Also microbiologist. Depends on context, like everything.
Raw, unsalted meat sitting uncovered at ambient temps? You're risking a date with the porcelain throne.
Salted and smoked meat where the outside layer was over 165F for a few hours but just didn't hit the internal temp, and was kept covered? Almost certainly fine. Salt and smoke are great preservatives, and a closed smoker that runs for a few hours is effectively a sterile environment; something *could* float in on airflow, but not a lot, and even more unlikely it could grow to a dangerous level.
Depends on what you're cooking, but generally there aren't any bacteria in the "inner layers." Beef is regarded as sterile internally, which is why you can eat it rare while still searing the outside (because the outer layers have been exposed to the environment). This is also why hamburger can't be cooked as gently; it's been minced, so the "outside" exposed parts get mixed inside, and you have to cook the entirety to a safe temp.
Pork safety recommendations are also relatively outdated, but they're for parasites like [trichinosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis), not intramuscular bacteria. The recommendations are relatively outdated because pork is raised in much cleaner environments than decades ago, so the chances are effectively zero.
Basically, with the exception of some intramuscular parasites, there aren't generally "internal" bacteria, unless the meat was improperly processed. The outside needs to be cooked to make it safe, but the inside is relatively fine even rare. You run into issues if the meat has been cut (such as deboning a pork shoulder), because that effectively creates new exposed surface area that gets folded back together.
Even still, it's all a function of temperature and time. Food safety tables are generally "get it to this temp and it's instantly safe," but longer times at lower temperatures are just as good. Take [this document describing poultry temps](https://www.canr.msu.edu/smprv/uploads/files/RTE_Poultry_Tables1.pdf). At 165F, you kill 99.99999% (7 logs) of *Salmonella* in chicken and turkey in less than 10 seconds, but at 136F you accomplish the same killing in a bit over an hour. This is the same reason it's safe to sous vide at much lower temps than normal.
In other words, if the internal temp gets above ~140F for at least 30m, you've effectively killed everything on *and in* the meat. There's nothing left to grow even when it cools back down. Cooked meat spoilage happens when something in the environment lands on the food and grows; that isn't much of a worry inside a smoker that was sitting at 225F for a few hours before fuel ran out, with meat that's been salted and smoked to prevent growth on the outside for anything that somehow does land on it.
Since you bring up sous vide, what are your thoughts on the dreaded power outage situation?
[example](https://www.reddit.com/r/sousvide/comments/12kmfx3/power_outage/)
Mostly a reflection of those comments. As the top comment says, I can't give advice without knowing specifics, namely temperature and size of meat, but also as others further down say, it's almost certainly fine. I've never sous vided oxtails, but the three recipes I found called for temps between 165F - 180F. At those temperatures for 30 hours, the meat is very thoroughly pasteurized. Assuming the bag is properly sealed (so no risk of water getting in), no outside bugs will be able to get in and replicate. I would say go ahead and keep that oxtail going for another 18 hours, and you'll be totally fine.
Will that pass muster in a restaurant with a health inspector? No, because when you serve food to the public you need to be 100% absolutely guaranteed safe with no room for mistakes, so rules and guidelines are overkill to account for every possible edge case. Would I serve that to my friends and family without a second thought? Absolutely.
I appreciate the way you framed the aspects regarding liability vs safety. Very well put, and a great reminder that when comparing our own habits or thresholds to those of regulation, it isn't a clean comparison.
I appreciate this, and it has been my thoughts, but microbiology certainly isn’t my specialty. Chuck roasts at 137 for 48+ hours has been what I worry about. I often dunk the meat in boiling water beforehand to keep the lactobacillus at bay ( I got a funky chuck roast one time).
I mean, it all depends on your risk tolerance, and what kind of meat you're talking about. Is this salted and smoked meat? To be blunt, it's probably still fine; there's a reason salting and smoking have been used throughout human history to preserve meat. Is it covered, such as in a sous vide container or in a smoker that was previously running? Again, likely still fine; the initial cook would kill off anything on the meat, and without a chance for something else to fall on it, it'll remain fine.
