Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Is this safe to eat?

DoctorMojo
DoctorMojo Posts: 126
in EggHead Forum
I shut the egg down when my butts reached 205 last night around 8 pm, then forgot them and went to bed woke up this morning and checked the temp they were around 75 to 80....are they safe to eat? The only time I ever had food poisoning was from bad pork ...almost afraid to try them.

Southern, Tennessee

LBGE, MBGE  

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 10,227
    The question is "how long has the meat temp been below 140".  Ideally, that should be no more than 4 hours.  That's a little stringent, but safe.  Given that you don't know the answer to that question, I'd probably throw it out.  

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • The_Stache
    The_Stache Posts: 1,153
    I agree with @Foghorn
    Kirkland, TN
    2 LBGE, 1 MM


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • JethroVA
    JethroVA Posts: 1,251
    Trash
    Richmond and Mathews County, VA. Large BGE, Weber gas, little Weber charcoal. Vintage ManGrates. Little reddish portable kamado that shall remain nameless here.  Very Extremely Stable Genius. 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • chuckytheegghead
    chuckytheegghead Posts: 1,201
    When in doubt throw it out
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    You are certainly outside of the recommended parameters for safety. You can read about the "danger zone" here. 

    FWIW my understanding is it is the ambient temperature, not the meat internal temp. So it is really the amount of time it took the egg to drop below 140. I would guess that is a couple of hours so you may have been in the danger zone for 8-10 hours. I would toss them. Run out now and grab another butt and turbo that sucker, or cube it up and make pork butt burnt ends.  


    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 1voyager
    1voyager Posts: 1,161
    I agree to throw it out but you need to tell us the rest of the story. How the heck do you forget about a brisket? Little bit too much Jack Daniels?
    Large Egg, PGS A40 gasser.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DoctorMojo
    DoctorMojo Posts: 126
    Thanks ya'll...It hurts but better safe than sorry! Bright side...I can cook more, the weekend is still young! Happy Labor Day!

    Southern, Tennessee

    LBGE, MBGE  

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    I've had food poisoning several times, most of it from my own fridge that failing, and not keeping food below 40F, but in places more like 50F.

    So I also am inclined to pitch dubious stuff, and I suggest you do the same.

    Still, I wish there was some reliable test for contamination. The salt and sugar in rubs will destroy pathogens, as will some spices. The meat was heated till sterile, in a smokey environment, so there is formaldehyde on the surface. When it was probed, it might have received some contamination, but it was so hot the pathogens would have died in seconds. Most of the water in the meat was removed. The inside of the Egg likely has some creosote on it. It was sealed, not air tight, but enough so the fire smothered. Could flies get in? Are there lots of stray dogs pooping where you live?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DoctorMojo
    DoctorMojo Posts: 126
    1voyager said:
    I agree to throw it out but you need to tell us the rest of the story. How the heck do you forget about a brisket? Little bit too much Jack Daniels?


    Confession...Too much Football and maybe alcohol..lol

    Southern, Tennessee

    LBGE, MBGE  

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 19,176
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 10,227
    gdenby said:
    I've had food poisoning several times, most of it from my own fridge that failing, and not keeping food below 40F, but in places more like 50F.

    So I also am inclined to pitch dubious stuff, and I suggest you do the same.

    Still, I wish there was some reliable test for contamination. The salt and sugar in rubs will destroy pathogens, as will some spices. The meat was heated till sterile, in a smokey environment, so there is formaldehyde on the surface. When it was probed, it might have received some contamination, but it was so hot the pathogens would have died in seconds. Most of the water in the meat was removed. The inside of the Egg likely has some creosote on it. It was sealed, not air tight, but enough so the fire smothered. Could flies get in? Are there lots of stray dogs pooping where you live?
    Yep. There's at least a 99% chance it is safe to eat. 

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 19,176
    Foghorn said:
    gdenby said:
    I've had food poisoning several times, most of it from my own fridge that failing, and not keeping food below 40F, but in places more like 50F.

    So I also am inclined to pitch dubious stuff, and I suggest you do the same.

    Still, I wish there was some reliable test for contamination. The salt and sugar in rubs will destroy pathogens, as will some spices. The meat was heated till sterile, in a smokey environment, so there is formaldehyde on the surface. When it was probed, it might have received some contamination, but it was so hot the pathogens would have died in seconds. Most of the water in the meat was removed. The inside of the Egg likely has some creosote on it. It was sealed, not air tight, but enough so the fire smothered. Could flies get in? Are there lots of stray dogs pooping where you live?
    Yep. There's at least a 99% chance it is safe to eat. 
    But that 1% is a real mo fo 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,173
    edited September 2017
    If you feel the need to ask, there is risk. The Cost of your purchase is minimal compared to the impact of FBI. If in doubt...chunk it.
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,380
    I would have eaten them. They were in an essentially sterile environment and the meat itself having been cooked for hours and reached a temp such that they were pasteurized,


    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories