Danger Zone...

[timberline&BGE]

Put on 6lb butt last night around 930pm, 200 degrees super smoke. It came from fridge so internal was 34 when I put it on. At 530 am bark looking great, but internal only 130. I've done this a lot on a green egg and also a recteq previously, I was surprised I wasn't at 150+. Anyway you know the drill the 140 rule, I bumped to 275 and it climbed over in about 45 min. Would you eat this or toss? I guess the question is how long was it at 130, presumably the bacteria growth would be far less at 130 than 100 for example. I can't decide, but leaning on the toss, i'm on the conservative side of food safety.

Side note, love the new timberline. super quiet and easy to clean, i've noticed the temps really swing on super smoke so it probably cycled between 180 and 225 all night. I'm not sure super smoke adds any flavor because it rolls smoke on regular 225

 

[RayClem]

Remember that in a large cut of meat, most of the bacteria will be on the outside. The temperaturen on the outside is going to be well above the 140F danger zone. As long as you cook the meat long enough to reach an internal temperature above 145F in the center of the meat and hold it there for several minutes, any live bacteria inside the meat will be killed.

Ground beef, pork or turkey is a different situation. The bacteria on the surface of the meat are distributed throughout the meat in the grinding process. That is why ground meat needs to be cooked to 165F to insure food safety.

When cooking smaller cuts of meat, "Super Smoke" might have some effect on smoke flavor since the cook time will be limited. On larger cuts like your butt, the cook time is long enough that the meat will be exposed to smoke long enough for the meat to develop a smoke ring, even if you do not use "Super Smoke". When doing pork butt, I start off at 225F actual cook temperature as verified by a separate thermometer I know to be accurate. I never trust the temperature reading of the Traeger thermocouple as shown on the controller and it is never accurate over the full range of cook temperatures. If your Timberline came with the Meater thermometer, it might be more accurate.

If you still have any concern about food safety, you can always recook the meat in your kitchen oven, but that is unlikely to be necessary.