# Smoker went out last night - is my pork butt okay?



## Roo (Nov 7, 2021)

Hey guys!

smoked a pork butt last night at 11pm. Probably smoked for 3-4 hours then shut off. 
I checked it this morning (8am) and everything was cold cold cold (temp outside is like 40 degrees last night). I have family coming to eat at 4pm tonight and it’s currently 8:30am. Can I wrap the meet in foil and throw it in the oven, or is this pork butt gone :(


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## thirdeye (Nov 7, 2021)

I hate the "Help! My fire went out" posts.   Your situation could be right on the borderline of food safety.  Hopefully you have it in the oven coming up to temp while we sort things out. 

Meanwhile, can you give more information?  Is the butt a boneless one?  What is it's weight? Did the roast go from the fridge to the smoker?  What was the original smoker temp?  Did you have any meat temp before you turned in for the night?  Did you take an internal temp of the meat at 8AM?  Do you have Dominoes on speed dial?


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## DougE (Nov 7, 2021)

thirdeye said:


> Do you have Dominoes on speed dial?


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## cansmoke (Nov 7, 2021)

thirdeye said:


> I hate the "Help! My fire went out" posts.   Your situation could be right on the borderline of food safety.  Hopefully you have it in the oven coming up to temp while we sort things out.
> 
> Meanwhile, can you give more information?  Is the butt a boneless one?  What is it's weight? Did the roast go from the fridge to the smoker?  What was the original smoker temp?  Did you have any meat temp before you turned in for the night?  Did you take an internal temp of the meat at 8AM?  Do you have Dominoes on speed dial?


If you have been without power for more than two hours, toss it! No need to give you our those you were going to feed issues.


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## chef jimmyj (Nov 7, 2021)

If it was NOT INJECTED or Boned and Tied...You are FINE!!! 2-4 hours in a Hot Smoker is 1-3 hours longer than needed to Kill Surface Bacteria. If the meat is Intact, it could sit in that smoker, especially at 40°, until TOMORROW and be Completely SAFE!...JJ


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## chef jimmyj (Nov 7, 2021)

cansmoke
  Here is some useful info for next time this situation comes up...JJ 






						My Smoker Died! Is my Meat Safe?
					

My Smoker is fine but if I had a Dollar for everytime i answered this type of post. I'd be smoking on a $20,000 Kalamazoo! Bottom line...If the meat is INTACT Bacteria on the surface is DEAD, HISTORY, KAPUT IN 30 to 60 MINUTES OR LESS AT 225°F!!! As soon as the surface gets to 140 or higher, the...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com


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## DougE (Nov 7, 2021)

chef jimmyj said:


> Here is some useful info for next time this situation comes up...JJ
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I thought that to be the case, JJ, but didn't want to put it out there if I was mistaken. I bookmarked your other thread to keep as a reference for when this gets asked again.


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## thirdeye (Nov 7, 2021)

chef jimmyj said:


> If it was NOT INJECTED or Boned and Tied...You are FINE!!! 2-4 hours in a Hot Smoker is 1-3 hours longer than needed to Kill Surface Bacteria. If the meat is Intact, it could sit in that smoker, especially at 40°, until TOMORROW and be Completely SAFE!...JJ


Too bad 
R
 Roo
 did not follow up with the bone-in question, injection (Y/N), smoker temp and a more accurate  pit time. 

I've seen a lot of how-to videos and write-ups in the last couple of years that have gotten away from lo-n-slow cooks and recommend 275° and 300° pit temps, especially drum cooks.  And at that pit temp, even a 8# butt will often be ~150°  internal between hour 4 and 5.   Pork butt is the only heavy meat I still cook with low pit temps.... I will stretch out a cook on a 8# or 9# butt for ~15 hours, and I don't even temp the internal until hour 8 or so.


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## bigfurmn (Nov 7, 2021)

Long story short... Listen to Chef JJ. Pretty sure everyone here trusts him. I sure as hell do.


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## chef jimmyj (Nov 7, 2021)

Follow-up would be nice.  Runnin' a MES, it seems happy at 250°. Any big cuts take roughly 1.5 hours per pound... JJ


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## Steve H (Nov 8, 2021)

And I'll again stress how handy a remote thermometer is with high/low alarms.


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## schlotz (Nov 8, 2021)

Yeah yet another 'my smoker died sometime in the night' post.  Why is it so many do not think of this real possibility and take the appropriate step to guard against it?


 Steve H
 is spot on!  A simple reporting therm with alarm can save the worry and ensure one's hard work is rewarded.


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## normanaj (Nov 8, 2021)

Steve H said:


> And I'll again stress how handy a remote thermometer is with high/low alarms.



This can't be said enough.