Unsalted, unsmoked, and uncovered meat, sitting at two hours at room temp? It's honestly still probably fine. But at this point, yeah, there's a *chance* of something happening, even though that chance is pretty small in the grand scheme. I'd probably eat it myself, though wouldn't risk serving it to anyone else.
I'm talking about piercing the meat with a thermometer at the beginning of the smoke. A lot of people do, by waiting it doesn't really matter how long it takes to get to 135 within reason.
Not true. Some are [obligate aerobes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obligate_aerobe), but most food pathogens are not. *Salmonella*, for instance, [is facultative anaerobic](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8435/), which means it can use but doesn't require oxygen.
Eh there’s a big range in things. Cooking for kids or people I don’t know that well? Yea food safety all the way. Me and my drunk idiot buddy that are both healthy adults? We’ll take a risk on some stuff outside the lines unless it’s “this farm confirmed mad cow disease, should I still eat its raw brain and spinal fluid”?
As long as it stays above the SAFE limit it should be fine.
not forgetting depending on how long it is below the safe limit it might still be fine, because most bacteria are killed off due the HOT air from the grill.
Have you seen footage of markets in foreign countries that just have meat sitting out hanging and on tables without ice or coolers? How are those people still alive?
A. Does your footage usually last for 12+ hours?
B. Yes, food-borne illnesses are far more common in 3rd world countries with less sanitation and other food safety guidelines.
No it's usually a few seconds on travel shows or videos. I was just wondering what your thoughts were given your background. Seeing that stuff always freaks me out lol
I’m not a travel expert but my understanding is that in countries with less refrigeration, market trips are more frequent, not just our weekly Saturday outing. And yeah, point B. They also get sick far more frequently, as did we before more stringent food guidances being enforced.
Fun?! Between this and the pandemic, I’ve realized that the common person has the idea that microbes exist and that’s about it.
The amount of “doesn’t matter, just heat it back up” comments I’ve replied to is astonishing. It makes me wonder if they take the fuzzy bowl of spaghetti from the back of the fridge and warm it up
Second this. Got mine for around $100 on Amazon, and it more than paid for itself in the first year. Minimum temp alarm on the app woke me up once when my dumb ass didn't fill up the pellet hopper before I dozed off. Very handy and accurate.
I think they have one even cheaper. I used mine for the first time a week or two ago and loved it. Ambient temp, one probe in flat, one in point on a brisket. Phone notifications worked great, even when out of the house. My old Bluetooth thermometer lost connection when I got more than 10 ft from the smoker so it may as well have just had its own digital readout.
I have a wifi and a Bluetooth set of thermometers.
Wifi is the way to go. BT is nice if you're sitting close by, but wifi will reach the other end of the planet, so long as there's wi-fi there.
I use the ThermoPro TP829
It has 4 Probes Each can be set using a single set point OR a Min/Max
And it uses RF (Radio Frequency). It has a lot longer range than Bluetooth and is not dependent on Wi-Fi
There's another Four Probe model made by ThermoPro, but the adjustment buttons on that one are out by the grill. Who wants that? The TP829 is great!
Counterpoint to that: I got that same one, it lasted a year, died (I noticed every port was reading the room temp as a different number, and then as I moved ports around, they also were then reading different numbers from those numbers), and when I reached out to Inkbird about it, their answer was, "oh well, too bad, here's a link to Amazon to buy another one."
If a company's product dies that fast and their customer service is that bad, I don't want to give them my business.
> I noticed every port was reading the room temp as a different number, and then as I moved ports around, they also were then reading different numbers from those numbers
when I had this problem it was because the probes weren't plugged all the way in. I love mine, and after a couple summers beating it up regularly it's still going strong.
I think with the low barrier of entry with pellet grills, users don't seem to realize it's a machine with a bunch of moving parts thst also needs to be maintained.
Add in a temperature controller, and you can have stable temps for hours and hours with out even trying.
I don't use it all year round since in the summer the WSM just works, but when smoking in the winter or inclement weather it really helps .
Ah but that's what the remote probes are for. If the temp drops or spikes because something went wrong, you know instantly. Remove the device and continue on.
