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Egg and butt lost heat in the night

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JT_Thomas
JT_Thomas Posts: 101
in EggHead Forum
So I went to bed and the egg was around 240, and butt around 50. Woke up a few hours later, egg was 250, butt was 150-ish. At this point, everything is great. Go back to sleep, wake up this morning and thermometer reads LLL, w/ butt at 120. I went out and all I had to do was open the vents to get going again, but am I in a bacteria danger zone w/ the meat? This is the first time this has happened. I thought I had the alarms set on the thermometer, but I apparently forgot to turn it on...
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  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,567
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    If that was internal temperature you may be fine. What was your dome temperature?  How long was it between your last check and the morning check?
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  • JT_Thomas
    JT_Thomas Posts: 101
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    Dome temp had bottomed out. I would say 3-4 hours.
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    edited January 2015
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    The fact that the butt hadn't cooled all that much is a good sign, and that the temp rose just by opening the vents is likewise good.  I think if you were in food service, you would probably be required to dump the food. I've done a couple of tests to see how long it takes for an Egg at dome 250 to drop to danger zone, and it was about an hour and a half, w. some temp variable. Pretty likely the meat was in an ambient temp below 140 for at least 2 hours.

    This has been discussed before. Many people are skeptical about the meat being tainted while sitting in the Egg. The meat has been rubbed, and the rubs are anti-bacterial. The smoke is anti-bacterial. The surface of the meat is sterile within minutes of going into the Egg. There is very little airflow, and the inside of the Egg is greasy, not damp, and often the grease has creosote in it. Not a very good growth environment.

    At this point, I'd feel safe continuing and taking it to 205. I would still follow the caveat that says don't feed dubious foods to children under 6, elders over 70, and anyone w. an impaired immune system.


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  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,567
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    So the egg was dead cold? It most likely would be good if you found it 4 hours after your last good check in. I might not serve it to guests but would most likely eat it myself. I think the rule is 4 hours under 140 degrees. That would be the external temperature of the meat, not internal.
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  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,567
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    what @gdenby said :)
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  • JT_Thomas
    JT_Thomas Posts: 101
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    Thanks for the help guys. Luckily this wasn't a cook for guests. We'll eat it.
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  • MediumRarely
    MediumRarely Posts: 270
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    What was your outside temp last night?

    Always act so that you can tell the truth about how you act.


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  • gerhardk
    gerhardk Posts: 942
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    I think gdenby has hit all the points of concern and I would have no problem eating it.  The choice is yours though, if you are worried that you are going to get or give food poisoning you won't enjoy the meal so don't bother serving it.  If you are in a commercial setting then don't use and sell anything that you have any doubt about is the best policy.

    Gerhard
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  • JT_Thomas
    JT_Thomas Posts: 101
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    MediumRarely said:

    What was your outside temp last night?


    outside temp was in the 20's.
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  • MediumRarely
    MediumRarely Posts: 270
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    Should be fine, you had an oven in the freezer!!!

    Always act so that you can tell the truth about how you act.


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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    edited January 2015
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    gdenby said:

    The fact that the butt hadn't cooled all that much is a good sign, and that the temp rose just by opening the vents is likewise good.  I think if you were in food service, you would probably be required to dump the food. I've done a couple of tests to see how long it takes for an Egg at dome 250 to drop to danger zone, and it was about an hour and a half, w. some temp variable. Pretty likely the meat was in an ambient temp below 140 for at least 2 hours.

    This has been discussed before. Many people are skeptical about the meat being tainted while sitting in the Egg. The meat has been rubbed, and the rubs are anti-bacterial. The smoke is anti-bacterial. The surface of the meat is sterile within minutes of going into the Egg. There is very little airflow, and the inside of the Egg is greasy, not damp, and often the grease has creosote in it. Not a very good growth environment.

    At this point, I'd feel safe continuing and taking it to 205. I would still follow the caveat that says don't feed dubious foods to children under 6, elders over 70, and anyone w. an impaired immune system.


    gdenby said:

    The fact that the butt hadn't cooled all that much is a good sign, and that the temp rose just by opening the vents is likewise good.  I think if you were in food service, you would probably be required to dump the food. I've done a couple of tests to see how long it takes for an Egg at dome 250 to drop to danger zone, and it was about an hour and a half, w. some temp variable. Pretty likely the meat was in an ambient temp below 140 for at least 2 hours.

    This has been discussed before. Many people are skeptical about the meat being tainted while sitting in the Egg. The meat has been rubbed, and the rubs are anti-bacterial. The smoke is anti-bacterial. The surface of the meat is sterile within minutes of going into the Egg. There is very little airflow, and the inside of the Egg is greasy, not damp, and often the grease has creosote in it. Not a very good growth environment.

    At this point, I'd feel safe continuing and taking it to 205. I would still follow the caveat that says don't feed dubious foods to children under 6, elders over 70, and anyone w. an impaired immune system.


    Agree with everything. Also consider, and I'm no food scientist but, you have pasteurised meat in a pasteurised environment in freezing conditions. Where the bugs gonna come from?

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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