Smoker turned off while smoking a brisket

[tcgsimon]

I woke up to a similar problem with my brisket this morning, however, I had injected the brisket. I was smoking the meat for roughly 4 hours at 180, turned it up to 195 around 3:30am (internal temp was showing only around 100), went back to sleep. At 5:30, I noticed the smoker had turned off. Smoker maybe around 115, internal temp around 127, not sure how high it got.... I've got it going at 225 now... is it ruined?

 

[Bearcarver]

I woke up to a similar problem with my brisket this morning, however, I had injected the brisket. I was smoking the meat for roughly 4 hours at 180, turned it up to 195 around 3:30am (internal temp was showing only around 100), went back to sleep. At 5:30, I noticed the smoker had turned off. Smoker maybe around 115, internal temp around 127, not sure how high it got.... I've got it going at 225 now... is it ruined?

I'll let "ChefJimmy" tend to this---I seem to get a lot of these wrong:
However Smoking a Big hunk of meat at 180° smoker temp is too low, especially since you injected it. Internal should be around 135°-140° by the end of 4 hours, instead of just 100°. I wouldn't be going back to sleep at that point. But maybe that's just me.

Bear

 

[tcgsimon]

I've done it this way for a while, but never had a smoker malfunction, and thus never had it under 140 for so long... I PM'd chef jimmy as well. Not sure what happened or if I need to move to plan B today for some friends coming over.

 

[SmokinAl]

I woke up to a similar problem with my brisket this morning, however, I had injected the brisket. I was smoking the meat for roughly 4 hours at 180, turned it up to 195 around 3:30am (internal temp was showing only around 100), went back to sleep. At 5:30, I noticed the smoker had turned off. Smoker maybe around 115, internal temp around 127, not sure how high it got.... I've got it going at 225 now... is it ruined?

This is definitely one for JJ, but if you injected it & smoked it at such a low temp, then I would not take a chance. It sounds like a very risky position to be in. If it were me I would not eat it. But as Bear says, we often get these things wrong & JJ can give you a definite answer that you can rely on. But until you hear from him, I would not eat it. Keep cooking it, but wait to hear from JJ.
Al

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I'm with Al on this; when you inject it, it's really better to err on the side of caution. Even when you sterilize the injector needle etc, it's still opening a direct route to the interior.

Ultimately though listen to JJ, and if this is a 'well I need to toss it or serve it to the hangry relatives in an hour' err on the side of caution and don't serve it. <It's one thing to risk our selves, it's another to risk others>

 

[tcgsimon]

Yup, I appreciate the input guys. I will probably toss it. I'll keep cooking until JJ weighs in. Or if I don't hear in an hour, I'll change up and start something else on the smoker.

Thanks!

 

[SmokinAl]

I PM'd JJ too, so just give it a while, he is usually on, on the weekends frequently.
Even if you start something else, don't toss the brisket until you hear from JJ.
You can always order pizza in a pinch!
Al

 

[tcgsimon]

I PM'd JJ too, so just give it a while, he is usually on, on the weekends frequently.
Even if you start something else, don't toss the brisket until you hear from JJ.
You can always order pizza in a pinch!
Al

Thank you my friend. I was just looking at your Perfect Ribs and think that might be my plan B and I should have just enough time, but might not get the full 2 hours of rub fridge time.

 

[chef jimmyj]

UNLESS...The Brisket was rinsed AND you rubbed it with SPOG or a salty rub, your risk is high. If your injection was salty or acidic, wine, fruit juice, Soy Sauce, etc., that mitigates some risk.
Bottom line...You are feeding GUESTS, get Ribs or order Pizza. Sorry...JJ

 

[tcgsimon]

Yes, thank you very much for the response. I went that route just before you posted and played taps for the brisket. Better safe than sorry, even if it did look like an amazing piece of meat. :) Live and learn and I'll put a secondary temp sensor on. I normally do, but I got a new Traeger for father's day and it had one built in. Unfortunately, the system crashed so the probe was not working... One thing at a time I suppose.

Thank you ALL very much for sharing your wisdom on the matter.

 

[Sharahso]

Chef Jimmy got back to my PM. Thanks!

What happend to your cook? Have the same problem. Slept at 1:30am with the charcoals still burning. IT before i slept was 160, wrapped it already for around 30mins then refilled my coals and went to sleep. I got up at 4:30am to check the meat cause the coals should burn for 6hours but i think one of the coals i setup was wet and it just stopped burning. IT AT 4:30am was 125-130f. Is it still safe to finish it? I think coals stopped burning at around 2:30am so i got 2 hours of unattended meat. Could anyone give me a tip on this?

Btw, i am smoking a 13pound srf gold wagyu brisket seasoned it with only salt and pepper, sprayed it with apple cider, water, chili powder, and some salt mixture. Grill temp was 225-250 since 5pm-1:30am before i slept, maintained a clean smoke the whole afternoon and night. Just rested for 3 hours it is for a family gathering this lunch (it’s 6:51am now and my temp is back at 250-275f and internal temp of meat is back to 140-160f) i was supposed to finish at 6-7am

 

[Sharahso]

What happend to your cook? Have the same problem. Slept at 1:30am with the charcoals still burning. IT before i slept was 160, wrapped it already for around 30mins then refilled my coals and went to sleep. I got up at 4:30am to check the meat cause the coals should burn for 6hours but i think one of the coals i setup was wet and it just stopped burning. IT AT 4:30am was 125-130f. Is it still safe to finish it? I think coals stopped burning at around 2:30am so i got 2 hours of unattended meat. Could anyone give me a tip on this?

Btw, i am smoking a 13pound srf gold wagyu brisket seasoned it with only salt and pepper, sprayed it with apple cider, water, chili powder, and some salt mixture. Grill temp was 225-250 since 5pm-1:30am before i slept, maintained a clean smoke the whole afternoon and night. Just rested for 3 hours it is for a family gathering this lunch (it’s 6:51am now and my temp is back at 250-275f and internal temp of meat is back to 140-160f) i was supposed to finish at 6-7am

Update: brisket went really really well for first cook! Thank you for everyone who helped!!

 

[Spiky Pirate]

Hello all.
I had the same scare this morning with my Camp Chef pellet grill. This is my 5th brisket to smoke on it and have been loving it. I put a 15lbs. brisket on last night around 10PM, checked the hopped, set it to 225 high smoke and went to bed. I woke up just before 5AM and was surprised to see "FLAME" on my displayed, smoke not running...nearly started to cry, lol. I checked the internal temp. and was at 150. so I restarted and started my research. I used kosher salt along with some other spices and some brown sugar, so I hope all is well. Any helpful insight would be great.
Great discussion here all, Thanks.

 

[Bearcarver]

Hello all.
I had the same scare this morning with my Camp Chef pellet grill. This is my 5th brisket to smoke on it and have been loving it. I put a 15lbs. brisket on last night around 10PM, checked the hopped, set it to 225 high smoke and went to bed. I woke up just before 5AM and was surprised to see "FLAME" on my displayed, smoke not running...nearly started to cry, lol. I checked the internal temp. and was at 150. so I restarted and started my research. I used kosher salt along with some other spices and some brown sugar, so I hope all is well. Any helpful insight would be great.
Great discussion here all, Thanks.

IT at 150°--No problem!

Bear

 

[lKnoXl]

I had a similar problem as the OP. I put a 11LB Brisket with a salt and pepper rub on my pellet smoker set at 225F at around 10:15. I know I still had temp at 225 an hour later, but don't know what the meat temp was even though I made the rookie mistake of having a probe in from the start of the smoke. I went to sleep, and I can see on my security camera that sometime after the flame went out and the grill was cold by 12:15. I woke up at 2 and noticed this and the meat temp was at 105F. I had the grill re-fired by 2:10 and the meat was at 140 by 3:45. I'm just wondering what my risk is here and how safe this is to serve at this point. Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[Bearcarver]

I had a similar problem as the OP. I put a 11LB Brisket with a salt and pepper rub on my pellet smoker set at 225F at around 10:15. I know I still had temp at 225 an hour later, but don't know what the meat temp was even though I made the rookie mistake of having a probe in from the start of the smoke. I went to sleep, and I can see on my security camera that sometime after the flame went out and the grill was cold by 12:15. I woke up at 2 and noticed this and the meat temp was at 105F. I had the grill re-fired by 2:10 and the meat was at 140 by 3:45. I'm just wondering what my risk is here and how safe this is to serve at this point. Thanks for any advice in advance.

Sounds OK to me!!
Your total time from 10:15 to 3:45 was 5 1/2 hours, including all the ups & downs.
You could check with @chef jimmyj for confirmation, because I've been wrong before on these.

Bear

 

[lKnoXl]

Sounds OK to me!!
Your total time from 10:15 to 3:45 was 5 1/2 hours, including all the ups & downs.
You could check with @chef jimmyj for confirmation, because I've been wrong before on these.

Bear

Thanks so much. I've gone with it. For science. I'll follow up with how it goes.

 

[lKnoXl]

Thanks so much. I've gone with it. For science. I'll follow up with how it goes.

Two days later and everyone's alive. Brisket was great. Thanks.

 

[Bearcarver]

Two days later and everyone's alive. Brisket was great. Thanks.

That's Great !!
Did you post it?

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

That's Great !!
Did you post it?

On Edit---I see you didn't post it, so "Get The Next One".

Bear