Help!! Is my meat ok?

i would be ok with it if i got the fire back up quickly. 4 hours between 40 and 140 degrees is the rule and it counts your prep time. salt and smoke make it safer longer

has it been in an environment that is warmer than 40 degrees but cooler than 140 four longer than four hours?

if yes, than your meat is outside the "safe" zone.

if 'no', you are fine.

the four hours includes total prep time, thawing, etc.

its the time it took to drive from the butcher, the time it was out of the fridge for the rub, and 2.5 hours max on a cold egg all added together. i still believe your safe, internal temp in this situation is not much of a concern, just the time spent in the car, on the counter, and in a cold egg. 4 hours is safe

i think he's safe too. but you can only explain things so many times.....

Just my two cents, but I would toss it as much I would hate to have to do that. For a twenty brisket its just not worth getting food poisening over.




js

yeah, well. i have been beating that drum for years and been vilified a number of times for it.

most folks remember the rule, but have no idea where the rule comes from, or that the rule isn't iron clad. even reading the USDA's own site you can see that they make it very clear that it's a generalized rule.

the rule is incredibly contradictory all by itself, but no one questions it. at 138 degrees, bacteria multiply exponentially faster than they do at say 42 degrees.

yet a piece of meat at 138 for four hours is safe to eat under the rule. the same piece of meat at 42 degrees is also safe for that long, but is NOT safe at four hours and five minutes. see where i'm going? that piece of meat at 42 degrees has far less bacteria on it than the one at 138 degrees, yet both are "equally unsafe". at 42 degrees you can go way longer than 4 hours. it's just there's no way in hell the USDA is going to create a complex rule that covers all the iterations. they need something they can apply universally, and slap on a poster in a mcdonald's where some kid in a hair net needs a "safe-serv" certificate.

critical thinking is a rare thing these days.
hahaha

http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/meat_quality/spoiled_meat.html
Here is the way to tell if it is spoiled.
The old way was if it doesn't stink or feel slimy it is OK.

E

The 'general rule' also gives the impression that as long as you keep it below 40 degrees, it will be good indefinitely.

“… Perhaps the worst thing that can happen is to reach into the refrigerator and come out with something that you cannot identify at all. You literally do not know what it is. Could be meat, could be cake. Usually, at a time like that, I'll bluff. "Honey, is this good?"
"Well, what is it?"
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. It looks like...meatcake!"
"Well, smell it."
(snort, sniff) "It has absolutely no smell whatsoever!"
"It's good! Put it back! Somebody is saving it. It'll turn up in something."
That’s what frightens me. That someone will consider it a challenge and use it just because it's in there…” Excerpt from -- Ice Box Man – by George Carlin –

As a prior restaurant owner with a spouse that still cooks for the elementary school system (children), I offer the following on the USDA safe food handling guidelines. In restaurant's, the rule better be hard and fast if you want to avoid customer law suits. Foodborne illnesses can happen, but, if they do, you better have been following the rules. Imagine the financial implications associated with having your restaurants name posted in the local newspaper along with the word "food poisoning". The USDA guidelines are a hard and fast rule in any food preparation for children and geriatrics. Most of us would survive a case of food poisoning, but, it is very unpleasant. You do not want to be holding the bag in in food-borne illness issue involving other peoples children. The reality is that the rule is "super safe". I am not going into the details of acidity, dryness, susceptability by food type, etc. There are a myriad of issues that allow us to make judgments in our "home" food that you just can't make when provide food to others. At home, I am most conservative with poultry and fresh seafood, I am conservative with pork, and less conservative with beef. I am most conservative when feeding my grandchildren and their friends, conservative when feeding guests, and less conservative when feeding myself and close friends. (If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for them ) Don't want to hijack the question, so, to the brisket, if for me and friends, I would probably run it. If it was for a church social or picnic with kids, I would save this one for my personnal eating and start a new one to "deliver". My 2 cents. thanks rc