smoked sausage salvage

[kayakyok]

Made a batch of 2 1/2" logs all pork with a commercial "hunters blend" seasoning packet for fresh sausage and added cure #1 since I was smoking.
For a variety of reasons it took me about 9 hours to get to IT 153, the last 4-5 hours bumped the temp up to 170-180ish (a lot of swing in my smoker rheostat control). Took 2-3 hours to climb the last 5-7 degrees. Had 2 probes, one for meat and one for smoker temp. It was late so called it at 153 and cooled off the logs by just removing them from the smoker as outside temps were in the teens. There were 5 logs total and the second rack of three was nearly touching the 2 logs on the rack above. I had the probe in one of the top logs. As they were cooling I noticed the bottom three logs seemed to be noticeably cooler than the other two. By the time I figured this out the top logs were an IT of 116-117 and the bottom logs were 110-111 IT, a difference of 5-7 degrees IF they cooled at the same rate. IF they cooled at the same rate the bottom logs would have reached an IT of 146-148. It was late and they had cooled considerably so putting them back in the smoker or water bathing was not an option.
I'm feeling pretty good about the top logs, but the bottom logs make me a bit "nervous" even though they were fairly warm for a long period of time (pasteurization??).

Going to examine the logs tonight and if the suspect logs seem "done" in the middle was thinking of slicing and freezing, but frying the slices before eating to salvage the logs?
What would you do and\or does this option seem "safe".

 

[fajitapot]

I'd probably seal them in a vacuum bag and pop them in a water bath at 150℉ for a few hours.

 

[SonnyE]

I don't do sausage.
But... I do trust my senses. If it looks OK, if it Smells OK, and it tastes OK....
It might be OK.
And if it gets fried up, I'd think that would kill any concerns.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Not sure where I would go with this. Do you plan on freezing it if so when you thaw and cook it should be fine.

Warren

 

[dr k]

Chef Jimmy J pinned this in the food safety forum about the 40-140 in 4 hour guideline being for meat that is not intact should be cooked at 225+ and get to 140 IT in 4 hours. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/40-to-140-in-4-a-guideline-and-what-to-consider.270191/. You added cure #1 which takes care of Clostridium Botulinum that is spore producing bacteria so that's great and Salmonella and E. Coli don't respond to nitrite and are taken care of with heat and completely die. Since ground meats like your logs are cooked to 160* IT or 158*, on the Beef, pork and Lamb chart those temps and durations are for whole muscle but the at 158* the chart stops so we cook the ground meats to the temp that instantly meets the 6.5D reduction in Salmonella from a little over 3,000,000 to 1 (158*-160*) How long did it take to get to 140*IT? If it was within the four hours even as low as you do sausage you met that requirement and the other five hours + holding above 140* IT and pulling just below the 158* instant requirement needing no hold duration seems like your ok. I have always wondered about pasteurizing ground meat below 158* for a medium burger. So if anyone knows of a FSIS chart to pasteurize ground meat or does this whole muscle chart that shows 158* to be ground meat temp as the only acceptable done temp.

Cooked beef and roast beef, including sectioned and formed roasts,
chunked and formed roasts, and cooked corned beef can be prepared using
one of the following time and temperature combinations to meet either a
6.5-log10 or 7-log10 reduction of Salmonella. The stated temperature is
the minimum that must be achieved and maintained in all parts of each
piece of meat for a least the stated time:
Minimum Internal Minimum processing time in
Temperature minutes or seconds after
minimum temperature is reached
Degrees Fahrenheit, Degrees Centigrade, 6.5-log10 Lethality, 7-log10 Lethality
130 54.4 112 min. 121 min.
131 55.0 89 min. 97 min.
132 55.6 71 min. 77 min.
133 56.1 56 min. 62 min.
134 56.7 45 min. 47 min.
135 57.2 36 min. 37 min.
136 57.8 28 min. 32 min.
137 58.4 23 min. 24 min.
138 58.9 18 min. 19 min.
139 59.5 15 min. 15 min.
140 60.0 12 min. 12 min.
141 60.6 9 min. 10 min.
142 61.1 8 min. 8 min.
143 61.7 6 min. 6 min.
144 62.2 5 min. 5 min.
145 62.8 4 min. 4 min.
146 63.3 169 sec. 182 sec.
147 63.9 134 sec. 144 sec.
148 64.4 107 sec. 115 sec.
149 65.0 85 sec. 91 sec.
150 65.6 67 sec. 72 sec.
151 66.1 54 sec. 58 sec.
152 66.7 43 sec. 46 sec.
153 67.2 34 sec. 37 sec.
154 67.8 27 sec. 29 sec.
155 68.3 22 sec. 23 sec.
156 68.9 17 sec. 19 sec.
157 69.4 14 sec. 15 sec.
158 70.0 0 sec.** 0 sec.**
159 70.6 0 sec.** 0 sec.**
160 71.1 0 sec ** 0 sec.**
** The required lethalities are achieved instantly when the internal temperature of a cooked meat product
reaches 158º F or above.

 

[chef jimmyj]

So the hottest of the logs got to 153 and sat there or higher for a couple more hours, we'll past the 34 SECONDS needed to pasteurize them. Your best guess the cooler logs got to at least 140°+. Again they were at that temp hours past the 12 Minutes required to kill bacteria of concern. If I was to take a guess, I would say you are good to go.
Nice job Dr.K...JJ

 

[kayakyok]

Dr K and chef jim on the same page with you and found the same chart today in a few different places after I made the post. I was really close to being above 140 IT within 4 hours or so and the suspect logs were above 140 for sure at least 3.5-4 hours. Was going to waterbath the suspect logs and had them cryovaced and the roaster filled to recook but was on the fence about "recooking". Talking with my meat cutting partner in crime we decided that those 3 logs will be awesome fried for sandwiches. He had the same problem with his batch stalling and he gave up and cranked the smoker up to 200+ or so to finally get an IT of 157. This was our first try at 100% pork. The texture, appearance, and smell of the suspect logs seemed ok and I couldn't resist and the taste was good :) If I feel a bit ill tomorrow well.....burp
Thanks for the help.