15lb Brisket on a WSM question.

[DaveW]

For starters, 11pm to just before 3 am is within the 40 to 140 in 4 hrs rule, so it's all good. Second, 40-140 in 4 rule doesn't really apply to intact pieces of meat, which is what a brisket is.

 

[DBWallis]

I once got food poisoning eating someones home cooked pork ribs and it was one of the nastiest experiences! I am always a little over cautious haha

I know cooking kills bacteria but I am going with the United States Department of Agriculture and USDA.gov food safety standards where they say not to leave uncooked food at room temp for more than two hours...

I am sure they are way over cautious and beef is a little more forgiving then pork or chicken but I would rather be safe than sorry. I know I am food paranoid!

Chris: if you see this, do we have a food safety section on the website? I looked but with so much info I could of easily overlooked it!

There's a difference between uncooked food that will be eaten raw, and uncooked food that will be cooked to a high enough temp to kill bacteria.

Slabs of meat are also significantly less likely to pose a risk, as opposed to something like ground meat, where any contamination is likely to be spread throughout the product.

Still, the less time any food is left at room temperature the better, but I wouldn't worry too much about a brisket left out for a few hours before cooking.