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## SmokinEdge (Nov 8, 2021)

It’s to bad that 
R
 Roo
 hasnt followed up. All we can do now is speculate. 
That said, I’m guessing we are dealing with a pellet grill with a central fire pot, and we were smoking at that Magical 225* temp For an all night’er. 

Most pellet grills with a central fire pot are pretty decent grills, but they are poor low/slow smokers. These machines are marketed as “smoker, grill, and oven” all in one. They are marketed, or perceived to be “a set and forget” grill/smoker. It is this perception that has sold more of these grills than anything else. Think of it,,,,,, a set and forget “smoker”,,,,,, How cool would that be? Why, with one of these I could be a “pit master” and low and slow a brisket or pork butt to perfection over night at that Magical 225* pit temp, all while getting a good nights sleep. Seems pretty smart, doesn’t it? Trouble is, if something sounds to good to be true, it generally is. This concept is at its best, naive, and at its worst, irresponsible. No cooker is ever “set and forget” really, not to a responsible cook. At Bear minimum you need remote thermometers with high/low alarms, and a few trial runs where you are actually tending to the cooker and learning how it operates at low cooking temperature For extended cook times. The idea that someone would fire up a cooker, throw a piece of meat on it, then walk away for 9 hours with no prior experience and not a care in the world, speaks volumes to me. This subject is actually all to common on these forums. The subject line is almost always the same, and the series of events is almost verbatim in all of them. It’s like a get rich quick scheme except it’s buy this grill and be an expert pit master scheme.

Pellet grills with a central fire pot have a continuous fan forging the fire while the auger feeds pellets into one end of the pot. This design works fairly well for high heat grilling temperature say 300-500* at low temps say 225 down to 180* when running for extended time, the continuous air flow on the fire tends to burn up the coals at the auger point before more pellets are introduced. (This always seems to occur at the 3-4 hour mark) and the fire goes out even though there may be hot coals on the opposite side of the pot, there is ash between the fresh pellets and hot coals, the fire simply dies. This design simply doesn’t lend itself to extended time cooks at low temperature.
Some grills auger pellet from above the firebox and gravity drops them in the fire. This design works better because the pellets fall randomly in the pot from one end to the other not just in one specific location of the pot. (Yoder is one) At any rate, pellet grills as a general rule make poor low slow cookers. They can work, but all to often struggle. I’ll get off my soap box now.


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## schlotz (Nov 8, 2021)

I do agree that attempting an overnight cook without thinking through the possibilities is just asking for trouble regardless of brand or type of smoker.  Fires go out for all sorts of reasons and you need a game plan that insures the smoke will be a success. Having said that, and in regard to type of smoker, my number one comment is you get what you pay for.  FWIW, I've not had a single occurrence of my smoker dying overnight or any other time for that matter in all the years I've been smoking BUT,  I'm prepared. I have and regularly use a reporting therm with an alarm.

Bottom line, you can successfully smoke low & slow (and overnight if you choose) with all types of equipment including pellet poopers if the necessary due diligence is followed. Throw caution to the wind and smoke blind to the potential pitfalls, you will get bit, it's just a matter of time.

I sure wish there was a prominent sticky for this ever occurring MSD syndrome (my smoker died), it would help some avoid the issue.  Unfortunately, there are those 'free-spirits' that rarely learn, instead preferring to just wing-it without a thought to the downside.


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## thirdeye (Nov 8, 2021)

SmokinEdge said:


> It’s to bad that @Roo  hasnt followed up. All we can do now is speculate.
> That said, I’m guessing we are dealing with a pellet grill with a central fire pot, and we were smoking at that Magical 225* temp For an all night’er.
> 
> The idea that someone would fire up a cooker, throw a piece of meat on it, then walk away for 9 hours with no prior experience and not a care in the world, speaks volumes to me.


When the Big Green Eggs were starting to get really popular, say around 2005 or so a lot of cooks were smoking with 250° pit temps.  Large Eggs can hold enough charcoal to cook for 20 or 25+ hours at those temps, so all-day or overnight cooks were now realistic with some nap time included.  A common trend promoted by some Eggheads at the time was to use a cable thermometer for monitoring and  'never open the dome'.  In fact it was taboo by some to peek.  Anyways, one of my favorite forum posts at the time was from a guy that buys an Egg one Saturday and sets it up.  He invites family and friends  over for a Sunday brisket dinner. Very early Sunday he builds a fire, sets the vents and gets the brisket on.  Then goes to church, then to breakfast.... then meets some guys for 18 holes of golf.  On the way home he stops and picks up all the groceries  for the rest of the dinner.  He arrives to find that his Egg has slowly ramped up to about 800° and his brisket looked like a meteorite.


