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Another "Is it OK to eat it" question
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Hub
Posts: 927
Bought a fresh pork butt on Sunday. Stored it in the fridge overnight, and then cooked it low and slow yesterday, mainly at 250 degrees. The cook took longer than anticipated, and at bedtime last night the internal temp was still only 175. I pulled it, wrapped it in foil, and put it in the fridge. After work today, I removed the foil, put it in the oven and cooked it to an internal of 203.
Is it safe to eat? Why or why not? I had a terrible bout with food poisoning less than a month ago and I'm running pretty gun shy. I definitely don't want to go through that again. Thanks for your input.
Is it safe to eat? Why or why not? I had a terrible bout with food poisoning less than a month ago and I'm running pretty gun shy. I definitely don't want to go through that again. Thanks for your input.
Beautiful and lovely Villa Rica, Georgia
Comments
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Yes. Why would it not be would be my questionMemphis raised me, T-Town made me...Aint never been nothing but a winner
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Totally safe given your 175 finish and refrigeration.Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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tclamberth said:Yes. Why would it not be would be my question
I usually cook a pork butt to 198-205 without interruption. This is the first time that I had an interrupted cook. I'm probably being overly cautious and gun shy, but trust me, if you had to deal with what I had to deal with a few weeks ago, you are afraid to eat anything and everything. I just want to be sure that the interrupted cook didn't cause any issues.
Beautiful and lovely Villa Rica, Georgia -
bgebrent said:Totally safe given your 175 finish and refrigeration.
I'm still nervous though.
Beautiful and lovely Villa Rica, Georgia -
Dumb question if I may ... after pulling did you chill the meat with or without the foil, before putting in fridge? Before storing cooked food in fridge we chill it using double pan method - food (solid or liquid) in inner pan, ice water in outer pan.canuckland
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Canugghead said:Dumb question if I may ... after pulling did you chill the meat with or without the foil, before putting in fridge?
I was dog tired and out of time, so I pulled it, sat it on my Boos cutting board, and almost immediately wrapped it in heavy duty aluminum foil and placed it in the fridge. Does this create an issue? Today when I unwrapped the butt there was a jelly like substance in the bottom of the foil. I've never seen that before.
Beautiful and lovely Villa Rica, Georgia -
Short answer is you are fine to eat that.
As far as “why or why not”- The unknown in this case is how long did it take to cool from 175 to 40 in the fridge? It actually takes longer to cool when wrapped so the safest thing to do would be to throw it in the fridge (or freezer) unwrapped and wrap and place in the fridge once it has clearly started to cool and gets closer to 40 degrees.
What you did is basically a start/stop method cook which is actually quite common down here even at famous bbq restaurants. They take briskets up to the stall then blast cool them and store for several days. They will then pull them and finish for Service when they are ready for them. I use this method somewhat often but I do prefer to use the freeer to blast cool it through the danger zone before throwing in the fridge (if I have room) Puting a huge hot hunk of meat in the fridge will also warm up everything else in there for a few hours so if you don’t have a very good fridge, it can create problems for you.
In order to be in danger on this cook, it would have had to be in the danger zone (between 40 and 135) for longer than 4 hours. That is highly unlikely and even so, conditions would have had to be perfect for those few minutes to breed anything that could make you sick. Considering you pulled this out of a smoker beforehand, that is almost impossible. It’s far more likely that you would get sick from the mayo that has had several different knives stuck in it for months (or something else like that) that heated up for hours from being close to a hot butt you put in there than the butt itself.
So, you are fine but in practice, it’s actually safer to let the butt cool on the counter unwrapped for an hour or 2 than to throw in in your fridge right off the egg. It will cool faster once in the fridge and it worn’t heat up other things around it in the fridge. Those are the things that are more likely to make you sick from being at unsafe temps because you stuffed a 12lb 175 degree hunk of meat next to themKeepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
I wouldn't worry about the jelly like substance, imo it's just chilled fat/juice. Potential problem with wrapping hot food immediately is the trapped heat could keep the food in warm so called danger zone for prolonged period. I'm not expert, sure others will chime in.
p.s. read my additional comment re double pan chilling above.canuckland -
Absolutely agree with @The Cen-Tex Smoker, we just find that the ice water method is the fastest I can chill stuff at home. Water conducts heat faster than air.
Reminds me of how we used to defrost freezer with hair dryer, duh! Now we defrost with towel soaked in hot water.canuckland -
You're fine, as the posts above reaffirm.
Something about food poisoning, and I'd like to see others' experience. I got my first bout about 15 years ago, from a piece of dried beef I left out overnight, thought it was okay since it was "dried", and chopped it up into my breakfast omelette. I puked and puked, was bedridden for 4 days, and like you @Hub just wanted to die. Lost over 15 lbs.
