact muscle like the brisket mentioned above and it's  not injected,  then the 40°-140° rule pertains to the outer 1/2" of meat I think. (or is it outer 1/4"? little help here old timers  

  )

Actual internal temp doesn't matter in the 4 hour rule, only that you kill the buggers on the outside in 4 hours and of course get the inside  up to safe eating temp when finished.

 

[alblancher]

Chef Jimmy  I have recommended that meat be tossed when,as mentioned by Dan, the outside of the meat may not have reached 140 within 4 hours.  If someone goes to bed with meat on the smoker and 5 hours later wakes up to the smoker out of fuel, chamber temp below 140 and internal temp below 140 I would recommend that they toss it.  Especially if serving to others.  If I am going to eat it I may take my chances but if grandma is going to eat it, no way.

We have had those discussions many times on this forum and it comes down to rolling the dice and how the meat was handled before it hit the smoker. 

Glad to have another safety educated resource on board  Hope we don't overwork you.

Al

 

[Bearcarver]

Chef Jimmy  I have recommended that meat be tossed when,as mentioned by Dan, the outside of the meat may not have reached 140 within 4 hours.  If someone goes to bed with meat on the smoker and 5 hours later wakes up to the smoker out of fuel, chamber temp below 140 and internal temp below 140 I would recommend that they toss it.  Especially if serving to others.  If I am going to eat it I may take my chances but if grandma is going to eat it, no way.

We have had those discussions many times on this forum and it comes down to rolling the dice and how the meat was handled before it hit the smoker. 

Glad to have another safety educated resource on board  Hope we don't overwork you.

Al

What Al said !

Bear

 

[chef jimmyj]

Hello Al, when it comes to the safety of my family or customers, When In Doubt Throw It Out...

I am new to smoking techniques...Is there a situation where you would put a Brisket in a cold smoker and then set the smoke temp to 140*F and keep it there for many hours?

With all due respect, I humbly propose...If all is normal and the smoker is up to say 225*F, for the internal portion of the meat to get to 140*F the outer would have to have been heated to 225*F, or very close to it. The energy would then be conducted to the center of the meat. At 225* this would take several hours, so even if you discovered the smoker out of gas 5 hours later, if the meat is at 140* or even lower, the exterior had to get hot enough to kill anything before they lived long enough to multiply or give off dangerous levels of toxin.

 

[arnie]

I can add too it a bit;

Steaks cut from a process using Meat Glue need to be treated like ground meat and cooked to 165°

Very good point.

I was surprized when I first read about the practice of glueing meat.

If it weren't for the fine folks on this forum I most likely would not know about glueing, Thanks
 

 

[alblancher]

Chef

Many of us use wood and charcoal so there is little control over temps
We need to monitor our smokers closely. If the smoker is left unattended and the temps are out of the safety range when you return you have no way of knowing how long what has been where. In those cases I would probably recommend tossing.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Thank you, Al, for your knowledge and responses. I imagine there can be circumstances where, for one reason or another, you are away from your equipment for an extended period of time and things can go horribly wrong. The resulting temperature reading would be unreliable and we should err on the side of caution and discard the product. Here's hoping that ALL our smokes are without incidence and the results bring joy to us and those we share the fruits of our labor with....Hmm...sounds like the makings of a prayer to the Q Gods!

Take care...JJ 

 

[alblancher]

Chef

Look forward to reading many more of your posts. I have been accused of being a safety Nazi.

Al