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## Roo (Nov 8, 2021)

Hey guys, sorry for the late response. Bummer I had to throw the pork butt away. Pregnant wife and family in town and just didn't want to chance getting everyone sick. I did throw it in the oven for a few hourse that morning and tried it when I took it out. It was AMAZING! I was so bummed I had to throw it away. And I didn't get sick lol. 

So, my problem was that I'm using a Traeger Scout (the portable smoker) and it ran out of pellets during the night. It was my first time trying the Scout and didn't expect that to happen. 

Thank you for all of your responses! I've learned a lot and can't wait to try again. That was my very first time smoking.


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## chopsaw (Nov 8, 2021)

I think you made the right choice given the circumstance . 
I'll just say I never do unattended cooks . 
Keep us posted on your next cook , and find a good therm .


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## mcokevin (Nov 8, 2021)

thirdeye said:


> When the Big Green Eggs were starting to get really popular, say around 2005 or so a lot of cooks were smoking with 250° pit temps.  Large Eggs can hold enough charcoal to cook for 20 or 25+ hours at those temps, so all-day or overnight cooks were now realistic with some nap time included.  A common trend promoted by some Eggheads at the time was to use a cable thermometer for monitoring and  'never open the dome'.  In fact it was taboo by some to peek.  Anyways, one of my favorite forum posts at the time was from a guy that buys an Egg one Saturday and sets it up.  He invites family and friends  over for a Sunday brisket dinner. Very early Sunday he builds a fire, sets the vents and gets the brisket on.  Then goes to church, then to breakfast.... then meets some guys for 18 holes of golf.  On the way home he stops and picks up all the groceries  for the rest of the dinner.  He arrives to find that his Egg has slowly ramped up to about 800° and his brisket looked like a meteorite.


I am really jealous of the cojones on that guy!  Church, breakfast, then 18 holes... all while your first smoke is just rolling along at home.  The easy life!  You know he talked to his buddies the whole 18 about the brisket he was going to have later that night from his new super expensive big green egg.


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## Roo (Nov 8, 2021)

chopsaw said:


> I think you made the right choice given the circumstance .
> I'll just say I never do unattended cooks .
> Keep us posted on your next cook , and find a good therm .


Will Do! Thanks guys! Yeah, do you guys stay away from overnight smokes?


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## Torch&Tone (Nov 8, 2021)

SmokinEdge - Ya think I can borrow that brush? I want to paint a barn in just a few strokes. 

Roo - The first time I failed to keep an eye on my pellet level, I was reminded of a piece of advice (just as applicable to drivers, boaters, campers, cooks, and plenty others, I'm sure): "There are two kinds: those who _have _run out of fuel and those who _will_." Fortunately, yes, a low temp alarm can save the day - and the meat!


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## thirdeye (Nov 8, 2021)

Roo said:


> Hey guys, sorry for the late response. Bummer I had to throw the pork butt away. Pregnant wife and family in town and just didn't want to chance getting everyone sick. I did throw it in the oven for a few hourse that morning and tried it when I took it out. It was AMAZING! I was so bummed I had to throw it away. And I didn't get sick lol.
> 
> So, my problem was that I'm using a Traeger Scout (the portable smoker) and it ran out of pellets during the night. It was my first time trying the Scout and didn't expect that to happen.
> 
> Thank you for all of your responses! I've learned a lot and can't wait to try again. That was my very first time smoking.


Thanks for checking in.  The reason for all the questions is simply this.... baddies that live on the surface are your front line enemy, but they slow multiplication and die as the surface temp nears and passes 145°.   The inside of a non-disturbed whole muscle roast is somewhat safe from bacteria.   So we did not know all the variables of your particular cook.  Every "help, my fire went out" post is slightly different. 

That said, if the bone was removed, or you injected the roast, studded it with garlic or herbs, etc..... some baddies can now get into the roast and they are multiplying as the roast is warming in the smoker.  So now the internal temp of the roast needs to get to 145°+ within a few hours to slow the multiplication and kill those little guys too.  In the case of a butt, you will eventually take the internal to around 200°.  This is the same reasoning behind cooking ground pork to 160°.... surface bacteria has been introduced to all of the meat during grinding.  

Smaller roasts heat up quicker than large roasts, and of course a high pit temp heats the roast quicker than a low pit temp, so these are factors too.


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## Bearcarver (Nov 8, 2021)

Roo said:


> Will Do! Thanks guys! Yeah, do you guys stay away from overnight smokes?



I never do Unattended overnight smokes:
My Smokers were all Electric, but they were on my front Porch, attached to an All Wood House, under a Wood Front porch roof. My Family is too valuable to me to Smoke overnight, or unattended. Anything can happen.

Bear


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## smokeymose (Nov 8, 2021)

Roo said:


> Will Do! Thanks guys! Yeah, do you guys stay away from overnight smokes?