I've gotten food poisoning 3 more times since then, all from "food carts" (which I no longer patronize). I had a night of puking and an unhappy day the next day in each case, but it was 10% the bad experience, compared to the first time.
I've also read a lot of food history about how chiles and peppers were used to mask the taste/smell of rotten meat, throughout time; and it makes me think the human system eventually adapts to bad food, and they just keep eating.
So, those of you who have had food poisoning more than once, do they get "easier", with each subsequent bout?
Apologies to the OP, didn't mean to turn this into a gross, scientific survey, but I guess I did._____________"In the twinkling of an eye, I found myself without an office, without a seat, without a party, and without an appendix." - Winston Churchill
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Vac sealing and dropping in an ice water bath would be the fastest way to chill it. Unless you have a blast chiller at home.They/Them
Morgantown, PA
XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer - PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker -
DMW said:Vac sealing and dropping in an ice water bath would be the fastest way to chill it. Unless you have a blast chiller at home.canuckland
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Canugghead said:DMW said:Vac sealing and dropping in an ice water bath would be the fastest way to chill it. Unless you have a blast chiller at home.They/Them
Morgantown, PA
XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer - PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker -
If you are in Minnesota, just set it outside on the deck.They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That's against their interests. - George Carlin
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@Botch - I've only been down that road twice; and neither trip was nearly as challenged as you experienced. The first time some 30+ years ago took around 30 hours to develop. Had attended a shipmate's home-hosted party (Sat PM) and many of us got it. I must have enjoyed the poison more than most-I ended up getting two liters of fluid (IV) the day it hit (Mon) but was back to work the next day.
Second one was around 20 hours to kick in but only lasted the night. No need for any IV's. All good the next day. Of course my diet is likely ready for any internal food combat challengesLouisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. -
Just want to say thanks for all the help boys. The wisdom on this forum is immeasurable. @Cen-Tex Smoker and @ Canugghead I once again learned something I didn't know. It wasn't pulling it at 175 that was my error, but instead not letting it cool before wrapping it and putting in the fridge. I just now chopped it up. It sure looks and smells good. My two dogs don't seem to be concerned. Here we go .....
Beautiful and lovely Villa Rica, Georgia -
Since you only got to 175, I’m guessing that the “pulling” was tough. For reheating, I would go slow, with lots of moisture - almost a braise.Maryland, 1 LBGE
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In the other thread I said I would eat it and in this case I would also eat it. Without reservations.
Funnily enough tho, this article was in my newspaper today - perhaps it's an omen.
https://pilotonline.com/life/flavor/article_920d930f-80c3-5719-8ab4-1b8603bceea8.html#s3gt_translate_tooltip_mini { display: none !important; }“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk -
The jelly like substance was just that, jelly, or, more correctly, gelatin. That's the good stuff that makes PP succulent, and is the sign of a really good stock.
Botch, I've had food poisoning at least 5 times, but never near as bad as you. The last 2 times were probably the worst. My 'fridge was dying, and I learned that one day the compartment would be down around freezing, and the next, up into the 50's. At the usual 35 - 40F for 'fridges, cooked food should be OK for up to 4 days. Both the last times I got sick were after 24 - 32 hours.
My younger son, who should usually have been healthy enough to not suffer as much was worth
Not long after, my wife got sick probably from bacillus cereus on some poorly re-heated ravioli. BC is very nasty, and often is found on cooked rice. Causes projectile vomiting in adults, and can kill children and elders. For a couple of months we always erred on the side of caution.
I did lots of reading to figure out how to estimate the hazards, and suggest anyone else to do so, too.
Yet another review of the "safe zone."
The pathogens grow at any temperature above freezing and up to just under 130F. Just above freezing, the growth rate is so slow that problems take weeks to develop. Anything that was sitting at 110F for an hour or two must be assumed to have so many pathogens growing that there are lots to wipe out, and at 130+, which can take hours. Think of the growth rate as something like a cresting wave, w. the hazard at its most extreme just above human body temperature.
I believe there has been some modification of "safe zone." Don't recall exactly what, but it emphasizes the fact that the worst hazard occurs much faster between 80 - 110 F. Something thin or small that can warm up quickly will become toxic a lot faster than 4 hours.
Among the things that modify the situations are the thickness of the cooling container, and its contents. Something like chicken salad, whose parts have all been exposed to air and human presence (we carry staph on out bodies) need to be chilled in metal containers no more the 2" thick. The insides of an 8" deep tray will stay warm long enough that the insides will be toxic before it gets down around 40F.
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its been preserved with salt, smoke, then over cooked and chilled. im ok with that. most i might have done differently is toss it outside for an hour or two before going in the fridge(friggin cold out there right now)
fukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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