Smoker turned off while smoking a brisket

[chef jimmyj]

Oops. Wasn’t quite sure how to attach to this thread, so just replied to the latest.

Thanks for the quick response. No I didn’t inject it, just the salt and spice rub. Also put it on the smoker cold from the fridge. I just don’t think it got to 140 and fear the smoker was off for quite some time before I caught it. The meat and smoker were not hot, as I said basically outside temp which was around 65-68.

What do you think?

You are fine...Intact meat only has bacteria on the surface and they were killed in the first hour. Getting to 140° in 4 hours does not apply to Intact meat...JJ

 

[candytrs]

Hi there! New here. I’m hoping I’m doing this correctly.
I’m hoping you can help guide me. I put my brisket in an electric smoker last night at 11pm. I woke up to find out the smoker turned off. The brisket cooked for about 7hrs at 225. I don’t know what the last brisket temp was. Do I continue to cook? If so, how? I don’t want a dry brisket. Feeding a group of people :(((
Super bummed.
12.7lb brisket - electric smoker at 225 cooked for 7 hrs.

i have sent chef Jimmy a pm as well.

 

[chungjy]

You are fine...Intact meat only has bacteria on the surface and they were killed in the first hour. Getting to 140° in 4 hours does not apply to Intact meat...JJ

This thread helped me save my brisket!!

By the time I discovered that the smoker was off, I guesstimate that it smoked for 8 hours (@225F) and the smoker was off for maybe 2 hours (ran out of pellets). Smoker was @ambient temp - 50F and brisket was @115F , so I was worried.

Cooked 6 more hours (smoker, Texas Crutch wrap and indoor oven combination) and the brisket reached @200F.

It was slightly drier than usual, but still juicy and delicious.
A week later all 7 of us are feeling fine. No issue with the meat.

 

[wheatwife]

Please help! I need to know asap if my meat is ruined. (Do I need to run to the store for an Easter ham now?)
15# packer brisket, salted and seasoned and out of the fridge or 2 hours prior to putting in the Traeger. It was not injected but I did put the probe in it when I put it in the smoker. Smoker was set to 180 super smoke when I went to bed, in at 9 pm.

5 am this morning, the smoker was not working, internal temp of the brisket was 127. I have no idea what the temp ever got to. It was somewhat warm in the Traeger still.

I have set it now to 225 And found this forum (thank you!). Is this meat ruined? I don’t want to give anyone food poisoning!

 

[SmokinAl]

Please help! I need to know asap if my meat is ruined. (Do I need to run to the store for an Easter ham now?)
15# packer brisket, salted and seasoned and out of the fridge or 2 hours prior to putting in the Traeger. It was not injected but I did put the probe in it when I put it in the smoker. Smoker was set to 180 super smoke when I went to bed, in at 9 pm.

5 am this morning, the smoker was not working, internal temp of the brisket was 127. I have no idea what the temp ever got to. It was somewhat warm in the Traeger still.

I have set it now to 225 And found this forum (thank you!). Is this meat ruined? I don’t want to give anyone food poisoning!

If it was at 127 after 8 hours in the smoker then I wouldn’t worry about it. Just keep it going & enjoy your Easter dinner!
Al

 

[gmc2003]

Whole and intact your good to go. Enjoy

Chris

 

[wheatwife]

I am so thankful for this forum! Thank you for the replies and advice, we finished the brisket and it was delicious and we are all fine! If I hadn’t found the insight of others on this forum, I probably would’ve ditched a perfectly good piece of meat. Thank you again!

 

[TNJAKE]

I am so thankful for this forum! Thank you for the replies and advice, we finished the brisket and it was delicious and we are all fine! If I hadn’t found the insight of others on this forum, I probably would’ve ditched a perfectly good piece of meat. Thank you again!

Glad some folks could help out. Drop by roll call and introduce yourself!

 

[schlotz]

For next time something you should seriously consider. Pick up a good wireless probe unit that has a minimum of two probes, one for the grate and the other for the protein. The unit should have an alarm that you can set the unit grate probe to tell you if the smoker goes below a certain temp. Test and make sure it works. If battery operated make sure the batteries are good! This simple addition will help to ensure your overnight smoke. Now you might get an alarm and have to get up to fix things, but such is the nature of the overnight smoke process.

