Help Please - My overnight smoke went out!


 
M

Mickey Rye

New member
Hello Fellow Smokers,

I am still new smoking and need some help!

I decided (at the last minute) to throw on a couple of pork shoulders and smoke them overnight (for the first time). I got the temp to 225, put the shoulders in, checked an hour later and the heat was steady. I confidently went to bed and woke up at 4:30am to check things out and the smoke was out and the meat cold... Not sure what happened, it was cold and raining out, not sure if that was the issue, i havent really investigated yet because my big concern is... What do I do now?

Of course I don't have any more charcoal left and nothing is open at 5am... So I dumped the shoulders in the slow cooker and I am hoping for the best...

Is the meat still good? Will it turn out considering it cooled down halfway through?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks
 
This is my worst fear. Maybe using a wireless thermometer which can alert you when the temp drops below a predetermined setpoint would help in future cooks.
 
Did you use the minion method with your coals? If you do the coals like the weber instruction manual states, they will burn out a lot faster than using the minion method.

Wayne
 
Mickey, what type of smoker do you have? Is it a WSM? Is yes, what size. If also yes, did you fill the charcoal ring? I usually don't scrimp on the amount of charcoal. Per pound, it's a lot cheaper than meat. I'd rather waste a little bit of charcoal verses risk ruining the meat. Once the cook is done, shut the smoker down. If you manage to save some unburned all the better.
 
I'm late on this one but I would have gone with the oven as mentioned without worry. Take it as a learning experience. Always have enough fuel for a relight. Maybe invest in a remote therm if you plan on longer smokes, especially overnight.

Butts are pretty resilient. I'm sure they were (are) fine.

I took your question as a "What do I do RIGHT NOW?" The oven is always your friend and it lets you get a few hours of sleep without worrying about rebuilding a fire in the event of a problem.

For future as noted above, if you didn't use the minion method, go that route. Also, cool and rainy is less challenging than windy. Plan your cooks accordingly.

Finally, I've determined that there are smoke gremlins that sometimes impact a cook. I use a Stoker for overnighters and still get the odd flame out. Don't sweat the gremlins, just take a breath and rescue the meat. That said, it's always nice to rescue a cook and still turn out great product. Call it The Smokers High :)
 
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Ya, oven at 225. Check it as usual (bone pulls out easily); probably be around now you'd be checking. You have (probably) enough smoke on it from your first few hours so that's not a concern. Tell us the outcome after the crock pot.
 
I have a crappy electric oven that probably cycles 20F either side of set temp so I'm generally setting it at 250F. That's one of the strangest things for friends to understand since people expect an oven to hold a stable temp over time. Gas ovens are much more responsive, just like a grill but BBQ doesn't really require perfect temps.
 
Great advice above. Plenty of fuel, remote read thermometer with alarm, minion method, even finish in the oven if required -- all good practice.

However, I am not the food safety police, and I realize I'm a bit late to the party, but I think it should be said that the longer the meat surface stayed in the danger zone (between 40*F and ~140*F) the more dangerous this situation becomes.

I recommend reading Kevin Kruger's food safety compilation thread. http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?39803-The-Kruger-Safety-Compilation-v0-1. In that link there all kinds of topics. One is "Temp dropped overnight, is it still safe?"
 
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I'm on that fence with you Dwain. What if my cook pooches mid-way while I sleep and I don't notice until I wake up? What temp did it get to? When did the fire go out? How long has it been sitting in the Danger Zone. Can I just throw it in the oven? From my online (lol) research, we have a fairly safe window with pork and beef. I'd have a problem with chicken. Probably toss a great looking bird out just in case. Since we're basically "overcooking" the meat, we hold it well over 141F for quite a while. This should kill any bad bacteria that might have grown during a rest. All of that said, use your instincts and go with your gut lol.
 
My sister works with microbes for her work and told me that it is actually the poisonous excretions from some bacteria that are harmful not just the bacteria themselves, so over cooking will not be safe in all situations.
 
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