Pulled pork left out 6 hours.

[Bbqgoddess]

Rick, so sorry to hear about this!
I am undecided as to if I would have tossed it. Actually I would have tossed it, but my neighbor Cowboy Danny, will eat anything - he has no food safety on his radar at all...zippo nada, I would have sent it to his house and he would have eaten it, and been fine. He relates it to day old cold pizza that's been out on the stove all night, everyone has had that and been okay right? So his thought process is if you bring it back up to a hot temperature it is gonna kill anything that may have developed in there. Again, I'm not that guy, but it has worked for him! No much help, but dang sorry for your oops

[treehorses]

Yep. I have thought all the same things everyone has stated. The work I put in bugs me to trash it. But trash it will become. I was all prepared to make green chili and all the other stuf besides on samitches. I will smoke 2 more at daylight Saturday. Thanks for your input also.

[curious aardvark]

eat it - 6 hours is not long.
Bear in mind that it was sterile when it came out of the oven.

Hell i usually leave my pp overnight anyway as it's usually too warm for the fridge.

It will be 100% fine.

If you'd left it around for a couple of days, there might be an issue. But 6 hours ? Nah.

[treehorses]

Interesting. So you're not dead yet? Hmmm. 2 of us ate-not sick. I'm really hving a hard time here. I may keep for myself and make more for friends,

[curious aardvark]

look. you've cooked the living snot out of it for hours and hours. You've no doubt doused it in an acidic liquid (not a criticism :-) and then sealed it in an airtight bag.
It's not only sterile, it's airtight.

It takes a fair bit of time for freshly cooked meat to go off. Certainly not overnight.
There's sensible caution and then there's downright unthinking paranoia.

It's safe, keep it.

[HawgHeaven]

look. you've cooked the living snot out of it for hours and hours. You've no doubt doused it in an acidic liquid (not a criticism :-) and then sealed it in an airtight bag.
It's not only sterile, it's airtight.

It takes a fair bit of time for freshly cooked meat to go off. Certainly not overnight.
There's sensible caution and then there's downright unthinking paranoia.

It's safe, keep it.

I have done pork butts till wee hours of the mornin' and had NO energy left for pulling. They got wrapped in foil and towels and into the cooler for a night night. Got up the next morning, the shit was still very warm... and OHHHH so tasty. Like Alex said, you've cooked the living snot out of it. I think you're safe. If you die, I'll come to your funeral with fresh pulled pork...

[Richtee]

Tough call. The rules DO err on the side of an idiot..err "saftey". Since we don't ALL have a microbial test lab onsite... prudent advice is to discard. Practical... given the method, the adjunct ingredients etc... prolly OK in an old shoe overnight in a public restroom. But... that's not the rules. YMMV

[curious aardvark]

I'll go with the shoe - but a public restroom ? lol
Actually if someone did piss on it - that would make it safer, just not something you'd want to eat for other reasons ;-)

Urine's a pretty good antibacterial in it's own right.

I have worked in a microbial lab. You have to really work hard to make well cooked products unsafe to eat. It's not easy and it's not quick.

Even then we'd get some weirdos. We'd get commercial catering game pies in for teting We'd take about a teaspoon full and the rest went home with whoever wanted it.
I got my fair share and the share of the idiots who wouldn't touch it.
The point was the manufacturers wanted a pas. So they only ever gave us the freshest products.

Some people are just odd that way.

[Bearcarver]

Some people don't heed the rules or the warnings & they aren't dead yet----Maybe Only Brain Dead.

Guess I'm one of the Idiots----I'd still toss it. It's just the right thing to do, and I would never advise others to possibly get sick. Even if I would eat it myself I wouldn't advise others to do so. Just the way I was raised---Sorry.

Bear

[Slanted88]

Some people don't heed the rules or the warnings & they aren't dead yet----Maybe Only Brain Dead.

Guess I'm one of the Idiots----I'd still toss it. It's just the right thing to do, and I would never advise others to possibly get sick. Even if I would eat it myself I wouldn't advise others to do so. Just the way I was raised---Sorry.

Bear

I feel the same way...had food poisoning once long time ago...terrible time with guts & a$$...so i figure...bad booger sick...or saved a bit on my investment...ain't happening...

[DDave]

So his thought process is if you bring it back up to a hot temperature it is gonna kill anything that may have developed in there.

