danger zone (40* to 140*)


 
Dwain Pannell

Dwain Pannell

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I have one concern which is developed from other sites and information: some say there is a requirement to move from 40* to 140* (danger zone) in no less than 1 hour. Is this 40* to 140* rule based on surface temp or internal temp?

For large thick cuts I don't think 140* in one hour promotes "low and slow" if it is ref to internal temp. In fact, I've seen some posts here stating they were less than 140* in more than 1 hour.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">some say there is a requirement to move from 40* to 140* (danger zone) in no less than 1 hour. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
There is no such requirement.

See this for more info on the Danger Zone and this sticky for more on these and other food safety issues.
 
The zone can also be 41 to 135 depending on health departments. Washington state did have the hour requirement on reheating but changed it to two hours.
 
41-135 is a political compromise, not a science based range. (The DZ is 41-130.) Still, the Fed codified it so many states and/or health departments use it.

Reheating - which is not the same as cooking - is another issue. There are a few non-science based requirements (like reheating to 165?, for one) but they are fairly innocuous. The 2-hour rule that Konrad notes is in the 2010 Federal Code. It requires food being reheated to hit 165? within 2 hours; if it is ready-to-eat, commercially processed food then it needs to hit 135? within 2 hours; if a microwave is used to reheat is needs to hit 165? and be held, covered, 2 minutes after doing so.

Again, this is for reheating, not cooking.
 
Like many things including safe temps for Pork Washington was way ahead of the feds. 135F on Pork was at least five years ahead of USDA and 2 hours was OK in WA since at least 2008 that I can remember.
 
Dwain,

I've been grilling and smoking and cooking and all such things for a long time. I've cooked and eaten more whole hogs than I could possibly remember. Now I use my WSM to do what I do, and I'm still learning, but I have never given one single, solitary thought to a "danger zone" for meat. My butts go on the smoker usually around 40-50 degrees and I try to keep the temp under 300, around 250 if I can get it there, so I'm sure my butts take a long time to get up to 140, at least I hope they do. I've eaten hundreds of pounds of pork done this way with no worries. It seems like much ado about nothing, although I might get bashed for that thought. I say all's well that ends well. It works, and has always, for me.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It seems like much ado about nothing, although I might get bashed for that thought. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Not by me - but it's two different things, cooking from raw and reheating something already cooked.

For intact meat roasts, btw, like whole hog, but also butts or loins, beef tenderloin roasts and hunks of chuck, among others - as opposed to non-intact meats (like anything ground: meatloaf, burgers, sausage) - and chicken and turkey, it's really the meats' surface temps that are more of an issue because of the unlikelihood of bacterial penetration of intact meats. (One nearly never sees this; internal temps are always the focus.)

With ground meats, sausages, roasts that have been slit or poked to allow marinade penetration, etc., plus chicken and turkey - all these are considered non-intact - and reaching safe internal temps is important. Safety is a combination of temp and time at that temp, as noted in the post at my first link, in my first response upthread.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Washington was way ahead of the feds. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I am not surprised.
 
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