Am I in the Meat Danger Zone?

[bellacp]

I smoked 2 boston butts (6 lbs. each)  last night. I am using a probe (maverick) for temp monitoring.
I put the butts in at bbq temp of 210, then went to bed at 11pm.
Woke up at 3am to change water, bbq temp was around 130 something i think, so I bumped it up a bit.
Now, I am up at 7am, bbq temp is 150F, internal temp of meat is 122F.

So, was this meat at too low of a temp during the night? Is it in the danger zone for bacteria?
Please advise.  Thanks.

[bellacp]

Can anybody out there help me and answer my question? I just finished cooking it to IT of 190F. Looks so darn good.....

Also, am confused about danger zone: when they say 140F, does that mean the temperature in your smoker, or does that mean the internal temp of the meat?

[muebe]

The danger zone 140F is the temperature in your smoker cabinet and not IT. As long as the butt was climbing IT temp you should be ok.

Where was your temperature probe located? Above or below the meat?

If it was above than you were getting a inaccurate reading of the cabinet temp. You are going to get a much lower reading above the meat because the butt is absorbing energy(heat) while it is cooking.

[muebe]

I have two 7lb butts in my OBS right now and I put them in at 10:30pm last night at 225F. It is now 1:00pm the next day and the bottom one is at 190F IT and the top is at 187F IT. I also have the 900W element mod and convection fan. They have now been in for 14 1/2 hours and still not done. I am taking them to a IT of 200F.

Butts take a long time so be patient grasshopper ;)

[bellacp]

Thanks for replies!
my concern is not how long they took to cook, but that the amount of time they spent in the "danger zone". Basically from 11pm (when i first put them in) until around 4am the temp was under 140!
Isn't that a long time for them to be in this zone?

[classicrockgriller]

NO< PULL IT AND EAT IT!

next time might be better to post in one spot so everyone can keep up with ya.

[bellacp]

Ya, sorry about the posts in different forums...wasn't sure where this fell.
Thanks everyone for all the help! I REALLY appreciate it.