# Danger zone time



## mijpa (Nov 23, 2009)

Having brain fart here. Smoking turkey i need to get out of the danger zone 40-140 in no more then a 4 hour time fram correct?


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## chefrob (Nov 23, 2009)

yes....quicker if posible but 4hrs is the magic #.


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## gnubee (Nov 23, 2009)

Yes that would be the max time allowed, after that its women and children first, man the lifeboats. 

Also for poultry the starting temp of your smoker should be a lot higher than we smoke other foods at. I never do bird less than 300f although you're probably all right at 250f or so. If the bird sat out for 4 hours I'd start it in a 350f oven.


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## mijpa (Nov 23, 2009)

My smoker only hits 275 max. I'm not sure how to go about not having rubbery skin without drying bird out?


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## gnubee (Nov 23, 2009)

Yes 4 hours is the maximum time allowed. After that the germs begin to get a tad dangerous.

Also for poultry we usually cook them at 250f or above. Not as low and slow as we smoke other meats.

If your bird sat out for 4 hours or more I'd start it at 350f in the oven or smoker just to be on the safe side.
Sorry about the double post , finger trouble . Yah thats it , its the computers fault...


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## gnubee (Nov 23, 2009)

275f should work, baste the bird every so often with the drippings and it should be moist when its done. 
The skin will chrisp at 275f
Cook the stuffing in a seperate container and not inside the bird for greater safety. 

If you have one of those turkey cannons to shove up its butt it will cook faster. Sort of like a beer can chicken.


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## oneshot (Nov 23, 2009)

GnuB, just admit it, you don't have computer trouble.
It's just that your fingers st st st st stutter!!!!!!  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			










  LMAO


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## mballi3011 (Nov 23, 2009)

Yes I try to smoke all my poulty at 275 or above and quickly too. You don't want the 4 hour police swooping in and taking you birds.


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## mijpa (Nov 23, 2009)

Thanks everyone for your replys. Hope your holidays are blessed!


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## luvdatritip (Nov 23, 2009)

If I'd have had a brain fart and let my bird sit out for 4 hrs, I think I'd go get another bird. But that's just me.


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## pignit (Nov 24, 2009)

Say What? Did I miss something here?


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## travcoman45 (Nov 24, 2009)

You have 4 hours in the danger zone which is 40° - 140° an that is cumulative, so if yer there fer say 3 hours durin the smoke, an yer meat say sat out fer 1 hour over 40° it continues ta add up, so you would have already reached the 4 hour limit.


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## ddave (Nov 24, 2009)

You got that right. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Or stock up on toilet paper and plan on spending Friday in the bathroom.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Dave


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## travcoman45 (Nov 24, 2009)

Or some time in the hospital, been there, done that, don't ever care ta repeat it.  Had ta get better ta die!


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## gnubee (Nov 24, 2009)

Yeah 4 hours out and you should turf the bird. 

Check this device out for doing a Turkey, Even a 24 lb bird in 1/2 the time which has got to be safer. Plus it cooks the Turkey from both the inside and the outside. Its made by Camp Chef a well known maker of cast iron products. 

http://www.foodreference.com/html/ap-turkey-cannon.html

Works ( excuse the pun ) like a Hot damm.


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## gnubee (Nov 24, 2009)

You have made an error for which I have decided to forgive you.
( how good am I ?)
Know this *My fingers don't make mistrakes*. 
Although I am a perfict speller my puter is not. I think there is a glitch between the keyboard and the kasnoffilator section in my computers brain stem. It could be the pondulator but I don't really think so. Kasnoffilators it seems are very sensitive when it comes to spellin. I missed the correct moon phase last week plus I didn't have a dead cat on hand for the right spell to work. So I will have to wait another fortnight before applying the correct technique to fix the damm thing. Unless of course one of you out there has a spare kasnoffilator you could send me. It must be a red & green one and not the yellow & blue type because its within 29 days of Christmas eve. Oh Lordy! I Don't want to make that mistake again.


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## eman (Nov 24, 2009)

It's Just a temporary short between the keyboard and the chair.
 I get them all the time.


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## raceyb (Nov 24, 2009)

Keep in mind that 4 hour window you keep hearing about is the total time that the bird is at 40 -140. That includes ann prep or brine time that the bird was at that temp. Add all of that time up together.


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## cajun_1 (Nov 24, 2009)

So if ya brine the bird for 12 hours overnight, ya might as well throw it out because it has passed the 4 hour mark?


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## ddave (Nov 24, 2009)

No.  Not if you brine in a refrigerator.

Dave


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## cajun_1 (Nov 24, 2009)

Thanks Dave, I knew that.  But some "newbies" could get a little confused by that statement.   ...


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## bbq engineer (Nov 24, 2009)

Ya Know GnuBee, it might be the Kasnoffilator, but often when I have this problem with my computer it is symtomatic of another hardware problem, and is often diagnosed as a loose wing nut behind the keyboard!


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## ddave (Nov 25, 2009)

I figured you would have known.  I was a little surprised by your post.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I read back a few posts and I get ya now. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Good to clarify though. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Dave


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## cajun_1 (Nov 25, 2009)




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## firemanphil (Nov 20, 2012)

HI, I have been reading these forums for a while now before I decided to post and make myself look like an idiot, but there is no stopping me now...  I have to ask, (and I do feel like and idiot) this "danger zone" of 40-140 degrees has to be cleared by the 4 hour mark??? That means that I have to have my turkey in the smoker with the internal temp above 140 within the 4 hour mark, also including any prep time???  am I reading this right?  Please forgive my "slowness"


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## linguica (Nov 20, 2012)

firemanphil said:


> HI, I have been reading these forums for a while now before I decided to post and make myself look like an idiot, but there is no stopping me now...  I have to ask, (and I do feel like and idiot) this "danger zone" of 40-140 degrees has to be cleared by the 4 hour mark??? That means that I have to have my turkey in the smoker with the internal temp above 140 within the 4 hour mark, also including any prep time???  am I reading this right?  Please forgive my "slowness"


You are right on the money. The time above 40 F includes prep and counter time.


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## venture (Nov 20, 2012)

4 to 140 covers the exterior of intact muscle meat.

That gives some leeway for the internal temp, assuming the meat has not been tenderized, injected, probed with a therm, or otherwise rendered "non-intact". Hopefully, the internal temp is somewhat cooler than the external temp at the outset?

With poultry, I would be especially careful. 

Obviously seafood, organ meat and ground meat would not fall into the 4 hour rule. Or at least not in my kitchen.

Then again, there is an unknown.  How carefully was the meat handled before you got it?

Good luck and good smoking.


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