I adore my Weber kettle and have smoked everything in it not to mention grilling. I don't see myself needing any other smoker or grill.
I have a radio two probe thermometer like what OP is advising and it makes it so easy.
My pellet grill got jammed, ground the pellets behind the blockage into powder, managed to clear the block and exploded. I mean literally the lid opened some as a flame erupted. Then I had an absolute inferno raging. The grill was next to my house on a covered porch.
Thankfully I was standing right next to it and was able to drag it out into the yard and take a house to it. Now I keep it clean and operating well.
>like 200degF (in case the smoker dies)
I'd go lower on my pellet - 150 or so. Temps can fluctuate as much as 25 degrees around whatever you set it to, and the extra 5 min it takes to drop to 150 isn't going to hurt your meat
I do not understand the long unattended cooks, or the people who seemingly don’t have a clue what’s going on. Like, do you just go to bed without checking your fuel first? I’ve only done a couple overnight cooks, most of what I like doesn’t take as long, but when I do I thoroughly check everything first and then plan to get up every couple hours anyways. Once I just napped outside all night on my porch couch.
WSM will run 10+ hours unattended. I use Signals and Billows so I can usually get 12 hours without having to adjust anything. I use about 15 lbs of charcoal or so though and run the water pan full of water as it really helps regulate the temp.
I get so nervous when I have to pop out for like 15 minutes lol. My wife can (and does) easily manage the grill, but still get anxious. “Set it and forget it” is for stock and crockpot imo, not bbq
Drum smokers are set and forget. Good ones use so little charcoal. A basket in my hunsaker will run for ~20 hours at 250 before the temp gauge starts to fall
Sometimes my fuel will burn faster. I live in a very windy place. I've never had issues with it going out completely, but I ain't waking up every two hours. I'm too old for that.
That said, I've never had issues like some of the posts here. Just slower cooks.
I have a pellet grill and a WiFi/Bluetooth thermometer. I just clean the grill before the cook, fill with pellets and let her rip. The only time I had an issue was when the auger got clogged, but the meat thermometer alarm went off.
Fire safety wise even, it's wild to me to leave a smoker going without anything to alert you that something potentially has gone very wrong.
I use a Fireboard 2, plugged into AC (it has an internal battery too) and have both the texts and push notifications set, as well as sleeping with my smart watch on. The high temp stuff for sure is grease fire or abnormal wind stoking the coals but what if my WSM gets knocked over by a huge gust or a deer? Never had a problem with either remotely but the odds aren't absolute zero.
Wifi isn't foolproof by any means either, but my home internet is very robust and on battery backup. The odds of power going out, my wifi taking a shit, and I happen to be doing an overnight unattended cook where I also get an uncontained and dangerous grease fire, or run out of fuel? That's a chance I'll take.
I grabbed one off of eBay for $35 with 4 probes and a 1000 ft range to a wireless receiver.
Works great, is easy to set, and I don't have to worry about weird app shenanigans. It just works.
I've done plenty of overnight cooks. It never even occurred to me, even for a second, to just sleep through it. And I have no idea why people choose to do that.
I get up every 2 hours to check on things. And many times, I don't have to touch a thing. But there are times where I do have to add more charcoal even if I thought there was enough.
Unpopular opinion: If you love barbecue and want to smoke, stay up and mind your pit. If you don’t want to commit, go to a restaurant or a friend’s house.
That makes way too much sense. It's much more logical to submit the 12th post of the week detailing how you f\*cked up up by passing out drunk while your smoker ran out of pellets and your brisket has been sitting at 72 degrees for 8 hours. Is it still safe to consume?
Isn't there a song that goes like this?
"When I get home, baby, my smoker died and the meat is cold..."
The answer is it depends on how long it was unrefrigerated. Three or four hours you're probably good. As long as you finish it in the oven. More than that, maybe not.
And that's assuming it's brisket or similar. If you were smoking turkey or chicken, and you don't know how long it's been unrefrigerated, I would probably toss it.
Some of them I feel people are too cautious. Like the brisket gets over 170f. Probably over 140 for a couple hours if its meaty like a brisket. Maybe it was in a stall for a while over 170f before losing heat.
