Uh-Oh! I think I screwed up

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ismoke

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Sep 21, 2008
188
10
Independence, MO
So I'm doing a couple beer can chickens, and a brisket today. The only way that the chickens would stand up in my WSM was to put them on the top rack, and then the brisket underneath. Wasn't even thinking. Can I not eat my brisket now? I'm thinking, they were put on at the same time, the brisket obviously will be on longer, so any dripping juice has to get cooked completely - right? Help!
 
I disagree-you won't be fine.How long have they been on? your playing with the health of those that eat that brisket-letting any poultry drip on other foods is a no no.
 
I was going to take it to about 185-190 before I pull and rest...could someone explain to me why the bacteria wouldn't cook out from the poultry juice once it's on the brisket?
 
I'm not sure myself but not to hurt feeling you have 4 newbie's and 1 OTBS so I think if you take advice I would take desert's opion. No hard feeling everybody.
 
Personally I would go with deserts opinoin. But that is just me it is your friends and families health we are talking about what is that worth to you?

No offense to any one
 
Ah, the great food safety issue continues. Imo, if you take a good look at how things cook, you'll realize that any fat or juices will render OUT and not in. When I'm using my Char-Broil or Brinkmann wattburners, I load them up by what will finish last. In other words, the items that will take the longest go on the bottom racks and the quicker cooking items go on the top. iSmoke, I'll let you be the judge of your own methods. So far, we have a lot of opinions, but no actual documentation to back them up. Here's a link that you might want to read. There's no mention of cross contamination while cooking.http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...part/index.asp
 
I've heard this before, and have accepted it in the vein of "better safe than sorry." But, I don't understand it. I could see perhaps if I was cooking rare beef under the poultry, but if I'm doing low and slow out to a pulling temperature, why would it matter?

Electronic forums are 2 dimensional, in that we can't hear infliction or read facial expressions. I want to make it clear that I asked that because I want to learn. I'm not trying to bait up an argument.
 
I've done the same thing in the past. Luckily no one had any ill affects from it. Knowing what I do now, I wouldn't and couldn't in good faith advise eating the brisket.
 
How long has it been cooking and have you separated them? What is the air temp, is it above 212° degrees? Can you pull the brisket and sear it on a hot grill for 5 minutes, then separate it from the dripping chickens? A good sear would kill any bacteria on the outside; it's whether or not it's invaded the inner tissues and how deep. If it's been a couple hours of dripping on it I'd toss it, too much chance of deep tissue contamination, on the other hand if it's only been 10 minutes you should be fine with a good hot searing. Losing the meat is a cheap lesson learned, getting sick is an expensive one (about $350 per person in the ER or so..).

Pops §§
 
I would have to agree with Bob. I have always been taught that you do not cook chicken on the top when cooking other meats at the same time. That being said I cannot find anything on the web that supports this information. Everything I find says to cook to specific temps and you will be fine. Now if you had a primerib on the bottom that you were cooking to 130 then this would be a huge No No. If it was me I would have a hard time serving that to my family.

I have sent emails to the FDA and USDA asking about this topic. I will post more if I get a answer back from them.

Good luck with your smoke.
 
I don't knowingly take foolish chances. But I still don't understand why it's a problem. Your smoker is running at 225~250 (most likely) and chicken is safe at 170~180. The surface of the meat below is going to be close to the grate temperature, and should kill the salmonela, shouldn't it?

That said, I'M not going to be the one trying it first.........
 
Well accourding to Most of u guys I should be dead and most of my family LOL
I guess its up to the person cooking and serving the food But i say if ur cooking ur food at 220 250 those juices are not going to do any growing to any kind of bacteria if it was sitting on ur counter top thats a different story
 
This is a question that has been going through my mind.

I have a weber beer-can chicken holder, it catches ALL of the juices that drip from the chicken, so..., the chicken cooks in it's own juices, ...just like the turkey my mother and grandmother fixed in the oven for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The point being, they took the deadly juices that came from the uncooked bird and basted it with them, and we never got sick, not once, and I'm certain I'm not the only one here that has eaten turkey cooked in this fashion whether it be newbies or veterans.

I'm with BigSteve, I don't want to cause a debate, but it seems that there are millions of people that ate turkeys cooked this way in the 50's and 60's that never were sick from eating the juices that dripped from the bird, personally, I use my injecter and remove the juices from under the fat and make a tasty gravy.

Another thing I don't understand is why put a juice pan or a pan of beans under beef, pork or lamb and then use the drippings to make an "au jus" or to season the beans if the uncooked juices that drip from uncooked meat are deadly?

Again, I don't claim to be an authority, I'm just asking if there is any documented evidence to this claim?

I hope I haven't offend anyone, Gene
 
I was curious and popped many-many keywords and phrases into Google trying to find something about cooking Poultry below other meats. I can't find anything.

I'm hoping BMud gets an answer to his email, beause I'm really curious. Until then, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the more experienced here, and err on the side of caution.
 
This was hashed over, quite thoroughly a while back.

It is safe.

Uncooked meat juices MIGHT lead to food poisoning if the juice gets onto other food and is left to "develop". This MIGHT be dangerous if you eat the contaminated food without cooking it. There is more chance of contaminating your food by sneezing/coughing on it or handling it without cleaning your utensils (including your hands).

The chicken with be done a couple of hours. The brisket will take much longer. Any juices that might have dripped onto the brisket will have been pasteurized by the time the brisket is ready.

I've done three layers of chicken parts with no ill effects. You would think this would be extremely dangerous. Chicken dripping onto chicken. OMG. As long as the food is brought up to at least 150, you're safe. As mentioned before, unless you're cooking a prime rib to a rare state, you're safe.

Besides, I've noticed that the food on the top level receives more smoke than the food on the bottom level. So for me a quick cooking food would be on the top level.

Another point, catch the juices/dripping. There's a lot of flavour there.
 
Hmmmm - interesting situation.

My thoughts are, if you cook the chicken to 165 - 170°, and you are cooking the brisket to 190...cut, eat and enjoy!
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I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I know I've cooked and fed the family for well over 10 years and never had ONE food related sickness issue. Wish I could say the same about some of the restaurants we've been to!

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