I am of this same school. I don't probe briskets or butts until at least 4 to 5 hours into a cook. I guess for those who power cook (300 degrees plus), probing might need to be done at the start.
You are correct, most Bacteria are killed at around 130*F, based on time at that temp...During the average Smoke at 225*F+ with no problems it don't matter, Probe from Raw, Inject whatever, punch Garlic into the meat, do whatever you like...BUT...What if...You read it's a good idea to warm the Meat to Room Temp for 2-3 hours, you go in the Smoker and fight for 6 hours to keep the temp above 200*F. The meat finally hits 140*F after 6 hours (you have now been in the Danger Zone 9 hours). You take the meat to 200*F IT, knowing you killed the Bacteria, you proceed to Pull and Eat it and 2 hours later the whole Family is sick...What happened??? You also need to understand that many types of Bacteria while they can't or don't hurt you, can create Toxins that Do...The Bacteria dies at 130*F but many of these Toxins are Heat Stable meaning you could cook the meat to 400*F IT and have little effect on the Toxins ability to make you sick or Dead...If you have any Toxin producing Bacteria on the surface of the meat you risk Pushing them in with the Therm Probe or by Injecting. There are some precations you can take to cover your Butt (pun intended). Never, Never, Never, Warm meat that will be cooked more than 4 hours on the Counter! Wash the meat, being careful not to Splash and contaminate the whole area. Rub meat with a Vinegary Mustard or other Acidic liquid and apply a Salty Rub before Injecting anything and/or Probing or simply start the Cook and wait 1-2 hours, for the Bacteria to be killed, before Probing. This way if anything goes wrong with the Smoke there is little to worry about...Hope this helps...JJ
They say if you put a probe in the meat before it reaches 140* you'll be pushing "bad guys" on the surface deep into the meat. It probably makes sence not to put the probe in for a few hours on big cuts of meat becasue you know it's gonna be a while anyway.
Rabbit, It ain't the Probe that is the Problem, you Sterilized it with Alcohol...BUT...Unless you wiped the MEAT down with Alcohol...IT...Is covered with Bacteria that a freshly sterilized probe will push in. Think of it this way...In the hospital they pull a 100% guaranteed sterile Syringe out of the package but they Wipe your arm well with Alcohol...Why, the needle is sterile!...Your Arm Isn't!. Hope this clears things up...JJ
Rabbit we also are not arguing...Both Jarjar and myself are Pros that are or have been responsible for the Feeding and Health of Thousands of people on any given day or over time. So it is imperative that we do Everything in our power to make sure nothing happens to jeopardize our customers and the Precautions we describe are highly effective, therefore we pass that info on to the rest of SMF. The long and short of it is..." How many people have gotten sick from sticking a probe in a hunk of raw meat? "...I have no Clue! But someone knows because they teach us not to do it! The way Bacteria works and how it reacts in and on meat as it cooks is well known...You can wipe the therm probe between your Butt cheeks and then Spit on it and stick it in a hunk of meat that the Dog licked for an hour and as long as nothing goes wrong during the cook...Absolutely Nothing will happen to you! But we know that our Backsides and Spit and Dogs mouth's are full of bacteria so we just don't do any of these things. Same in this situation... We know that Meat is covered with bacteria and 9999 times out of 10,000 you can stick that Probe in that raw meat and nothing will happen...But because we also know that just " ONE " time something goofy can happen, and Maybe we pushed some Bacteria into the meat...So we will not risk it, we take every precaution to avoid getting anybody sick...JJ
