For those that don’t know me, I’ll eat pretty much anything.
If you had dairy and mac salad and chix salad and didn’t have to make a bathroom run, you are probably very good.
Vac pack beef is stable and I would go with it. As already mentioned, if the package swelled, toss it. Otherwise, when you open it, if it smells like beef, looks like beef, and feels like beef, cook it up.
Yeah they are cool, but I trust Honda gennys (so does most of the oilfield) more than any other. I've seriously considered a generac but im stuck in my ways.
I don't think there is a right or straightforward answer because there are a number of variables and unknowns. As many are aware bacteria generally multiply quicker the warmer it is within the danger zone of around 40F/4C to 140F/60C. In this case if, as is quite likely, the fridge stayed below say 46F/8C then, particularly if cooked / eaten straight away, then there is a high probability there would be no issues.
Conversely any delay such as wet aging provides a great medium for further bacterial growth, for bacteria moist is good! You could go on and on listing pros and cons but on balance and personally I would still use the meat as planned if serving those I know very well.
HOWEVER.... the bottom line is perhaps protecting the vulnerable? Whether young or old (more health vulnerable in any case) can you be certain no one in your church group are say immunocompromised for example? If the answer is no then I would not use the meat as planned.
Bit of background... I am a biomedical sciences in blood sciences but my wife (the brainy one!) is a microbiology trained biomedical scientist, doesn't make us right but no harm in putting in our 2 pennies worth which may help make an informed decision!
We are indeed fortunate to have both yourself and your brainy wife on the board! It is comforting to know there is such a valuable resource available here when needed. No more important topic than food health and safety. My personal expertise runs out in trying to decide whether the 5 second rule applies to a dropped hot dog.
I was looking at the commercially-available setups out there, from places like Thermoworks and Fireboard. I didn't like the need to purchase multiple units, so I ended up making my own. There's both a mobile and desktop display for this:
I still haven't set up the alarms on it - I need to do that. It's worked pretty well for me thus far, though. I can set up temp alarms or power lost alarms. It does automatically power back up when power comes back on, and starts transmitting again as soon as internet is restored. But I'd have to set up an alarm for 'loss of signal' for if power went out. It's easy enough to do, but just haven't gotten around to it.
I don't think there is a right or straightforward answer because there are a number of variables and unknowns. As many are aware bacteria generally multiply quicker the warmer it is within the danger zone of around 40F/4C to 140F/60C. In this case if, as is quite likely, the fridge stayed below say 46F/8C then, particularly if cooked / eaten straight away, then there is a high probability there would be no issues.
Conversely any delay such as wet aging provides a great medium for further bacterial growth, for bacteria moist is good! You could go on and on listing pros and cons but on balance and personally I would still use the meat as planned if serving those I know very well.
HOWEVER.... the bottom line is perhaps protecting the vulnerable? Whether young or old (more health vulnerable in any case) can you be certain no one in your church group are say immunocompromised for example? If the answer is no then I would not use the meat as planned.
Bit of background... I am a biomedical sciences in blood sciences but my wife (the brainy one!) is a microbiology trained biomedical scientist, doesn't make us right but no harm in putting in our 2 pennies worth which may help make an informed decision!
In my gut (pun intended) I feel that it's okay. Where I am iffy is the extended wet bring seeing the potential temp glitch. To not waste 25 lbs of good meat and $, while exercising cation to not get peeps sick, here's my plan..... Stop the wet brine at 25 days (i.e. this Saturday), smoke it, taste test it, vacuum pack and in the deep freezer chest till the event. Reheat in sous vide, w/ a quick hit under broiler to tighten up bark.
Yep. Remember the ambient temp in the fridge will go up the longer your power is out, but big hunks of meat with a lot of thermal mass will go up slower. Also cryovac helps a lot to protect the meat. Fwiw, I dry age at 37 to 42 degrees (oh noooo thats 2 degrees above the danger zone) in around 80% humidity with hig airflow for 65 days my beef and venison primal.
