Smoked Pork Shoulder - Big Green Egg went out overnight

[blewis1041]

Hi-

I've seen this on here before, but not quite where I'm at.  I went to bed with the BGE at ~240 degrees last night around 10:30.  I woke up this AM, and it was out.  The internal meat temp. at 6:30 was 103 degrees.  So, I took it off, re-started the fire.  Can't get the egg below 250/270, but it's internal temp is increasing.  Is this safe?  Is there anything I should be doing now other than watching/waiting?  Thanks.

 

[illinoishokie]

Toss the shoulder. You have no way of knowing how long you were in the danger zone, but it's almost guaranteed to be over two hours.

 

[bigfoote]

I'm not an expert on food safety, but I found this on the USDA site "Bacteria grow rapidly between the temperatures of 40° F and 140° F. After food is safely cooked, hot food must be kept hot at 140° F or warmer to prevent bacterial growth. Within 2 hours of cooking food or after it is removed from an appliance keeping it warm, leftovers must be refrigerated. Throw away all perishable foods that have been left in room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90° F, such as at an outdoor picnic during summer). "  I've had food poisoning before, and I would recommend erring on the cautious side.

I've been smoking on a BGE for over 8 years and I've never had one go out during the night.  I have had the temp lower sometimes on a winter night and increase on a windy night.  When doing an overnight smoke, I first fill the egg with charcoal (lump and not briquettes) and once I have achieved the desired temperature I make sure to check on it after an hour to make sure everything is fine. Good luck.
 

 

[driedstick]

toss it and take your loss

 

[jarjarchef]

Based on the info you have given. To be safe I would toss it or turn it into dog food.

Even when we do large beef steamships we will get to a safe temp in hours. If you have injected it, that is a solid toss it. With injected meats or non whole muscle cuts (ground or diced meats) it is strongly recommended to follow the 40-140 in <4hrs guideline ("Rule" for those that don't like to type guideline). If you have not injected it and it was closer to 5 hrs and at 103 IT, I would use it. But you are at 8 hrs and you were only at 103 IT.

At work we follow a HACCP guideline. You are expected to keep cold below 40 and hot above 140. However there are times that we use time verse temperature and if the product goes into the TDZ (40-140) we have <4 Hrs to use the product.

 

[blewis1041]

Just as an FYI - I should have said that it was crusted this AM, and while the bone had been removed before I purchased it, it only had the probe in it, and there was a good amount of dripping from the meat.  So, I'm hoping it was reasonably cooked.  I did not inject it, slit it, etc.  I only rubbed it and put it on the egg.  However, I appreciate everyone's input, and we'll see how it looks when it hits the temp.