Since all I have is an offset stick burner and a Weber kettle I would say never.
Even if I had an electric or pellet cooker I wouldn't think of having something going on all night unsupervised.
I wouldn't be able to sleep.....
I've seen enough of these "smoker stopped overnight" posts  to convince me.


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## GATOR240 (Nov 8, 2021)

Bearcarver said:


> I never do Unattended overnight smokes:
> My Smokers were all Electric, but they were on my front Porch, attached to an All Wood House, under a Wood Front porch roof. My Family is too valuable to me to Smoke overnight, or unattended. Anything can happen.
> 
> Bear


You nailed it John.


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## thirdeye (Nov 8, 2021)

Roo said:


> Will Do! Thanks guys! Yeah, do you guys stay away from overnight smokes?



No, I cook through the night all the time.  My  most common is cold smoking a ham or slabs of bacon... but I'm running a pellet tube which gives me 6 or 7 hours of burn time.  I'll have one tube going and I'll start a new tube around midnight which will burn until morning.

I've done more overnight barbecue cooks on my large Big Green Egg.  They have a long time on a full load of charcoal, and once dialed in, then don't take much adjustment.  I generally have a Maverick pit probe with the remote on the night stand.  I also have an early (analog) forced draft fan for the Egg.  I still just run the pit probe but it has worked flawlessly.  I can only imagine what the new digital and bluetooth controllers can do.  Here is the set-up during an overnight cook.... the temperature fell to -20°F, but once all the ceramic gets hot, Eggs cook just like it was July 4th.   








My drums are another story.  I oversized the charcoal baskets so I'll get 18+ hours of burn time.  They rarely need adjustment, but just in case I still put my Maverick in there to watch the pit temp.  My drums love to run at 260°, which is fine during the night.


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## SecondHandSmoker (Nov 8, 2021)

Roo said:


> ran out of pellets during the night. It was my first time trying the Scout and didn't expect that to happen.




Welcome to SMF.  
We are truly sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience and know how frustrating it is when something unexpected happens.
You have received excellent advice from everyone above.
I would like to point out a couple more observations.
First, never attempt an overnight cook as your first cook on a new smoker. 
Get a few short day time smokes under your belt to learn the characteristics of your new smoker. 
There is no such thing as a 'set and forget' smoker.  They all require interaction because stuff happens such as running out of pellets, power outages, etc.

Secondly, your particular smoker has a four pound hopper capacity.  On average, a pellet smoker will consume one pound of pellets per hour dependent on temperature set point, oustide ambient temperature, wind conditions, the amount of meat in the smoker, etc.
So, you probably won't be doing many if any overnight smokes while having an uninterrupted sleep.  You will need to get up and refill the hopper with more pellets if you plan on getting more than fours of shut-eye.

I frequently do overnight PB and brisket smokes.  However, I have a large uncovered brick patio addition that allows me to keep my electric smoker a safe distance from the house during all smokes so that if my smoker ever goes Chernobyl it is far enough away from the house as to not burn it down.  Then again, my remote digital thermometer is programmed to alert me to under and over temp conditions.
For an electric smoker, mine is a solid performer.  Do I absolutely trust it?  NOPE!

P.S.  Good call in putting the pork butt in the oven.  You should have kept going and crossed the finish line.   We love Q vues here.  Post up some your next cooks.


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## chef jimmyj (Nov 9, 2021)

Welcome to SMF. You certainly jumped in with both feet and learned a valuable lesson. Get to know that Smoker with some short, easy cooks, your fav Chicken Parts or Pork Butt Steaks and Country Style Ribs, are all good choices. Then tackle the Big Cuts. Get yourself a Good Remote Thermometer with Alarms. Our sponsor INKBIRDBBQ runs online specials all the time.

Inquire if this is still valid...JJ





__





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## Steve H (Nov 9, 2021)

As Jimmy noted. InkBird has some very good products. The one he posted is a bluetooth model. Great if you stay in range. I switched to their WiFi one.
Inkbird Rechargeable WiFi Grill Thermometer IBBQ-4T with 4 Probes 
Pretty much unlimited range. And the pro app is very good.


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## chef jimmyj (Nov 9, 2021)

I would go with Steve's choice...JJ


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## thirdeye (Nov 9, 2021)

mcokevin said:


> I am really jealous of the cojones on that guy!  Church, breakfast, then 18 holes... all while your first smoke is just rolling along at home.  The easy life!  You know he talked to his buddies the whole 18 about the brisket he was going to have later that night from his new super expensive big green egg.


It was a combination of slick advertising and reading between the lines on the early ceramic BBQ forums.   Before I bought one, the only  ads for Eggs I ever saw were in the airline magazines they put in the pouch of the seat in front of you.  I researched them for a couple of weeks and had to make a 600 mile round trip to buy one.


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