Dave this is a typical case of a member has a small deviation from the " Guidelines " And those with some level of knowledge jumps all over the guy telling him he should toss " the highly Bacterial infested " meat in the garbage without a clue about the common types of Bacteria, Bacterial growth, the Phases of growth, how that Bacteria causes illness, under what circumstances, by what means and corrective measures. People should never be told to Waste food unless ALL the facts are taken into consideration! There are USDA guidelines and Fact Sheets that are posted for the General Public which by design are simply written and general with, " a lot of built in precaution." It is for this reason we at SMF follow and quote these guidelines but it is just that a Guideline. The info you posted does not take into consideration the type of food, size of the food, how it was handled before prep, if any Antibacterial agents are being applied, Salt, Vinegar, etc., how warm the product actually got, how soon it was cooked after deviation and to what final IT. To make my point, the USDA info says no more than 2 hours in the Danger Zone, it is a good reference point and very safe if that is the only Food Safety Education one has. But Culinary Education, an in depth study of Food Safety and Sanitation and owning/managing several Restaurants that were Inspected with regulatory compliance mandatory, requires that I know and follow this...
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/ucm186451.htm
[h4]3-501.19 Time as a Public Health Control.[/h4]
- (A) Except as specified under ¶ (D) of this section, if time without temperature control is used as the public health control for a working supply of potentially hazardous food (time/temperature control for safety food) before cooking, or for ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food (time/temperature control for safety food) that is displayed or held for sale or service:
- (1) Written procedures shall be prepared in advance, maintained in the food establishment and made available to the regulatory authority upon request that specify: Pf
- (a) Methods of compliance with Subparagraphs (B)(1) -(3) or C)(1)-(5) of this section; Pf and
- (b) Methods of compliance with § 3-501.14 for food that is prepared, cooked, and refrigerated before time is used as a public health control. Pf
- (B) If time temperature control is used as the public health control up to a maximum of 4 hours:
- (1) The food shall have an initial temperature of 5ºC (41ºF) or less when removed from cold holding temperature control, or 57°C (135°F) or greater when removed from hot holding temperature control; P
- (2) The food shall be marked or otherwise identified to indicate the time that is 4 hours past the point in time when the food is removed from temperature control; Pf
- (3) The food shall be cooked and served, served at any temperature if ready-to-eat, or discarded, within 4 hours from the point in time when the food is removed from temperature control; P and
- (4) The food in unmarked containers or packages, or marked to exceed a 4-hour limit shall be discarded. P
Time – maximum up to 6 hours
(C) If time without temperature control is used as the public health control up to a maximum of 6 hours:
- (1) The food shall have an initial temperature of 5ºC (41ºF) or less when removed from temperature control and the food temperature may not exceed 21ºC (70ºF) within a maximum time period of 6 hours; P
- (2) The food shall be monitored to ensure the warmest portion of the food does not exceed 21ºC (70ºF) during the 6-hour period, unless an ambient air temperature is maintained that ensures thefood does not exceed 21ºC (70ºF) during the 6-hour holding period; Pf
- (3) The food shall be marked or otherwise identified to indicate: Pf
- (a) The time when the food is removed from 5ºC (41ºF) or less cold holding temperature control, Pf and
- (b) The time that is 6 hours past the point in time when the food is removed from cold holding temperature control; Pf
- (4) The food shall be:
- (a) Discarded if the temperature of the food exceeds 21°C (70°F), P or
- (b) Cooked and served, served at any temperature if ready-to-eat, or discarded within a maximum of 6 hours from the point in time when the food is removed from 5ºC (41ºF) or less cold holding temperature control; P and
- (5) The food in unmarked containers or packages, or marked with a time that exceeds the 6-hour limit shall be discarded. P
- (D) A food establishment that serves a highly susceptible population may not use time as specified under ¶¶ (A), (B) or (C) of this section as the public health control for raw eggs.
This is the regulation that specifies how long the " Working Supply " of Protein can be " Out of Refrigeration " to be cut, trimmed, portioned, etc. before cooking we call this Prep Time. This section of Regulation has been Incorrectly posted as the basis of " The 4 Hour Rule ". It is not. There is no reference to cooking time or temp specification to a given IT, but according to my predecessor, it was considered in devising the four hour rule, as was the 2 Hour Guideline of the USDA, recommended cooking Temps and Internal temps. Also referenced were several other Professional Texts.
Dave the second batch of info and source while accurate is some what incomplete and only talks about Home Canning. There are other factors to take into consideration in this case. While the probe may have pushed C. Botulinum Bacteria or Spores into the meat, the bacteria was killed at 165*F and the spores take DAYS to germinate and produce dangerous levels of Toxin not a couple of hours. I could not copy the relevant charts but see pages 17-20 of this in depth link...
http://www.ifr.ac.uk/info/science/foodbornepathogens/docs/Final_project_report0707.pdf
Regarding the Denaturing of the Toxin, if any formed, this happens at temperatures as low as 170*F in as little as 10 minutes of exposure. See chart page 387 of this link...
http://aem.asm.org/content/36/2/386.full.pdf So my Badass comment was not only accurate but contained a level of built in precaution.
It is not my intent to Brag, make any member feel inadequate for their knowledge or offend anyone. The Staff and many Members here are well versed on Food Safety and 99% of the time make the right call...But it is the Gray Areas like these," it took a little long to Prep ", " The Smoker Temp went below 225 for X hours ", " I injected or probed the raw Butt and it took X hours instead of 4 to get to 140*F " and a few other situations, that take more in depth knowledge and looking at the entire situation before responding," Toss the meat out! " Answering these question/problems is the reason Jeff asked me to be Safety Moderator and the reason I spend countless hours on this Forum. Thanks Joe for bringing this one to my attention and if anyone has a doubt, Please contact me or JarJarChef whom is also similarly trained...JJ