His thought process is wrong by the way. Reheating it may kill the bacteria but not all of the toxins that they produce. That's what you have to watch out for.

prudent advice is to discard. Practical... given the method, the adjunct ingredients etc... prolly OK in an old shoe overnight in a public restroom. But... that's not the rules. YMMV

Yep, tough call. If you know or trust the source of the meat and you know you followed all the other safe handling and cooking procedures well . . . Not for me to decide or recommend I guess. Depends on your comfort level.

Yes, I have eaten day old pizza that sat out overnight on the kitchen counter. Doesn't mean I feel comfortable recommending that other people do it.

But, hey, I ain't dead yet so it must be okay, right??

Even if I would eat it myself I wouldn't advise others to do so.

I feel the same way...had food poisoning once long time ago...terrible time with guts & a$$...so i figure...bad booger sick...or saved a bit on my investment...ain't happening...

You got that right Mike. Had a little bout with some spinach dip that got left out too long. No I didn't die but the time I spent curled up on the bathroom floor next to the toilet between barfing fits has kind of soured my view of anecdotal evidence when it comes to food safety. I'll tend to follow the guidelines because I have no desire to go through that again.

Dave

[SMOKE FREAK]

Im still keeping open the offer...You can use my son to test this for however long it takes for you to make a decision...

[treehorses]

Ate more last night. Three days in a row now. My wife refuses to try it. She's smarter than me huh? I will probably trash the second bag now and after I smoke a couple more butts this Saturday, trash the remainder od the eaten out of bag. At this point I feel confident bag 1 is ok but still would not serve it to anyone. I love to share with friends so fire it back up Saturday. Thanks again for all comments.

[Bbqgoddess]

Ok I know this is :dead horse: that said.
I wouldn't recommend anyone eat something and get sick either - as a matter of fact is the words "does this smell funny" come out of my mouth its gone tossed, yes Sir Rich - that ham I tossed didn't even smell but...

I have a serious question - when smoking meat is that not also preserving meat? Now don't jump my shit, I am just curious, because back in the day prior to refrigeration and the FDA with the alphabet in your kitchens... I realize it was a combo of brine/curing/smoking - but smoking is considered a form of preservation is it not? so I guess my question would be when is it not for preservation but just for fluff?

[DDave]

I have a serious question - when smoking meat is that not also preserving meat? Now don't jump my shit, I am just curious, because back in the day prior to refrigeration and the FDA with the alphabet in your kitchens... I realize it was a combo of brine/curing/smoking - but smoking is considered a form of preservation is it not? so I guess my question would be when is it not for preservation but just for fluff?

Well, I'll take a stab at it.

Back in the day, the salt was different.

From Historical Origins of Food Preservation

Curing
The earliest curing was actually dehydration. Early cultures used salt to help desiccate foods. Salting was common and even culinary by choosing raw salts from different sources (rock salt, sea salt, spiced salt, etc.). In the 1800’s it was discovered that certain sources of salt gave meat a red color instead of the usual unappetizing grey. Consumers overwhelmingly preferred the red colored meat. In this mixture of salts were nitrites (saltpeter). As the microbiology of Clostridium botulinum was elucidated in the 1920’s it was realized that nitrites inhibited this organism.
http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nc...pres_hist.html


From The National Center for Home Food Preservation Guide and Literature Review Series: Smoking and Curing

6.3. Smoking
Verify that smokehouses operate as intended (heat, airflow, moisture). Appropriate calibrated thermometers should be used (for cooking temperature and meat internal temperature). Procedures for delivering the appropriate thermal treatment of cooked meats in conformance with the Food Code must be developed and used. Smoke itself, without proper cooking, is not an effective food preservative (Hilderbrand 1999). Caution should be used when smoking meats at temperatures in the danger zone 40-140°F for prolonged periods of time. In such a case meats must have been salted or cured first.
http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nc...moke_pres.html


In the spirit of full disclosure, I did find this.

From How Does Smoking Preserve Food?

Hot smoking preserves foods in three ways: Heat kills microbes; chemicals found in the smoke -- including formaldehyde and alcohols -- act as preservatives; and the food dries out so there is less moist area for bacteria to grow.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/23...preserve-food/

But it appeared to be more of a "blog" than a science based reference. The authors credentials were bachelor of science degree in biology and theology from Saint Vincent College. I think I would be more inclined to trust Alex with his background in chemistry though.

So it would appear that smoking, without a curing agent such as nitrites or nitrates, is not sufficient to preserve meat for thick cuts or large hunks of meat.

At least that is the way I understand it

Cue the jerky cure debate in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1.

Dave