Need HELP!! Do I have to throw my pork away?

duffg · March 2012

I started the fire and had it stabilized at around 230 degrees. I put a 10lb shoulder butt on at 8 pm and checked the temp a few times before going to bed at 10pm. It rained like crazy last night. I did have an umbrella covering the egg but when I woke up this morning the fire was out. I think the bottom damper was closed to much. Anyway, the temp of the pork is around 95 degrees. I assume I have to throw it away rather than continue the cook???

Mickey · March 2012

I would. Just not worth it (IMO).

duffg · March 2012

thanks. what a waste, think i had the lower damper closed too much. oh well, live and learn.

Mickey · March 2012

Plenty of time to run to the store and do a turbo butt today.

duffg · March 2012

I've never tried it. Cook at 350 degrees and figure about an hour per pound?

Mickey · March 2012

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1137430/turbo-butt-success-and-pic#Item_6

IrishDevl · March 2012

Why throw it out, nothing is wrong with it, just light egg and keep going. Seriously, you cooked it some and all the smoke - nothing would grow on it.

duffg · March 2012

I don't know how long its been sitting. Guess i'm afraid to get sick.

Doc_Eggerton · March 2012

My two cents, I would resume the cook. Maybe get a higher core temp at the end. Not perfect, but not completely wasted.

IrishDevl · March 2012

Duffg, it is no longer than 12 hours so there is nothing wrong at all. You could leave it far longer than that and no issue. You at least got two hours of smoke on it - you could leave it two days and be fine. I would get back on it, you will have no issue.

IrishDevl · March 2012

I had the same thing happen to me once and the butt came out fantastic.

cortguitarman · March 2012

For what its worth, when we shoot deer, we skin and leave them hang outside for 3 days.

duffg · March 2012

Thanks for input IrishDevl and cortguitarman. Good point on the deer meat. I will keep you posted.

duffg · March 2012

Thanks for the link Mickey.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · March 2012

No way. I've done it several times when learning. The meat is fine. Restart the fire and finish the cook. There is a zero % chance of food Bourne illness if you finish the cook properly. All my cooks turned out great when having to restart so go for it.

Chubbs · March 2012

Meat is fine. @Stike will be here soon to discuss bacteria!!! Throw it back on and wait for the food doctor. ;)

IrishDevl · March 2012

I think stike has an iron stomach, what would cause death to a normal person probably just gives stike gas.

forty_crk · March 2012

Exact same issue this AM. I put a butt and brisket on last night. Put meea on at 10PM went to bed at 2AM....first time w/ bbq guru just double checking everything every 30 minutes. I know, I know...bbq guru set it and leave it...first time using it and I just wasn't comfortable leaving it. Well the wife left at 530 AM and the pit was at 195. I had set the guru to ramp. I meant to get up but I feel back a sleep. I got up at 8...meet temp 115. I relite the egg. Just gonna do like suggested over cook internal temp a bit.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · March 2012

Exact same issue this AM. I put a butt and brisket on last night. Put meea on at 10PM went to bed at 2AM....first time w/ bbq guru just double checking everything every 30 minutes. I know, I know...bbq guru set it and leave it...first time using it and I just wasn't comfortable leaving it. Well the wife left at 530 AM and the pit was at 195. I had set the guru to ramp. I meant to get up but I feel back a sleep. I got up at 8...meet temp 115. I relite the egg. Just gonna do like suggested over cook internal temp a bit.

