Need Help Asap - Food Safety Critical Question

I think you'll be fine, personally. Normally I'm anal about food safety but I would probably go with the food. If there is anything at all that makes you uneasy dump it-- when in doubt throw it out. In this case, I think you'll be alright.

You are fine - Just make sure internal temp get high enough when you stoke things back up and that everything is cooked thru. It's fairly common practice to have that happen with overnight cooks. A lot of people put things on at night knowing they will run out of fuel and then just start again in the AM.

I wouldnt be too hard on the wifey. After all, she did agree to your pending Spicewine.

It happens more often than you think! You will be fine.

RichardF said:

You are fine - Just make sure internal temp get high enough when you stoke things back up and that everything is cooked thru.

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And I think this is the critical piece of information - "hot enough" means hot enough to kill any microscopic critters . . . 150F for at least ten minutes if I remember right.

What cut of meat and weight are we talking here? Did you leave it out to come to room temperature, and if so for how long? Am I reading this right, your pit temp was up to 300° for 45 minutes then dropped off until the fire died at 2:00? And it was not restarted until 5:30?

QansasjayhawQ said:

And I think this is the critical piece of information - "hot enough" means hot enough to kill any microscopic critters . . . 150F for at least ten minutes if I remember right.

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Not sure, but if I remember right, it's not the microscopic critters that are the problem as much as the waste that has been created by them:icon_smil

It doesn't sound like this situation lasted a long enough time to allow anything to cause that much of a problem.

I say heat it up and serve it:biggrin:

Glad to hear it....165 is the key temp for re-heating....I can't remember how long is the exact time.....but that's the safe reheating temp for most cooked meats and whatnot.....

Last fall when I talked to the health inspector for a festival I was doing, she said heat everything to 160 and hold a 140.

I don't like to see "my fire went out" posts. Some turn out OK, some are borderline situations and some are a definite "toss it". I've noticed that around the holidays the ceramic forums are just full of them because so many folks get new cookers. One of my favorites was a guy that built his first charcoal fire in his life, put on two butts, went to church, and then played 18 holes of golf. He got home just minutes before all of the guests he invited over for dinner, only to find a cold pit. I think he sprang for pizza.

The concern here is what may or could have happened before 5:30 if the conditions were right. And like many have said, maybe nothing was that wrong at all. Maybe our resident food educator can chime in on this one. I for one can always use some educatin'. HEY JOE what think you?????

Well this one's a little tough, but simple as well:icon_smil
First, how do you know it went out at 2:00 am? Or is this just a guess?

On a roast of some sort, there really isn't going to be bacteria present internally, because the inside has never been exposed to the air.
The outside of the roast is going to be where bacteria will be present if there is any.
The rule for the "Danger zone" is no more than four hours sitting between 41° and 135°.
So if you restarted the fire at 5:30, it sat for 3 1/2 hours in the danger zone, assuming the fire was completely out at 2:00 am.
If that was the case, then I would say as long as you get the internal up to 165° as quickly as possible you should be fine.

Another factor to consider with something like this, is did you inject anything into the meat, or poke it up with a fork?
Doing this could provide a possible inner contamination of the meat.
I'm going to say you would probably be alright.

But by health industry standards it would be skating too close to the edge and would have to be discarded.

So here you go 3I, Thanks for the inqurie.

Thanks for the refresher Joe. Just to add one thing ... folks with certain health problems and the elderly are at greater risk when it comes to food safety issues.

Someone much wiser than I reminded me to practice the same routine at home for everyday cooking that I would when serving guests, then it becomes a habit. Knock on wood, I have never had a fire die out. I have run low on fuel toward the end of a long cook in my Eggs a couple of times. They are a pain to refuel and restart so I move right into a 250° oven for the finish. You know, that box in your kitchen with the clock. :lol: