Question regarding the 40-140 rule

[dan ritchie]

Ok, I'm new to smoking as this is only my third time so I apologize for being a newbie.  I'm worried I went past the 40-140 rule but my question is wouldn't cooking it to 160 kill anything anyways regardless of an hour or 2 over?  I don't know if I should be concerned or not.  Also does that rule apply to internal or external temperature I can't seem to find a solid answer to that question.  Thanks, also I am smoking venacin..

 

[SmokinAl]

If you are talking about an intact piece of meat.

Which would be not ground or injected or rolled the 40-140 rule does not apply.

The rule refers to the internal meat temp in the thickest part.

If you have a shoulder & it takes 6 hours to get to 140 IT, that's OK if you didn't inject it.

If you have a loin that has been stuffed & rolled, it needs to get from 40-140 in less than 4 hours to be safe.

If you go over a half hour, I wouldn't worry.

A piece of meat that is intact is sterile inside, but when you inject it, it takes the bacteria from the surface & puts it into the sterile center.

That's why injected meat must adhere to the rule.

Hope this helps.

Also would you swing by "Roll Call" & introduce yourself so we can all welcome you to SMF!

Al