Don't overcook it! It's totally safe.I'm serious, there is a zero percent chance of food bourne illness if you finish the cook at normal temps. Nothing can live over 140 for any period of time and absolutely nothing can live at the 190-200 that would finish off a butt or brisket. I have done this multiple times when I was learning to use my egg and the cooks were great. I owned a restaurant and had to do all the food safety training etc. You couldn't serve this at a commercial establishment if it were under temp for more than 4 hours but as far as safety goes, it's not even an issue. Finish it off and enjoy it (if you puke, I'm changing my handle :)

forty_crk · March 2012

thanks for advice...nothing I hate more than to puke

The Cen-Tex Smoker · March 2012

Lotta fires going out this morning (Rain makes it tough so you're on your own there)! I know there are tons of opinions on this, but my fires NEVER go out. I closed the lid on one last night at 7 pm @ 250 and it's 250 right now at 11am next day. I didn't touch it once. here's the way I do it:

I totally clean out the egg before any long cook. By clean out, I mean take out the fire ring and box and sweep the whole thing out with an old paint brush. After putting it all back together, I load the largest lump in the bag by hand to ensure there is plenty of airflow. I buy this lump from Sam's that has HUGE pieces. I'll attach a pic but it's awesome and cheap. I've used them all but this is my fave by far. If you just dump it in, you get a bunch of small pieces and shake that clog up the airflow. Here's where mine is a little different from some others: I light it in the middle and let it burn all the way out to the edges (maybe 30 minutes with the lid and bottom vent open) I do this until all the lump is burning and getting a little white. After it's really going good and burning hot, I add the plate setter and choke it down to temp. It usually only takes a few minutes to get back down to temp. I found in the past that when I lit the fire and choked it down after only getting a small part of the lump going that I had a lot fires go out, or lose temp in the night (especially in the winter). My fires will burn for days when I do it this way. I don't use any stokers or BBQ Guru (although I think it's a cool toy) or anything like that. Just light it, set it, go to bed and sleep like a rock. I don't even use remote thermometers with alarms or anything like that. I never need them. See the pic below for the fire. I let this burn another 15-20 min then shut 'er down. The lump is all larger pieces and no shake or small pieces to block airflow. also attached is the lump I get from Sam's. it's 100% Mesquite and has HUGE pieces. Some of them are actually logs (you can't see in in this pic but the 1st piece I put in and built the others around is the size of a loaf of bread. Get that bad boy going and it keep all the others in line:) The bigger the better for a stable fire. It's only like $15 for 40 lb bags! Super cheap and burns awesome.

Anyhow, sorry for the dissertation but give this a rip and sleep like a baby at night.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · March 2012

thanks for advice...nothing I hate more than to puke

me too. it's all good though. I would eat it without hesitation. I've fed thousands of peeps and nobody's gotten sick yet :)

stike · April 2012

@cen-tex:

although he's probably 'safe' for other reasons, it's not quite accurate to say that simply cooking it to 200 or so will rendr it safe.

her's what i mean... if (IF) a chunk of meat DOES become unsafe to eat because it is in the danger zone for too long, it does not became safe if you cook it afterward.

bacteria will be killed, but their toxins can remain. and the toxins can still do their damage. which means you won't be ingesting dangerous bacteria (because you will have killed them off), but you can still get sick.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · April 2012

Stike,good points and I agree with all. My main point is that it takes WAY more than a few hours below temp for hostile organisms to permeate the meat and cause actual spoilage. On the odd chance that you had something waiting around in your egg to attack the second your pit dropped below 140 (almost impossible since your egg gets heat sanitized every time you use it), the few organisms that were able to reproduce in that short window would be easily destroyed by bringing the pit back up to temp a few hours later. My guess is that bacterial load is much higher at the grocery store before you cook it at all so you are actually starting off with a cleaner, safer cut after a few hours under heat and smoke. I can't see a reason to over cook it under any circumstance. To your point, If it's actually spoiled, it's ruined at any temp.

forty_crk · April 2012

Update-- I was one of the ones with the "ghost got my fire" Saturday AM. I just added lump and pecan chunks finished off the brisket and butt. then cooked a whole chicken late Saturday evening. Reheated everything yesterday and cooked some beans on the egg. All the eatters bragged on how good it was. Never told em about the fire incident. They all think the egg is bomb...which we all know it is.

I think a major part of my problem with the fire was the lump sizes I used. I was down to the bottom of 2 bags when I started my fire Friday night. Needless to say I had the wife pick up a new bag Saturday morning.

Thanks for all the advice

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Need HELP!! Do I have to throw my pork away?

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