Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Better safe than sorry

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1136143/fire-went-out-during-the-night-10-lb-butt

 

I couldn't do it. If I gave everyone food poisoning I would be upset

 

130 is almost 140 lol. It couldn't have been outta the safe zone long. I'm not advocating u do anything other than throw it away but if I were in that situation I would shred, pour on some Carolina vinegar, then reheat in the oven to 190 for a while.

 

I bought a chefs alarm it has a low and high temp on it might be worth it. Sometimes they have an open box buy.

http://www.thermoworks.com/ChefAlarm

 

prob be ok....people let brisket rest in a cooler for a long time...without any ill effects. I'd cut into it and see if its done, if not then I might finish cooking it.

 

The meat was 130 when you got up? I'd fire up the smoker and get right back to it. was there salt in your rub? Was there smoke in your smoker? Was there 290 degrees of heat for at least a couple hours? You did a good job of killing stuff on the surface and making it tough for more stuff from the air to take hold. As long as you're not immuno-compromised for some reason, I'd have fired it back up.

 

you will be fine

 

When in doubt...throw it out!

I've taken one too many food safety tests to wanna chance it. That's just me though. It also don't help that in my hood, it only got down to 65 last night. Clearly not cold enough to maintain meat.

 

2.5 pounds each of smoked mild cheddar, pepper jack and Colby jack, with 4 pounds of home made American bacon, 3 pounds of peppered American bacon, 1.5 pounds of Canadian bacon and another 1.5 pounds of peppered Canadian bacon.

 

Smoked up two shoulders yesterday. 9.5 hours on the pit.

 

ohh your killing me dog

 

I know, my first tri tip and I didn't take one damn picture. What a newb. Gotta get better at that. Truth is, I was so happy with the way it turned out that my only thought was "get in my belly!"

 

Bummer. Us manual guys do have a challenge keeping it stoked for long smokes. The longest I've been able to keep my WSM at close to optimum temp without dicking with it is 3 hours.

 

Part of the process lol. I feel bad for guys runnin pellet poopers and other hands off smokers.
When I fire up the stick burner I buy myself x number of hours during which relaxation with beers and little piddle fart projects take precedence over getting any real work done lol. My wife understands I'm to be left alone when meat is on the smoker

 

True. I think this is my third summer with my Akorn smoker and even though I can get 6 or 8 hours of 225 out of it without opening it up, I can't just go to bed or leave for work or something and expect it to keep 225. I have to keep an eye on the dual-probe thermo.

That's why for brisket I'll time it to get 6 or 8 hours of smoke and then I wrap in paper and into the oven to finish for as long as it takes - usually the entire night and then some.

 

For my overnight smoked I tend to start the temp on the high side and use the water pan to help prevent fluctuations. I also have the smoker in a little cove on my patio so that wind doesn't really blow it to stoke the coals or cool the outside.

 

Agreed! Very fun to tend the works. For long smokes it can be a bitch, but it's a trade off. I figure if I can master manual smokes, nothing will be difficult after that.

 

How are you loading your ring and what kind of fuel are you running? During the summer I can get 8 to 10hrs at 250 with out even trying. If I take the time and load it right I've got up to 15hrs.