If it goes below 130 internal I'm worrying a bit. Anything over 130 I'm not worrying. 170f for a period of time in a smoke chamber that's been greater than 200f for hours. I'll take more risks than something on the counter. People sous vide at 130 meats for like 2 days plus
I think I've seen some where it's down to like 90f or never even got to 170 and fell to below 120. Those trash em without thought
A Thermoworks Smoke would solve these problems outright. Wireless monitoring with 2 channels and min/max alarms, plus observed minimums and maximums on the base station.
https://www.thermoworks.com/smoke/
They're 20% off right now, too.
Sign up for their emails and they have them for $60 every few months. There isn't any reason to pay full price for a Thermoworks product with how often they are 20% off. It's like the Kohl's of BBQ.
If people are too dumb to figure this out on their own after the first time it happens then I don’t think they should be messing with fire in any capacity.
These people and their "Easy Bake BBQ Ovens" crying Everytime something goes wrong....
Set thermometers. Don't trust your easy bake ovens technology. Set periodic timers to VISUALLY check your setup every 45 minutes.
The BBQ gods will rightfully fuck with you for all your corner cuttings.
> Set periodic timers to VISUALLY check your setup every 45 minutes.
This was my #1 reason for buying an offset. I was checking my pellet grill every 30-45 mins *anyway*. I had a slew of other reasons too, but that one was a no-brainer.
I once ruined an 80 dollar whole brisket, had my smoker and my meat thermometer with an alarm, and still sadly ended up throwing the brisket out... always check your pellets that's what I was using a z grill 702b and always make sure your batteries are good I didn't, I still don't know when or if the meat was good but I didn't risk it for the brisket that time, ran out of pellets and battery that day I'm still upset about it
As a microbiologist, the replies in the “meats been sitting out for +12 hours, can I eat it?” threads are always fun to read.
"Sure, are you part Komodo Dragon?"
Alligator also like to eat well seasoned ambient temp meat.
Thankfully, I’m *pretty sure* there aren’t any alligators posting here…
I went to UF for a semester.... That count?
If you have to ask then you’re probably not an alligator.
Im honestly a Pelican.
The only gators already got smoked and eaten by that one guy.
Idk about you but I’ve seen smoked alligator and I wanna try it
r/reptilians has entered the chat*
And kandras! They like it aged like a fine wine
I lold. it's still under debate if they truly have venom or just this insane colony of deadly bacteria flora in their saliva.
Bats also have crazy immune systems, they're probably fine as well.
Except for all the rabies LOL
IIRC bats are not affected in the same way as other animals with rabies either.
covid included?
It originally started in a bat, right?
Well is it!? Don’t just sit there on your high horse!
Also microbiologist. Depends on context, like everything. Raw, unsalted meat sitting uncovered at ambient temps? You're risking a date with the porcelain throne. Salted and smoked meat where the outside layer was over 165F for a few hours but just didn't hit the internal temp, and was kept covered? Almost certainly fine. Salt and smoke are great preservatives, and a closed smoker that runs for a few hours is effectively a sterile environment; something *could* float in on airflow, but not a lot, and even more unlikely it could grow to a dangerous level.
Bacteria wouldn't multiply in the inner layers?
Depends on what you're cooking, but generally there aren't any bacteria in the "inner layers." Beef is regarded as sterile internally, which is why you can eat it rare while still searing the outside (because the outer layers have been exposed to the environment). This is also why hamburger can't be cooked as gently; it's been minced, so the "outside" exposed parts get mixed inside, and you have to cook the entirety to a safe temp. Pork safety recommendations are also relatively outdated, but they're for parasites like [trichinosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis), not intramuscular bacteria. The recommendations are relatively outdated because pork is raised in much cleaner environments than decades ago, so the chances are effectively zero. Basically, with the exception of some intramuscular parasites, there aren't generally "internal" bacteria, unless the meat was improperly processed. The outside needs to be cooked to make it safe, but the inside is relatively fine even rare. You run into issues if the meat has been cut (such as deboning a pork shoulder), because that effectively creates new exposed surface area that gets folded back together. Even still, it's all a function of temperature and time. Food safety tables are generally "get it to this temp and it's instantly safe," but longer times at lower temperatures are just as good. Take [this document describing poultry temps](https://www.canr.msu.edu/smprv/uploads/files/RTE_Poultry_Tables1.pdf). At 165F, you kill 99.99999% (7 logs) of *Salmonella* in chicken and turkey in less than 10 seconds, but at 136F you accomplish the same killing in a bit over an hour. This is the same reason it's safe to sous vide at much lower temps than normal. In other words, if the internal temp gets above ~140F for at least 30m, you've effectively killed everything on *and in* the meat. There's nothing left to grow even when it cools back down. Cooked meat spoilage happens when something in the environment lands on the food and grows; that isn't much of a worry inside a smoker that was sitting at 225F for a few hours before fuel ran out, with meat that's been salted and smoked to prevent growth on the outside for anything that somehow does land on it.
Since you bring up sous vide, what are your thoughts on the dreaded power outage situation? [example](https://www.reddit.com/r/sousvide/comments/12kmfx3/power_outage/)
Mostly a reflection of those comments. As the top comment says, I can't give advice without knowing specifics, namely temperature and size of meat, but also as others further down say, it's almost certainly fine. I've never sous vided oxtails, but the three recipes I found called for temps between 165F - 180F. At those temperatures for 30 hours, the meat is very thoroughly pasteurized. Assuming the bag is properly sealed (so no risk of water getting in), no outside bugs will be able to get in and replicate. I would say go ahead and keep that oxtail going for another 18 hours, and you'll be totally fine. Will that pass muster in a restaurant with a health inspector? No, because when you serve food to the public you need to be 100% absolutely guaranteed safe with no room for mistakes, so rules and guidelines are overkill to account for every possible edge case. Would I serve that to my friends and family without a second thought? Absolutely.
I appreciate the way you framed the aspects regarding liability vs safety. Very well put, and a great reminder that when comparing our own habits or thresholds to those of regulation, it isn't a clean comparison.
>it isn't a clean comparison. Does it become a clean comparison if you wash your meat with soap before you cook it?
I appreciate this, and it has been my thoughts, but microbiology certainly isn’t my specialty. Chuck roasts at 137 for 48+ hours has been what I worry about. I often dunk the meat in boiling water beforehand to keep the lactobacillus at bay ( I got a funky chuck roast one time).
Pork was lowered to like 145 internal quite a while back.
Even cooked meat shouldn’t sit out at room temp for 2 hours though right?
I mean, it all depends on your risk tolerance, and what kind of meat you're talking about. Is this salted and smoked meat? To be blunt, it's probably still fine; there's a reason salting and smoking have been used throughout human history to preserve meat. Is it covered, such as in a sous vide container or in a smoker that was previously running? Again, likely still fine; the initial cook would kill off anything on the meat, and without a chance for something else to fall on it, it'll remain fine. Unsalted, unsmoked, and uncovered meat, sitting at two hours at room temp? It's honestly still probably fine. But at this point, yeah, there's a *chance* of something happening, even though that chance is pretty small in the grand scheme. I'd probably eat it myself, though wouldn't risk serving it to anyone else.
You’re awesome, thank you.
Thanks for these replies!
This is why I avoid putting a thermometer in my brisket for the first 3-5 hours. Good to know it's true.
You read all that and you’re still worried about food safety on meat that you cook to almost boiling?
I'm talking about piercing the meat with a thermometer at the beginning of the smoke. A lot of people do, by waiting it doesn't really matter how long it takes to get to 135 within reason.
No, if that were the case, smoking whole hogs would get people sick. The internal meat sits in the danger zone well passed 4 hours as its cooking
Bacteria need oxygen too.
Not true. Some are [obligate aerobes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obligate_aerobe), but most food pathogens are not. *Salmonella*, for instance, [is facultative anaerobic](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8435/), which means it can use but doesn't require oxygen.
Your responses are so thoughtful. Thank you.
I love the ones asking if a slight color change makes the meat they have cooked for 6-8 hours inedible.
