* Need Help Please

[bryce]

So I am on the fence with this. We have a very good guide that I myself try to follow when I do cooks at home. The 40 - 140 in 4 hrs rule! However at work we follow the rule of HACCP, and they only talk final cook temp. Not how long it takes to get there and a what temp you cook it. For a pork roast it is 145 degrees. We do steamships and prime ribs and we cook them at 225 degrees and only bring them up to 130 degrees.
Now we also have a rule for everything in the kitchen "when in doubt, throw it out!"
So you have to make the choice you feel is going to best serve you and your guest that will ensure you serve safe wholesome food to them.
I am sorry if i was a bit direct, but you do not have an easy choice to make. If you are this concerned with the safety of the pork. I would decide on the cautious side.

Thanks Chef, excellent information. Things went a bit sideways today with this smoke due to some circumstances out of my control. I'm gald you chimed in and offered your opinion and shared your knowledge and the safety measures you take both at work and home.

Bryce

 

[bryce]

So I take it you got the Mav working? 

I would finish the cook then rest it (if you were planning on that) then fridge it. I assume you were planning on a reheat anyway? 

I thought Pops was online earlier but I'm sure he will chime in later or tomorrow. What time were you planning on serving tomorrow? 

Normally I would just say pitch it but this one sounds really borderline to me and I would really like someone with a lot more experience to give some advice before I tell you to throw something away that might be just fine, that would be a waste. I think you're OK but I would really like some experience to back me up, I don't want to steer you wrong!

I'm about to go to sleep so just finish it and we will get you a better answer in the morning.

Here's the bummer. I got the smoker probe working very well. Unfortunately i stuck the meat probe into the meat and it instantly read a HHH error which i believe is a bad probe right out of the box. So now i'm sitting here using an old fashioned analog meat therm.

Yes reheat tomorrow.

We are serving tomorrow afternoon so no sweat there. We're all going out and then meeting back up at my place for early dinner.

Thanks a bunch. Much, much appreciated!

 

[bryce]

So I take it you got the Mav working? 

I would finish the cook then rest it (if you were planning on that) then fridge it. I assume you were planning on a reheat anyway? 

I thought Pops was online earlier but I'm sure he will chime in later or tomorrow. What time were you planning on serving tomorrow? 

Normally I would just say pitch it but this one sounds really borderline to me and I would really like someone with a lot more experience to give some advice before I tell you to throw something away that might be just fine, that would be a waste. I think you're OK but I would really like some experience to back me up, I don't want to steer you wrong!

I'm about to go to sleep so just finish it and we will get you a better answer in the morning.

Good to know Gary, thank you. This cut came from Western Meats butcher shop. It was an 8 lb'r but he cut it down for 6 lbs for my wife.

 

[bryce]

Here's the bummer. I got the smoker probe working very well. Unfortunately i stuck the meat probe into the meat and it instantly read a HHH error which i believe is a bad probe right out of the box. So now i'm sitting here using an old fashioned analog meat therm.

Yes reheat tomorrow.

We are serving tomorrow afternoon so no sweat there. We're all going out and then meeting back up at my place for early dinner.

Thanks a bunch. Much, much appreciated!

Good news. I got the meat probe to work. Showing an IT of 171 now 9 hrs into it. I'm wrapping with foil now to trying bring the IT up. I think its time.

 

[chef jimmyj]

The Meat was not Injected it was therefore intact muscle. Even at a Low Smoker temp of 160*F the surface Bacteria will have been killed. Get the Pork up to Pulling Temp, pull it and cool it ASAP then reheat to a minimum of 165*F and Enjoy your Party!...JJ

 

[bryce]

The Meat was not Injected it was therefore intact muscle. Even at a Low Smoker temp of 160*F the surface Bacteria will have been killed. Get the Pork up to Pulling Temp, pull it and cool it ASAP then reheat to a minimum of 165*F and Enjoy your Party!...JJ

Chef Jimmy, thank you for taking time to read this thread. Your advice is highly valued. The shoulder is now foiled and the IT is 181 (very slowly increasing.) I will remove from smoker at 200f, cool (fridge?), pull it, then reheat tomorrow for the party.

I take it you're suggesting no rest time?

Thanks!

 

[pops6927]

You're good to go.  I concur with Chef Jimmy J.  It will rest overnight as the internal temp comes down via refrigeration;  heat it back up to 165° or greater to serve and enjoy a wonderful meal!

 

[austinl]

Time and time again on here there are posts relating to defective thermometers.  I'm sure everyone would agree it is 110% worth spending the money on some good ones from the get-go.  When I purchased my latest smoker I already had some calibrated Ashcroft brand industrial thermometers purchased and ready to replace the factory ones before one piece of wood went in it.  I check them frequently against an electronic one that is much easier to verify it's accuracy and they have been instrumental in making the cooking process more pleasant by eliminating the guess-work but also in getting to know how to regulate the fire in a new smoker to maintain the cooking temperature I intended.

 

[bryce]

You're good to go.  I concur with Chef Jimmy J.  It will rest overnight as the internal temp comes down via refrigeration;  heat it back up to 165° or greater to serve and enjoy a wonderful meal!

Thank you Pops, much appreciate. We let it sit in the fridge for a while last night, then pulled it. It was definitley a late night!

Have a good day.

Bryce

 

[bryce]

For what it's worth, we did end up eating this and it was pretty good. Not the best butt we've done however it was still pretty good. It was the largest one we've smoked. We had several things not going for us during this smoke but dropping it straight from the fridge to the smoker was the root cause of low temp in addition to way too much water in the pan. Was a good learning lesson for my wife as she was manning this while i was a work. She did great!

Overall i definitely prefer smaller sized butts...4 to 5 lbs is perfect.

Thank you for everyones help and comments. We really appreciate it.

Bryce