 

[kfair]

Hello, took me about 5 hours to reach 140 on pork shoulder. Unfortunately , I did put thermometer in the from the start. And also hung out right around 140 for a couple hours after reaching 140 due to smoker issue. What are your thoughts? Ok to eat?

 

[dr k]

Hello, took me about 5 hours to reach 140 on pork shoulder. Unfortunately , I did put thermometer in the from the start. And also hung out right around 140 for a couple hours after reaching 140 due to smoker issue. What are your thoughts? Ok to eat?

It's fine. Go to the food safety forum and find the several pinned threads at the top. The 40-140 in 4 hour guideline has you covered and read the others.

 

[seanyjon]

Hey everyone, I messaged jimmy waiting for the reply so figured I mention this here as well. I had my brisket smoking last night at 210 degrees starting at 630pm. My friend who stayed the night went to bed around 2-3am and that was when last checked it and the smoker was still running. I Go out to check at 630 and seems we forgot to add pellets before bed. I’m not sure when the smoker turned off but my guess is somewhere between 3-4am. My brisket is not injected, has a salted rub on it. I got the smoker going again as soon as possible. I haven’t checked the IT of the brisket at all yet so it hasn’t been poked or anything. I’ve got it on 225 smoking now, will be checking internal temps around 9am. Am I good to eat this later should it be safe?

 

[pineywoods]

You will be fine if you started at 6:30 and it ran until 2 or 3 when your friend went to sleep. You did the right thing in getting it going again now just keep going as you planed. Enjoy the brisket and post some pictures of it when you get it done. Jimmy passed awhile back he is missed by all of us.

"You are fine...Intact meat only has bacteria on the surface and they were killed in the first hour. Getting to 140° in 4 hours does not apply to Intact meat"

 

[02ebz06]

Without knowing what the IT of the brisket was when it lost heat, and how long without heat, I don't think you can really say if it is good or bad, only make an educated guess.
My understanding is, if IT was under 140f for 4 hours or more then you are at risk.
If it was over 140f when it lost heat, should be OK.

 

[seanyjon]

You will be fine if you started at 6:30 and it ran until 2 or 3 when your friend went to sleep. You did the right thing in getting it going again now just keep going as you planed. Enjoy the brisket and post some pictures of it when you get it done. Jimmy passed awhile back he is missed by all of us.

"You are fine...Intact meat only has bacteria on the surface and they were killed in the first hour. Getting to 140° in 4 hours does not apply to Intact meat"

Thank you so much for the reply, I’m sorry to hear about jimmy!

 

[pineywoods]

Without knowing what the IT of the brisket was when it lost heat, and how long without heat, I don't think you can really say if it is good or bad, only make an educated guess.
My understanding is, if IT was under 140f for 4 hours or more then you are at risk.
If it was over 140f when it lost heat, should be OK.

Not correct if it was an intact piece of meat the rules are different and his post tells you his brisket was intact.

 

[seanyjon]

Without knowing what the IT of the brisket was when it lost heat, and how long without heat, I don't think you can really say if it is good or bad, only make an educated guess.
My understanding is, if IT was under 140f for 4 hours or more then you are at risk.
If it was over 140f when it lost heat, should be OK.

Yeah I was super concerned too until I found this thread. Now I’m not as concerned, it was cooking at 200 for 8 hours so I imagine it had to have been close or over 140. I could be wrong, it was 13.9 LBS, I trimmed it a little probably like just over 12 pounds total after trim. But it’s intact and not injected

 

[pineywoods]

Yeah I was super concerned too until I found this thread. Now I’m not as concerned, it was cooking at 200 for 8 hours so I imagine it had to have been close or over 140. I could be wrong, it was 13.9 LBS, I trimmed it a little probably like just over 12 pounds total after trim. But it’s intact and not injected

Don't worry about it at all your brisket falls under different rules since it was intact ie you didn't inject it or puncture the meat. I edited my first post below your original post and quoted Jimmy's answer to your question trust me it has come up way more than once lol

 

[seanyjon]

Don't worry about it at all your brisket falls under different rules since it was intact ie you didn't inject it or puncture the meat. I edited my first post below your original post and quoted Jimmy's answer to your question trust me it has come up way more than once lol

