Help: Smoked Ribeyes

[Habanero Smoker]

To understand the chart better, the first temperature column is the recommended USDA temperatures, so the 145?F is noted in that column; along with footnote #2 "The USDA recommends that whole muscle meats be cook to at least 145?F, including pork;......"; as per the USDA recommendation. If you look to the column to the right of it, that includes other internal temperatures that are commonly used and are safe.

I studied the chart and read through the footnotes at the bottom.  I don't not see anywhere that says the lower temps are safe, just "Commonly Used".  Maybe I overlooked it.

As I study the charts I think of these different temps as posted speed limits.  There are the studies the highway engineers did to determine the maximum safe speed to drive on a particular road and that's the posted speed limit.  As we all know, that isn't necessarily the speed many people drive.  Sure, we probably won't get into an accident but is it really safe to do so?

You are right; there is no mention of it being safe on the page that contains the chart. The chart is part II of a longer article; here is a link to When Is Meat Done, Part I?. You will find the explanation in the first three paragraphs.

I think our disagreement is over semantics. My view is a recommendation is not a regulation that needs to be followed, in this case for safety purposes.