Question On Fatties

Rascal

I just put a Jimmy Dean sausage roll with sage on the grill. Rubbed it with some olive oil followed by a generous dose of John Henry's pecan rub. Question is, what temp do you cook yours to? Previously, following one recipe, I took it to 170. Tasted great but it was a bit on the dry side. I'm wondering if pulling it at 140-145 might render it juicier while still being in the "safe" zone. Thanks for any help! 8 - )

Celtic Wolf

165 internal. and keep the dome temp at or slightly below 250.

You really don't need the olive oil. Try a rub without a lot of salt.

Rascal

Will do. Just curious, isn't 140 the threshold, above which, pork should be safe to eat? Does that rule not apply with this kind of product? Thanks for the help!

Celtic Wolf

If it wasn't a ground up product yes.

AZRP

According to the book, Charcuterie, sausage is done at 157 degrees. -RP

Celtic Wolf

and according to the USDA the bugs are done at 165 but whose arguing :woohoo:

Rascal

I thought that with modern processing, the # for pork was somewhere around 140. What is it about the "ground" thing? We eat roast beef at 125, yet burgers need to be vulcanized? Does grinding meat make it more vulnerable to harboring E. coli, trichinosis, etc? Just a "green" chef in the ring here, trying to learn the ropes! Just pulled the fatty at 165 and it sure is lookin' good! Can't wait for the morning when I'll enjoy a few slices smothered with some sunny-side-up eggs! Ooo La La!! 8 - )~~~

Celtic Wolf

You eat HAMBURGER at 165. If it's not ground up and mixed up the buggies are on the surface. Surface temps to get internal temps we like will reach above 165. So no problem.

When meat is ground up the buggies are mixed into the interior so the interior temp needs to be high enough to kill them.

Now personally I still eat raw hamburger, but I don't serve it.

bitslammer

Rascal wrote:

I thought that with modern processing, the # for pork was somewhere around 140. What is it about the "ground" thing? We eat roast beef at 125, yet burgers need to be vulcanized? Does grinding meat make it more vulnerable to harboring E. coli, trichinosis, etc? Just a "green" chef in the ring here, trying to learn the ropes! Just pulled the fatty at 165 and it sure is lookin' good! Can't wait for the morning when I'll enjoy a few slices smothered with some sunny-side-up eggs! Ooo La La!! 8 - )~~~

With an unground piece of meat the bacteria that may be present would only be on the outside of the meat and would therefore be quickly killed from the temp of the hot air making direct contact.

In ground product bacteria may have been gound into the product so that they are present deep into the center. That's why ground products need to be cooked to a higher temp.

In a perfect world when an animal is slaughtered or butchered you wouldn't do something like slice open the bowel and expose the rest of the carcass to fecal matter. That would mean the rest of the animal would be "clean" of stuff like E. Coli which lives in the intestines.

As you know however we don't live in a perfect world and there's plenty of instances where the large commercial producers have been caught doing all manner of unsafe, unethical, and unsanitary things.

The only way I'd eat an "undercooked" burger were is I raised, slaughtered, and butchered the meat myself.

fishlessman

whats in ground pork nowadays that makes it so bad, is it fears from the past about cooking pork. i also eat raw burger and lamb at times, why is pork more scary is it just poor processing.

Celtic Wolf

You know I haven't got a clue.. but until all the recalls stop on processed foods I am cooking them as the USDA says.

As for the raw burgers I usually grind that meat myself. While that is no guarantee I just feel better about it.

bitslammer

fishlessman wrote:

whats in ground pork nowadays that makes it so bad, is it fears from the past about cooking pork. i also eat raw burger and lamb at times, why is pork more scary is it just poor processing.

Just a guess but it might be possible that in some of the packing facilities they may handle beef and pork so cross contamination could be an issue.

Trichinosis is virtually absent in the commercial food chain in the US. Most US cases come from wild game.

thirdeye

Your finish temp of 170° is fine....now, how fast it got there is another issue. You want to cook them as low as possible, I really like 225° but sometimes I have something else on the cooker...

The one thing you do want to do is wrap in foil and rest for an hour when they come off the pit. This makes a big difference. For serving the next day, I will smoke them to 150°, wrap in foil with a little liquid and return to the cooker until they hit 170°, then rest an hour or more, then into the fridge in the same foil pouch.

thirdeye

Your finish temp of 170° is fine....now, how fast it got there is another issue. You want to cook them as low as possible, I really like 225° but sometimes I have something else on the cooker...

The one thing you do want to do is wrap in foil and rest for an hour when they come off the pit. This makes a big difference. For serving the next day, I will smoke them to 150°, wrap in foil with a little liquid and return to the cooker until they hit 170°, then rest an hour or more, then into the fridge in the same foil pouch.

Big'un

I pull mine at 155F.