# Pork Safety question



## cobra1713 (May 14, 2015)

Hello,

I was reading a few posts about this and just wanted a second opinion on my situation before I feed the majority of my family this meat lol.   I placed a 10.5Lb Pork shoulder/picnic roast on the smoker last night around 8 PM.  ST was sitting well around 225-230 from 8 until 1030PM, I then added a few more pieces of charcoal and wood before I went to bed.  At this point I had not probed the meat at all so unknown internal temp.  I woke up at 5 AM and noticed the ST was at 180.  I went to check the meat and the IT of the roast was 137.

I read on a post here that since it was likely at 130+ for a few hours and since I still plan on getting it to almost 200 I should be ok as far as bacteria is concerned. however I would love someone to chime in on this situation just to be on the safe side.  In the mean time I have stoked the smoker back up to 225 and will continue smoking the meat.  

Thanks in advance,

SORRY just realized I did this in the grilling section not the smoking section.  Sorry I think I was half asleep while writing it anyway.  Ill repost it in the proper forum.


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## hillbillyrkstr (May 14, 2015)

4-40-140 rule applies here. You have 4 hours to get that pork butt from 40 to 140. You missed that mark by 5 hours. I wouldn't take a chance.


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## daveomak (May 14, 2015)

As long as the meat was "whole", not injected, poked or prodded, which would inject surface bacteria into the muscle, you are OK......   Whole meat muscle is considered "sterile" inside....  
Since the meat temp was 137, it should be safe also....   There are pasteurization tables that allow for safe products at lower temps.....

The table below shows that if pork is held at 137 for 23 minutes, the pathogens have been killed....   The meat may not be cooked to your liking, but it is safe to eat....    
Of course that depends if your thermometer is calibrated correctly and ALL the meat reached 137 degrees internal temp, including the bone etc...  

Temperature Time Temperature Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)

130 (54.4) 112 min... 146 (63.3) 169 sec
131 (55.0) 89 min....  147 (63.9) 134 sec
132 (55.6) 71 min....  148 (64.4) 107 sec
133 (56.1) 56 min....  149 (65.0) 85 sec
134 (56.7) 45 min....  150 (65.6) 67 sec
135 (57.2) 36 min....  151 (66.1) 54 sec
136 (57.8) 28 min....  152 (66.7) 43 sec
137 (58.4) 23 min....  153 (67.2) 34 sec
138 (58.9) 18 min....  154 (67.8) 27 sec
139 (59.5) 15 min....  155 (68.3) 22 sec
140 (60.0) 12 min....  156 (68.9) 17 sec
141 (60.6) 9 min......  157 (69.4) 14 sec
142 (61.1) 8 min......  158 (70.0) 0 sec
143 (61.7) 6 min.......
144 (62.2) 5 min.......
145 (62.8) 4 min.......

Table C.1: Pasteurization times for beef, corned beef, lamb, pork and cured pork (FDA, 2009, 3-401.11.B.2).


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## hillbillyrkstr (May 14, 2015)

so after 9 hours in the smoker as long as you haven't poked a hole in it your good Dave? This is news to me. Glad to hear this fellas dinner wasn't wasted.


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## daveomak (May 14, 2015)

Cobra1713 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I was reading a few posts about this and just wanted a second opinion on my situation before I feed the majority of my family this meat lol.   I placed a 10.5Lb Pork shoulder/picnic roast on the smoker last night around 8 PM.  *ST was sitting well around 225-230 from 8 until 1030PM,* I then added a few more pieces of charcoal and wood before I went to bed.  At this point I had not probed the meat at all so unknown internal temp.  I woke up at 5 AM and noticed the ST was at 180.  I went to check the meat and the IT of the roast was 137.
> 
> ...


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## cobra1713 (May 14, 2015)

Thanks for the insight, I started about 1/3 of a chimney worth of charcoal and added it to bring the temp back up and it has been sitting around 240 so I'll go ahead and finish off the smoke theN. 

Thanks again.


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