Appreciate the quick responses! So happy to know the brisket isn’t ruined :)

 

[RAY_RAYS_BBQ]

First off guys, the 40-140 in 4 rule only applies to Ground, Injected and BRT meat. I spoke to Ajax and the Brisket was Intact. The " Rule " does Not apply. Next the beef was well seasoned with a Rub containing Salt. This goes a long way toward inhibiting Bacterial growth. While the USDA " guideline " recommends smoking at 225, that temp offers a wide margin of safety taking the above non-intact meats and mishandled meat by inexperienced cooks into consideration. Bacteria is also killed at lower temps. Look at Sous Vide cooking where Chicken can be cooked at 149°F for as little as 1 Hour...https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-time-and-temperature-guide ...In an Oxygen Free Bag! The most dangerous Bacteria are Anerobic and only grow or only grow well in low Oxygen. For Decades, it has been common, in Restaurants, to Roast Beef at the desired finished IT. A temp controled oven that holds moisture is set to the desired IT, say 130°F, and the Beef is roasted for 3-4 hours per pound until the IT hits 130°F and the meat is done. Here is a published example using a Combi Oven but 25 years ago I spoke to a Chef that did his in an Alto-Shaam, which is basically a Holding Oven...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010801295.html

Ajax Smoked the intact brisket for several hours at 150-160, the IT reached 122 and Bacteria was killed. Now the Smoker dies. Did every Bad Bacteria known to man see this and make a mad dash to recontaminate the meat? No, not likely...Ajax caught the failure and put the meat in a 225° Oven to finish the cook. In the event that some bacteria made their way into the smoker, they were killed in the oven. Yeah Chef but what about Botulinum TOXINS!?! From the CDC... http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/Botulism/clinicians/control.asp

• Despite its extreme potency, botulinum toxin is easily destroyed. Heating to an internal temperature of 85°C (185°F) for at least 5 minutes will decontaminate affected food or drink.

Should you smoke at 225? Yes, SMF recommends it because it covers a variety of errors, including smoker failures and mishandled meat anywhere from slaughter to smoker, and offers a broad margin of Safety. If you cook Intact Meat, covered with a Salty Rub, at lower temps or the smoker dies for a couple hours will you create the next EPA Super Site in your Smoker? Not Likely! Each situation is VERY different and ALL the criteria and circumstances has to be taken into consideration before a recommendation of " TOSS IT! " is automatically made. There is a lot more to learn about Safe Cooking than just what the USDA Fact Sheets for Home Cooks recommends. The more I study the more I learn...There is no need to Toss the meat...IN THIS SITUATION...JJ

I am a new member here and realize this is a very old thread but wanted to thank you ALL for the information within ... I had this very scenario happen to me last weekend with a rainstorm and power outage.

I placed a 12lb brisket that was dry-rubbed in the afternoon with 16 mesh Pepper, Minced Garlic & Hardcore Carnivore (NO INJECTIONS OR PROBES) on the smoker/grill at 8:45pm @ 200°.

I woke up just before 4am to check things out ... that was when I noticed all the 'flashing clocks' on all of my appliances. I immediately knew the grill was off for just under four hours and went into a bit of a panic mode.
Power outage occurred at 12:45AM and was restored around 1:30AM, so it got a good 4 hours of smoke @ 200° and had a decent bark at that point ... but as I mentioned I didn't wake up until 3:45ish to check on things, so the grill was off for about 3 hours.

I found this thread while in panic mode and it helped ease my mind a great deal, so I simply powered the grill back on and set it to 350° to "catch-up" after the outage. It took about 2 hours to get to 150° ... once I hit that mark, I turned it back down to 225° until I wrapped in butcher paper at 180° IT and then bumped the temp to 250°. From there the cook finished by around 2pm with a probe tender brisket throughout.

I rested in the butcher paper in a foil pan covered with aluminum foil with a cooler full of towels over it until 7pm .... the brisket turned out GREAT and no one got sick or died.

To prevent sleeping through these incidents, I am thinkning of investing in a BT thermometer that has the ability alert me to these extreme temp changes during the cook. Anyone have recommendations on a reasonably priced/reliable BT themometer with audible temp alerts?

Thanks again for the information on this thread ... !