Is 165 OK For Overnight Cook?

D

darita

is Blowin Smoke!
Joined
Aug 1, 2010
Location
Rosevill...
This may be another stupid questions, but...
I've got a butt to smoke overnight and I'd like to smoke it at 165. With having to be careful about pork bugs and such, will it be OK to sit that long at that low a temp? Will I be risking anything?
 
IMO yes you will be risking , seems you're cutting it close to the danger zone to me. Why so low?
 
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Serve Safe guidelines dictate that the meat can spend no more than 4 hours between 40* and 140*, or close to that. The temps have been changed a bit. I don't think your target temp is high enough to accomplish that.
 
How about 175 or 180? My pellet grill smokes best below 180. Also, I want to put it on at 9pm and I'll turn it up to 200 at about 6am...anyways, that's my plan. I'd like to serve at 5pm, so I'll have to wrap it and put it in a cooler till then. Will that be OK? It's an 8lbs. butt.
 
I'd get up EARLY and put it on, and then check it when I got up....assuming I didn't sleep until noon. I'll risk food not being done in time, before I'll risk food poisoning. You'd probably be OK with you plan, but I couldn't sleep if I were trying it. It's just too close to the line. Once you've got the color, and have hit 160 internal you can foil it up and make up a little time as well.

Are you cooking at those temps to get additional smoke flavor? I get the low starting temp, but don't understand finishing at 200*.
 
I dunno, you're taking a risk. The meat will be in the 40-140 range for many hours giving bacteria lot of time to spoil the meat. Maybe start at a higher heat until the meat gets to 140 then drop it down. But even at 180 your meat won't get to 190-200 internal temp which is optimum for PP.
 
Darita, you are using a GMG right? The folks I know with one are cooking at temps in the 225 and up range with excellent results. Have you calibrated your thermos? Are you sure you are cooking that low? I do not have a high tech pellet grill with a thermostat etc...but, at 160F you are risking it. I never go lower than 200F just to get a margin above the ServSafe requirements.
 
Jorge said:
I'd get up EARLY and put it on, and then check it when I got up....assuming I didn't sleep until noon. I'll risk food not being done in time, before I'll risk food poisoning. You'd probably be OK with you plan, but I couldn't sleep if I were trying it. It's just too close to the line. Once you've got the color, and have hit 160 internal you can foil it up and make up a little time as well.

Are you cooking at those temps to get additional smoke flavor? I get the low starting temp, but don't understand finishing at 200*.
Click to expand...
Yeah, sorry...I meant 225. And yes, I'm going for more smoke flavor. In the past, I've smoked at 180 for 2 hours, then up to 225 till IT is 200. Is that a safe way to go?
 
200-225 minimum for me for a low-n-slow smoke...adjust your times accordingly to be safe. IMHO!
 
How big is the piece of meat?

If it isn't huge and you want to cook at 160 for a bit for added smoke flavor and then increase the heat to 225-250 I don't see a problem. If you need more smoke, then add some pellets to a pack of foil with several holes and set it near the fire pot. That increases the smoke in the chamber and should effectively solve your problem.
 
I do butts for three hours at 180 in the FEC-100 and then kick it to 240 to finish with great results. 165 is just too low IMHO.


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I cook all my meat at 250 on thermos that have been checked in boiling water.
I would feel horrible if I made folks ill from cooking at too low temps.
I would rather take a beating due to the lack of sleep.

Good luck and let us know how things turned out.
 
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