I've been a longtime lurker here, and really appreciate the good advice and friendly conversation.
I'm posting for the first time because I have a question about "The Rule."
I get that there's a lot of flex in getting out of the 'danger zone' in 4 hours when dealing with unpunctured, intact meat. The question I have is, is there also flex in safely going below the 225 smoker temp?
As you can guess, this question comes from a specific situation. Last night, I put a 9 pound butt on at about 10:30 pm and put both probes on the grate. By about 11:30, one probe had settled in at ~245 and the other one at ~220. I forgot to set minimum temp on the Maverick and fell asleep. At 6 am, one probe was reading 210 and the other 190. I went downstairs, adjusted the vents, and stuck a probe into the butt. Internal temp 156. The surface temp came quickly back up to the ~230 range.
So, for some span of time--potentially 5 or 6 hours--the smoker was rocking between 190 and 210 degrees, instead of 225. I plan to pull the butt at ~200 internal temp (it's 183 right now, at noon).
Would anyone have any food safety concerns with this situation? Appreciate the experience and advice.
I'm posting for the first time because I have a question about "The Rule."
I get that there's a lot of flex in getting out of the 'danger zone' in 4 hours when dealing with unpunctured, intact meat. The question I have is, is there also flex in safely going below the 225 smoker temp?
As you can guess, this question comes from a specific situation. Last night, I put a 9 pound butt on at about 10:30 pm and put both probes on the grate. By about 11:30, one probe had settled in at ~245 and the other one at ~220. I forgot to set minimum temp on the Maverick and fell asleep. At 6 am, one probe was reading 210 and the other 190. I went downstairs, adjusted the vents, and stuck a probe into the butt. Internal temp 156. The surface temp came quickly back up to the ~230 range.
So, for some span of time--potentially 5 or 6 hours--the smoker was rocking between 190 and 210 degrees, instead of 225. I plan to pull the butt at ~200 internal temp (it's 183 right now, at noon).
Would anyone have any food safety concerns with this situation? Appreciate the experience and advice.
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