Is my brisket safe?

[Pooly88]

Hey Folks. I checked my brisket at 3:30am. It was at 167 F internal temp. So I wrapped it and put it back on. At 6:30am I checked it again and it was down to 108 F internal temp because the pellet auger ran and overloaded the smoker with pellets ! So I'm not sure how high the temp got , I put it in the oven to bring it up to 205 F. Now my question is, since it got up to 167 F but cooled down to 108 F, is it safe to eat?

 

[Hockeydudde]

Are you positive the smoker was still at temperature when you wrapped? If so, your wrap created a pasteurized environment, and it want below 140 for much more than 4 hours, and you are going to cook the snot out of it (from a safety perspective).
Personally I'd eat it, but I do have a high risk tolerance (drink raw milk, occasionally eat raw meat, etc). I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[smokerjim]

I say your good to go

 

[texomakid]

I'd eat it but those who know me best have reason to question my judgment on a few things

 

[thirdeye]

Hey Folks. I checked my brisket at 3:30am. It was at 167 F internal temp. So I wrapped it and put it back on. At 6:30am I checked it again and it was down to 108 F internal temp

The big concern with bacteria happens on the surface of the meat, and how fast they multiply before they are killed by heat. The inside of a roast is sterile, unless you did a lot of injecting because the needle can introduce surface bacteria below the surface.

Once the surface of the brisket was >140°F the surface bacteria died. When the internal was >140°F, the internal bacteria died. When you wrapped the brisket you added another layer of protection. And it was a good call to get it into an oven to finish cooking.

I sounds like it could have been <140°F for at least couple of hours so you are fine there. As Chef JJ used to say: "... it would take some Super Powered, Gene Spliced, Alien Bacteria to get into a Closed Oven, through 150°F hot air turbulants of a Convection Fan, through a Layer of Foil and a Layer of Fat Soaked Paper, Land on the Brisket and then Multiply on the 150°F Hot surface of the Beef!"

 

[schlotz]

If you are confident with the probe giving you an accurate IT reading of 167º then the brisket is fine to eat.

 

[normanaj]

P Pooly88 a multi-probe thermometer with hi/lo temp alarm will always keep you from ever having to ask that question.

 

[dr k]

If you are confident with the probe giving you an accurate IT reading of 167º then the brisket is fine to eat.

Bingo! All beef, lamb and pork are safe to eat at 145*F IT but tough cuts at 145 are just beef favored bubble gum or whatever specie. The outside at an IT of 167*F was not only pasteurized it was sterilized awhile ago before 167 IT, being closer to the temp of the smoker for a duration to get the IT that high. If we pressurize can goods to 15 psi to get to 250F IT for a twenty min hold and slowly cool to sterilize the three spore formers, then all intact meat was sterilized on the outside by the time it got to 140 IT with butts, chucks and brisket etc roasts.