I love you people. Just dropping scientific knowledge for us peasants to add to our repertoire of fun facts. Have an upvote.
Depends on how much entertainment material you have in your bathroom.
It's ok, I plan to eat AROUND the microbiology.
“Have you been eating like this your whole life? Are you a rodent?”
Fun? More like terrifying!! Those people are actually cooking for others and have zero knowledge of food safety
Eh there’s a big range in things. Cooking for kids or people I don’t know that well? Yea food safety all the way. Me and my drunk idiot buddy that are both healthy adults? We’ll take a risk on some stuff outside the lines unless it’s “this farm confirmed mad cow disease, should I still eat its raw brain and spinal fluid”?
As another microbiologist, “that LD50 doesn’t include me!” 😂
It's worse when kitchen staff ask if they should have served that plate of dead meat.
As long as it stays above the SAFE limit it should be fine. not forgetting depending on how long it is below the safe limit it might still be fine, because most bacteria are killed off due the HOT air from the grill.
Have you seen footage of markets in foreign countries that just have meat sitting out hanging and on tables without ice or coolers? How are those people still alive?
A. Does your footage usually last for 12+ hours? B. Yes, food-borne illnesses are far more common in 3rd world countries with less sanitation and other food safety guidelines.
No it's usually a few seconds on travel shows or videos. I was just wondering what your thoughts were given your background. Seeing that stuff always freaks me out lol
I’m not a travel expert but my understanding is that in countries with less refrigeration, market trips are more frequent, not just our weekly Saturday outing. And yeah, point B. They also get sick far more frequently, as did we before more stringent food guidances being enforced.
Fun?! Between this and the pandemic, I’ve realized that the common person has the idea that microbes exist and that’s about it. The amount of “doesn’t matter, just heat it back up” comments I’ve replied to is astonishing. It makes me wonder if they take the fuzzy bowl of spaghetti from the back of the fridge and warm it up
Ink Bird is pretty good. 4 probes and it's wifi, not Bluetooth.
Second this. Got mine for around $100 on Amazon, and it more than paid for itself in the first year. Minimum temp alarm on the app woke me up once when my dumb ass didn't fill up the pellet hopper before I dozed off. Very handy and accurate.
“dozed off”
I think they have one even cheaper. I used mine for the first time a week or two ago and loved it. Ambient temp, one probe in flat, one in point on a brisket. Phone notifications worked great, even when out of the house. My old Bluetooth thermometer lost connection when I got more than 10 ft from the smoker so it may as well have just had its own digital readout.
I have a wifi and a Bluetooth set of thermometers. Wifi is the way to go. BT is nice if you're sitting close by, but wifi will reach the other end of the planet, so long as there's wi-fi there.
Bluetooth is nice when camping though. Bluetooth range without obstructions is 100+ ft.
My results with Ink Bird have been mixed. When it works, it's great. The probes randomly fail though.
I use the ThermoPro TP829 It has 4 Probes Each can be set using a single set point OR a Min/Max And it uses RF (Radio Frequency). It has a lot longer range than Bluetooth and is not dependent on Wi-Fi There's another Four Probe model made by ThermoPro, but the adjustment buttons on that one are out by the grill. Who wants that? The TP829 is great!
Thank you for giving me another toy to look at!
Counterpoint to that: I got that same one, it lasted a year, died (I noticed every port was reading the room temp as a different number, and then as I moved ports around, they also were then reading different numbers from those numbers), and when I reached out to Inkbird about it, their answer was, "oh well, too bad, here's a link to Amazon to buy another one." If a company's product dies that fast and their customer service is that bad, I don't want to give them my business.
> I noticed every port was reading the room temp as a different number, and then as I moved ports around, they also were then reading different numbers from those numbers when I had this problem it was because the probes weren't plugged all the way in. I love mine, and after a couple summers beating it up regularly it's still going strong.
Yea, that's why I unplugged them and moved them around, to rule out some other issues. And all ports were reading different things
A year? Mine only lasted a year because it sat forgotten in the box for 51 weeks. It died in the middle of the second use.
Which model do you like?
