Fire went out....


 
M

Mike Newman

New member
Put two butts on at 10:30 pm last night. Minion method with a full ring of unlit kingsford + 20 lit briquettes on top. It was windy last night, and I positioned the WSM in a natural windscreen in my backyard. Long story short: I checked the fire at 2:30 am and it was running at 250, so I refilled the water pan and went to bed. I checked the fire at 8:00 and the pit temp was 95 degrees. I probed the butts and they were at around 135 degrees. I pulled the butts and am finishing them in the oven at 250 (what a **** shame), and I have a question about food safety:

Am I playing with proverbial fire here? Should I toss the butts and consider it a loss? I don't fancy food-borne illnesses, so I'm considering playing it safe and throwing out the butts in order to prevent a very bad weekend.

Any thoughts?
 
If you continue to finish them in the oven until they hit 190 deg internal - I think that kills anything off that could have got a start.

Do you have any information about internal temps - were they up over 140 deg?

I would probably finish them and eat them, but that's just me.

If you have ANY doubts - toss them. Have a friend with a dog?


Other's will chime in I'm sure.
 
if it went completely cold for a long period i would say chuck it and start over. no telling when it occured. however the meat never reached room temp for a long period.

personally i would continue cooking. when i cook long periods over nite i check the wsm right before bed and at around 3am-ish usually add some fuel and go back to bed.

but whether to serve it or not is really up to you. if your concerned about it just toss it and start over. since you have concerns as you have posted here its gonna worry the **** out of you. your better off tossing and redoing just for piece of mind.

i dont use water becuase of the massive increase in fuel consumption over an empty pan. water leads to having to refuel far more frequently as it requires a large amount of energy to heat that water and keep it hot. i would recomend using a no water in the pan thing or using foil or somehting along that line.
 
Thanks for the input.

I indeed finished them in the oven to 190+, though I can't say for certain that they got to 140+ overnight. For the butts to be at 135 and the fire at 95, it would sure seem like the butts got to 140+ before the fire went out.

I was cooking the butts for a post-fantasy football draft dinner on Saturday evening. I could theoretically try the cook again tonight with two new butts, but I'd be crunched for time tomorrow morning, no doubt.

Such a shame.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike Newman:
For the butts to be at 135 and the fire at 95, it would sure seem like the butts got to 140+ before the fire went out.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yep. I'd eat them too. They will be fine IMO.
 
I would have restarted that fire and exposed them to more smoky goodness until they reached 195 internal. I have no doubts that reaching 190 will kill all the bad stuff and I would rather finish it on the smoker instead of putting them in the oven.
 
Same thing happened to me, I restarted the fire and they were fine. There is technically some danger with the temps that the butts were at, but I'd rather get sick then throw them out.
 
Well, I did a taste test on Friday evening and it was delicious.

I pulled the meat and placed it on baking sheets and moved them to the freezer. Once semi-frozen, I sealed the meat in foodsaver bags, froze them, and then transported them to the lake house and served them Saturday night following the fantasy draft. I boiled a large pot of water, placed the bags in the boiling water and turned the heat off. The meat was moist and HOT, so I wasn't quite as worried as I could have been.

Everyone has full and happy, and so far, no reported cases of intestinal distress.

Thanks for the insight--I'll definitely employ a formal windscreen next time I do an overnight cook in windy conditions.
 
Originally posted by Mike Newman:
I checked the fire at 2:30 am and it was running at 250, so I refilled the water pan and went to bed.(QUOTE)
Just curious, what were your vent settings when you went to bed?
Click to expand...
 
Dave,

I had the them 1/3 open on all three vents--with a full unlit charcoal ring and 20 lit briquettes on top, that will usually keep 230-250 at the bottom grate for me for several hours.
 
Interesting,
I assume it is still warm in the states for the most part?
I think that on a windy day, 20 Briquettes is like trying to snot a seasoned Biker with a wet lettuce leaf.
Its a matter of authority, A few less in the ring to start and "Authorise" the burn with a full or brimming Chimney.
One thing Ive found is that the hot Briquettes like to touch each other so spreading them out too thinly can have them fizzle out before they get a chance to get there mates below all moving along.
 
Not sure about that. I often start with 10-12, spread out.

On the food safety front: THe top end of the Danger Zone is 130, not 140 as is commonly assumed. Since the butts were at 135 and the cooker at 95 it is likely that the meat was > 130 for a sufficient period of timew to pasteurize. Regardless, with an intact meat cut like pork butt, I am not too concerned about internal temp as it is on the meat's surface where pathogen growth is more likely.

There are a few pathogens that sporulate and/or create toxins if present and if meat temps rise but do not get high enough to pasteurize (on intact cuts this occurs on the surface). Sufficient time is required for this to occur, but should it occur, heating (or reheating) the meat temps to high temps will not have an affect: the spores and toxins easily survive. I don't see the much of a chance for this in the scenario described but it is something to keep in mind.
 
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