ET-73 failed on overnighter


 
F

Frank M

TVWBB Member
Good morning fellow Super Bowl overnighters... regular reader, infrequent poster here.

I started two pork butts yesterday afternoon in anticipation of serving them up mid-day today. My brand new ET-73 was working great all afternoon and evening (or so I thought), and I went to bed with alarms set confident that all would be well.

I woke up 1/2 hour ago to my ET-73 reading "---". I immediately went outside to find my bullet limping along at a grate temp of around 175°. Meat temp was around 165°.

My question is, is my meat still OK? Naturally I've stoked my few reamaining coals and I have a chimney lighting as I type to further help bring the temp back up. But I want to be sure my meat is OK having sat all night at a temp of around 165°.

Thanks,
Frank
 
Frank
The meat should be fine. the board of health here says one hour at 140F and then it has to go. Doesnt sound like you got anywhere near that low.

Art
 
Got to love that pulled pork. Your temps were high enough to keep it safe, as long as your adding hot coals, go for it. IMHO your OK.
DP
 
Thanks Arthur & Dale.

Glad to know my meat's still safe. But what about the eating quality now? I'm afraid of it coming out dry. Is there anything I should do from this point on differently from normal?
 
It a sustained surface temp of 140 or less that's a concern, not the internal. You're fine there. No, nothing different needs to be done. Carry on as usual. It seems like your receiver lost its connection to the transmitter which happens to mine periodically, even with fresh batteries.
 
A question or two I should have asked: Do you remember what the internal was before you went to bed? And, how much time elapsed between then and when you checked this morning?

I would only be concerned about overcooking if there was a chance the butts reached (and possibly passed) your target temp while you slept and then dropped in temp as the night wore on. If there was a chance of that, get your hands in there now, feel the meat, tug on the bone, twist a fork in--you'll know if they finished already. If there wasn't a chance of that, or if you manually check them and they're not done, leave them alone. It's unlikely dryness will be an issue.
 
Frank,

Don't worry about it. K Kruger knows what he's talking about.

I don't know a whole lot about pork but I've been in your situation w/beef many times (before I got my guru) and things turned out fine.

As far as whether it comes out dry or not... I believe there's a little know passage in one of the unwritten books of scripture that may provide you some comfort.

From the Book of Condiments if I'm not mistaken.. And on the eigth day he created BBQ Sauce.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by K Kruger:
A question or two I should have asked: Do you remember what the internal was before you went to bed? And, how much time elapsed between then and when you checked this morning? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The meat temp was right around the same when I woke up as it was when I went to bed... 165 or so. It was around 1:00 AM when I went to bed and around 7:00 when I woke up. I don't see any possible way the meat reached 195 and came back down to 165 during that span.

Thanks for the reassurance, everyone!
 
Frank as others have stated your internal has been high enough that you should not worry. Something to think about with butt, if it was a bone out butt and you rolled it back up then the interior of the butt would have bacteria to consider that you don't have with bone in. If the internal had dropped below 140 and you had no idea how long it had been back in the danger zone then tossing it may have been the right choice.
Jim
 
At least the lack of communication with the NuTemp will self restore, unlike the ET-73's turn on sequence in proper order.
 
How did your ET-73 fail Frank? What was displayed on both the receiver and the transmitter when you awoke?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim Minion:
Something to think about with butt, if it was a bone out butt and you rolled it back up then the interior of the butt would have bacteria to consider that you don't have with bone in. If the internal had dropped below 140 and you had no idea how long it had been back in the danger zone then tossing it may have been the right choice.
Jim <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Very true. Anytime something that is normally internal becomes external and then internal again under less-than-correct conditions (which might be the case with a boned butt, boned leg of lamb, ground meat, etc.), there is the potential for bacterial development internally.
 
OK -- I am confused. If a butt is heated to 165 and then drops back below 140, what is the problem? At 165, have not all the bacteria been killed?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shawn W:
How did your ET-73 fail Frank? What was displayed on both the receiver and the transmitter when you awoke? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Shawn,

The transmitter displayed the alternating probe temps, and the receiver displayed "---" for both temps. I'm assuming this is what it displays if it loses communication with the transmitter?

ET-73 owners... since this thing is brand new (this is the first time I've used it), is it defective?
 
OK, it's about 3:15 and the butt on the top rack just hit 195. I pulled them both, foiled them, wrapped each in an old towel, and dumped them in a cooler for about an hour. They both looked nice and moist, and were falling apart as I lifted them off the grates. Looks like I dodged a bullet (no pun intended). Thanks again, everyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top