- Oct 4, 2013
- 255
- 48
I'll try to simplify this story but I'm running a MES30 electric smoker and had a 20lb brisket that I smoked. I used salt & pepper and nothing else. Poked my Maverick ET-732 temperature probe into the flat and popped it into my MES30 set to 225deg (monitored via Maverick probe) for an overnight smoke. It went in about 11pm Tuesday night with the hope of enjoying it with friends at 6:00pm last night. I was concerned that if anything it might be done too early. I even debated foiling for the same reason but decided to foil at about 7:00am (165ish degrees) because I didn't want it drying out. I even upped the temperature to 235-240 range in the early afternoon hoping it would get things going. Well, we had burgers, brats & store-bought ribs for dinner unfortunately. It seemed to take FOREVER through the 180's & 190's and I'm not talking about a standard stall here either. I set my alarm on my Maverick for 203 and went to be at about 10:00pm and it was at 199 figuring I'd be up in an hour or two to pull it out. I was surprised when I woke a couple of hours later to 198deg. When I woke up at 5:00am it was at 193 degrees and I decided I had had enough and pulled it from the smoker and threw it in a cooler wrapped in towels. I just started cutting it after resting for over 2hrs and my initial reaction was that it was overcooked. The flat feels too loose and has a bit of a gray tint to it. The troubling part is the smell. It smells good.... ish. There is a slight taint to the smell and it comes out in the flavor as well. I'm operating under the assumption that either the probe on my ET-732 has gone out (mid-smoke) or should have been re-positioned and at some point was well above my target of 203 degree and that's why it started decreasing in temperature because it started drying out???
So, is this safe to eat? Assuming it was over my target temp and was basically in the smoker for 30hrs. I'm not sure I even want to eat it even if it is safe because most of the beef flavor has been cooked out and it's not the best flavor anyway. It's just sitting on my cutting board right now though awaiting an answer on if I should even keep cutting or just shit can the whole mess and chalk it up to learning. Quick responses are appreciated because of this.
Thanks for the help!
So, is this safe to eat? Assuming it was over my target temp and was basically in the smoker for 30hrs. I'm not sure I even want to eat it even if it is safe because most of the beef flavor has been cooked out and it's not the best flavor anyway. It's just sitting on my cutting board right now though awaiting an answer on if I should even keep cutting or just shit can the whole mess and chalk it up to learning. Quick responses are appreciated because of this.
Thanks for the help!