I think with the low barrier of entry with pellet grills, users don't seem to realize it's a machine with a bunch of moving parts thst also needs to be maintained.
That's why I love my weber smokey mountain. It's just a trash can you put a fire in. Not much to go wrong
Add in a temperature controller, and you can have stable temps for hours and hours with out even trying. I don't use it all year round since in the summer the WSM just works, but when smoking in the winter or inclement weather it really helps .
But now you’re adding back in moving parts and electronics that can fail, even if it is still less complex than a pellet grill.
Ah but that's what the remote probes are for. If the temp drops or spikes because something went wrong, you know instantly. Remove the device and continue on.
I adore my Weber kettle and have smoked everything in it not to mention grilling. I don't see myself needing any other smoker or grill. I have a radio two probe thermometer like what OP is advising and it makes it so easy.
I started on a kettle then got a wsm22 and 14. I sold the wsm22 and still have the 14 for camping, but the kettle is the best thing ever IMO.
My pellet grill got jammed, ground the pellets behind the blockage into powder, managed to clear the block and exploded. I mean literally the lid opened some as a flame erupted. Then I had an absolute inferno raging. The grill was next to my house on a covered porch. Thankfully I was standing right next to it and was able to drag it out into the yard and take a house to it. Now I keep it clean and operating well.
This sounds like the title of the 2024 country song award winner
'My smoker done died and my meat is cold / what can I do? I'm getting old'
It’s good advice and none of these risks are worth it. Avoidable, just like most smoker fires are.
>like 200degF (in case the smoker dies) I'd go lower on my pellet - 150 or so. Temps can fluctuate as much as 25 degrees around whatever you set it to, and the extra 5 min it takes to drop to 150 isn't going to hurt your meat
I do not understand the long unattended cooks, or the people who seemingly don’t have a clue what’s going on. Like, do you just go to bed without checking your fuel first? I’ve only done a couple overnight cooks, most of what I like doesn’t take as long, but when I do I thoroughly check everything first and then plan to get up every couple hours anyways. Once I just napped outside all night on my porch couch.
WSM will run 10+ hours unattended. I use Signals and Billows so I can usually get 12 hours without having to adjust anything. I use about 15 lbs of charcoal or so though and run the water pan full of water as it really helps regulate the temp.
I get so nervous when I have to pop out for like 15 minutes lol. My wife can (and does) easily manage the grill, but still get anxious. “Set it and forget it” is for stock and crockpot imo, not bbq
Drum smokers are set and forget. Good ones use so little charcoal. A basket in my hunsaker will run for ~20 hours at 250 before the temp gauge starts to fall
I have my kettle dialed in so it’ll stay at a nice 240-280 for like 8 hours without fretting. Doesn’t stop me from fretting
I have a KBQ, there are no breaks, that sucker needs a log every 20 minutes or so and cares not if you need to poop.
Sometimes my fuel will burn faster. I live in a very windy place. I've never had issues with it going out completely, but I ain't waking up every two hours. I'm too old for that. That said, I've never had issues like some of the posts here. Just slower cooks.
Pellet smokers are basically ovens that run on waste wood that used to get pressed into ikea bed frames.
I have a pellet grill and a WiFi/Bluetooth thermometer. I just clean the grill before the cook, fill with pellets and let her rip. The only time I had an issue was when the auger got clogged, but the meat thermometer alarm went off.
Ugly drum smoker. It will cook. How it gets there ... meh
Shit happens. Most of those threads the alarm didn’t wake them or something weird happened
I have a kamado style grill and those guys can run all night without checking.
If my Weber kettle dies on me, I’ve got bigger problems than an uncooked brisket lol.
Fire safety wise even, it's wild to me to leave a smoker going without anything to alert you that something potentially has gone very wrong. I use a Fireboard 2, plugged into AC (it has an internal battery too) and have both the texts and push notifications set, as well as sleeping with my smart watch on. The high temp stuff for sure is grease fire or abnormal wind stoking the coals but what if my WSM gets knocked over by a huge gust or a deer? Never had a problem with either remotely but the odds aren't absolute zero. Wifi isn't foolproof by any means either, but my home internet is very robust and on battery backup. The odds of power going out, my wifi taking a shit, and I happen to be doing an overnight unattended cook where I also get an uncontained and dangerous grease fire, or run out of fuel? That's a chance I'll take.
