PLEASE HELP URGENT

[bflosmoke]

HI Folks I have an urgent question.I had my pork shoulders resting in my garage fridge last night and at sometime the door poped open. When I found out 15 mins ago the temp of the pork was 53 degrees is it still smokeable????? Also I had some ribs I smoked last night and they were in there to. I have to go get more right away for tommorrow if I have to throw these out.

[KyNola]

Tough call and wait for the experts to advise you but I would smoke the shoulders as you are going to take them to an IT of 175-200 for pulled pork.  I think it would kill any bad things.  Likewise, if the ribs were already smoked and fully cooked, I think you're good to go with those too.

Like I said, I am far from the expert but I think you're ok.  Let's wait for the guys who really know.

KyNola

[bigcatdaddy]

I still think everything will be fine.  Your only about 15 degrees warmer than most fridges are kept.

BCD

[NePaSmoKer]

Your ok.

I let my butts and briskits set at room temp before smokin.  Go ahead and smok em  ;D

nepas

[FLBentRider]

I'd smoke 'em.

[Tenpoint5]

Smoke 'Em

I let my butts sit on the counter for an hour to warm up alittle before I put them in the smoker.

[bflosmoke]

Thank you all for the help. They are in the bradley as of 2 hrs ago.
Thanks again.

[kiyotei]

I have no idea if you are ok or not but one comment about cooking and killing germs.  Bacteria release toxins as they "spoil" the meat and those toxins cannot be cooked out.  So in summary you can cook meat till it reaches a temp where it kills all bacteria BUT the toxins will be in the meat and that is just as bad and dangerous.  Meat kept at a cool enough temp will prevent the bateria from producing the toxins.

[manxman]

Some bacteria cause food poisoning by direct action whist other cause food poisoning by the actions of the toxins they produce.

There are no hard and fast rules but most "common" food poisoning is caused directly by the bacteria, however those caused by the resultant toxins are also quite frequent depending on the bacteria involved.

Botulism, perhaps the most feared of all food poisoning is fortunately very very rare, and in this instance the toxin is destroyed by heating at a suitable temperature and time.

Bacteria either multiply very slowly or not at all below 40F, given your meat had only achieved 53F IMHO the above information is academic as many people let their meat come to room temperature before smoking in any case so at 53F there will have been very little additional bacterial growth and even less toxin formation in the short time span involved when it was between 40 and 53F, it had not even achieved room temperature.

From the information you gave I wouldn't be concerned, ensuring the food is cooked at the correct temperature will give additional peace of mind.  :)

[bflosmoke]

Thanks again for the help the pulled pork recieved rave reviews. I guess I will have to wait and see how everyone is doing tommorrow. But I am not to concerned so far everyone is fine.

[dcpendarvis]

Its also not completely certain, given your circumstances, but botulism also is predominately a problem with very low oxygen environments (like improperly canned foods).  Unless you sort of halfway sealed off the food, I would think botulism is pretty unlikely.

[bflosmoke]

Thanks all. The pork turned out fine and nobody ended up ill so I guess it worked fine.

[manxman]

Pleased it had a happy ending bflosmoke, my ten year old son is recovering from a bout of food poisoning from eating mussels in a restaurant!  Not nice!  >:(

[westexasmoker]

Second that bflo!!  Manx hope your son is doing well, that can be some nasty stuff especially for a little guy!  Good luck!

C

[bflosmoke]

Sorry to hear about your son Manx Im sure he will be just fine.
BFLO