This a a new one for me, need to determine if I need to toss the meat or if it can still be safe to eat.
I put a thick 16 pound brisket in at 5:30pm at 225 degrees. I did not pre-heat my SM045, and the brisket was basically only out of the fridge for 30 minutes for me trim and rub it before putting it in the smoker, so it's internal temp was pretty low to start with.
At 10:30 I went out to check it (for the first time of the cook) and my cookshack unit was off! I jiggled the plug and it came back on.
The smoker temp read 94 when it came back on (I think - see below).
The meat probe read 132. The probe was in the thickest part of the brisket, which I believe is called the point.
I pulled the wood tray, and the oak chunks looked pretty well burnt, which tells me the smoker had run for quite awhile before shutting off.
I am trying to figure how long the smoker was actually off. Any idea how long it would take and SM045 to drop from 225 to 94? I am in southern CA, it is about 70 degrees outside. But here is more info - after turning it back on, 10 minutes later it was reading 195 - so maybe when I first looked at it was not quite registering correctly or I misread the 194 as 94 as I was pretty panicked. I did have the door open for about 5 minutes while I checked the meat temp and wood tray, so the smoker temp would have dropped further, explaining why after 10 minutes it was back up to 195 (maybe it dropped from 194 to say 174, then ramped back up to 195 quickly)? Could my smoker actually have dropped 10-20 degrees from 94 while I had the door open, then go all the way back from 75 or so up to 195 10 minutes later?
Also, what should I expect the internal temp of the thick part to be after 5 hours at 225? Should it have been much higher than 132?
Bottom line, trying to determine the level of risk of eating this brisket tomorrow when it is done.
Any and all input would be appreciated!
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