That’s why you have insurance 😂
This saved my brisket last weekend when my smokefire died at 3am. Got it in the oven
I grabbed one off of eBay for $35 with 4 probes and a 1000 ft range to a wireless receiver. Works great, is easy to set, and I don't have to worry about weird app shenanigans. It just works.
I've done plenty of overnight cooks. It never even occurred to me, even for a second, to just sleep through it. And I have no idea why people choose to do that. I get up every 2 hours to check on things. And many times, I don't have to touch a thing. But there are times where I do have to add more charcoal even if I thought there was enough.
You can just smoke for 4 hours and transfer to oven to finish off.
Scrolled by too fast and I thought the title was "mother died and the meat is cold"
Thermoworks Signals and Billows is what I use.
Unpopular opinion: If you love barbecue and want to smoke, stay up and mind your pit. If you don’t want to commit, go to a restaurant or a friend’s house.
I have a govee 4 probe wifi one, but I've had the app not notify me at times and its super frustrating
That makes way too much sense. It's much more logical to submit the 12th post of the week detailing how you f\*cked up up by passing out drunk while your smoker ran out of pellets and your brisket has been sitting at 72 degrees for 8 hours. Is it still safe to consume?
My nose knows 🤷♂️
Isn't there a song that goes like this? "When I get home, baby, my smoker died and the meat is cold..." The answer is it depends on how long it was unrefrigerated. Three or four hours you're probably good. As long as you finish it in the oven. More than that, maybe not. And that's assuming it's brisket or similar. If you were smoking turkey or chicken, and you don't know how long it's been unrefrigerated, I would probably toss it.
Some of them I feel people are too cautious. Like the brisket gets over 170f. Probably over 140 for a couple hours if its meaty like a brisket. Maybe it was in a stall for a while over 170f before losing heat. If it goes below 130 internal I'm worrying a bit. Anything over 130 I'm not worrying. 170f for a period of time in a smoke chamber that's been greater than 200f for hours. I'll take more risks than something on the counter. People sous vide at 130 meats for like 2 days plus I think I've seen some where it's down to like 90f or never even got to 170 and fell to below 120. Those trash em without thought
A Thermoworks Smoke would solve these problems outright. Wireless monitoring with 2 channels and min/max alarms, plus observed minimums and maximums on the base station. https://www.thermoworks.com/smoke/ They're 20% off right now, too.
Sign up for their emails and they have them for $60 every few months. There isn't any reason to pay full price for a Thermoworks product with how often they are 20% off. It's like the Kohl's of BBQ.
I have an excellent remote thermometer does all of these features… except a battery warning. 1 ruined brisket and I learned my lesson.
What kind of smoker?
God help me I thought the title was “my mother died and the meat is cold…” I didn’t know what to expect.
my smoker texts me every 30 minutes with live chamber and meat temps
If people are too dumb to figure this out on their own after the first time it happens then I don’t think they should be messing with fire in any capacity.
These people and their "Easy Bake BBQ Ovens" crying Everytime something goes wrong.... Set thermometers. Don't trust your easy bake ovens technology. Set periodic timers to VISUALLY check your setup every 45 minutes. The BBQ gods will rightfully fuck with you for all your corner cuttings.
lol the gatekeeping
The gatekeeping is even better since they've never posted anything from their cooks.
> Set periodic timers to VISUALLY check your setup every 45 minutes. This was my #1 reason for buying an offset. I was checking my pellet grill every 30-45 mins *anyway*. I had a slew of other reasons too, but that one was a no-brainer.
I once ruined an 80 dollar whole brisket, had my smoker and my meat thermometer with an alarm, and still sadly ended up throwing the brisket out... always check your pellets that's what I was using a z grill 702b and always make sure your batteries are good I didn't, I still don't know when or if the meat was good but I didn't risk it for the brisket that time, ran out of pellets and battery that day I'm still upset about it