I would be happy to follow this and serve to my friends and family, perhaps however one dilemma is are you going to worry about it to the extent of spoiling your enjoyment of the event itself?
The important thing is to be extra sure to cook / reheat to the correct temperature and hold for the correct length of time but I am sure you will have this covered.
A side point is that people have a tendency to blame "food poisoning" as the source of an illness no matter what... if I had a £ / $ for every time someone has said to me "I had a dodgy Chinese (or whatever) last night' when the illness is nothing to do with the food and more likely to be the copious amounts of alcohol for example.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
You made good points. Like I said, the milk and the mayo are fine. If I do the smell test, cook it and taste test it, you still wouldn't be comfortable serving it?
Please keep in mind that not all foodborne illnesses show up immediately after eating the contaminated food. Some could take hours, some could take days.
You have a difficult decision to make so we all wish you well on whatever you decide is best. Please keep us updated.
Pit Barrel Cooker
Weber Master-Touch
Blackstone Omnivore 4 Burner Griddle
Thermoworks: Signals, Billows, Thermopens, Thermopops, Nodes, bunch of silicone stuff, and more!
OnlyFire Rotisserie w/ Basket attachment for the Weber
Vortex for the Weber
Both of Meathead's books!
Way too many BBQ related accessories, tools, and doo-dads!
Yeah, I tend to have a touchy stomach to spoiled/undercooked foods, so I'd be in the "toss em" camp. I pick up on the sour smell pretty quick. By the time meat smells bad to other people, I've already scraped it into the trash can a day earlier.
Having lost about $350 worth of meat years ago when a previous garage fridge died, I now have node units that Donw linked to, on my garage fridge/freezer side-by-side, and my garage chest freezer.
But as back up, I have 3 large bags of ice stored in the side-by-side freezer. Took out the two lower drawers/shelves and piled them in there. If we lose power for any length of time (which we haven't for a while), I'll take one of those bags, put it in the chest freezer, and the other in the refrigerator side of the side-by-side.
Which reminds me. I need to keep an eye out for a small portable generator. Enough to run the garage fridge & freezers, and the kitchen fridge, for at least a day if not longer.
As is often the case there’s some middle ground here. If you’re uncomfortable with serving your church friends this brisket feed them something else. KEEP those and smoke them for yourself. A wet aged Wagyu brisket, that’s gilding the Lilly at its best. You know that if the ice in the side by side didn’t melt those briskets are fine. You’ll be sick with worry if you serve them to friends, but if you cook and try them yourself I think you’ll be fine. Once you prove to yourself they’re fine you can serve them to whoever you please.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I hate this too, as I just priced briskets at Sam's last weekend, and that is likely $300+ in meat alone. If they had been on the freezer side it would be different.
I will second even the cheapest Thermoworks fridge and freezer alarm going forward. I put one on each of my garage fridges and the chest freezer, after having a tripped breaker out in the garage one time, and a failed freezer compressor another time. Mine don't have super loud beeps, but it's enough to draw my attention if I go out in the garage at all, or even in the kitchen/den with the TV off.
I had gone back and forth on the Nodes with wireless capability. In the end, I figured the one time I needed to, I'd probably not go out to the garage to hear the alarm, so I opted for the fancier models.
At our lake house, since we are not there full time, I put a couple of ice cubes in a ziplock snack bag and place in the freezer. If there was an extended power outage the melted / deformed ice would be my "telltale".
I do something similar when I leave. I freeze a cup of water, then put a quarter on top of the ice. If I come back and the quarter is way down in the ice I know that we lost power and the genny didnt kick on for an extended amount of time.
jjdbike I know it’s too late now, but you might want to consider getting a set of wireless refrigerator/freezer temp probes. I’ve had these for 4 months now and they’ve worked flawlessly. And they’re much cheaper than the Thermoworks versions. Here’s my post after buying them.
Another feature they have which could have come in handy for you is….it charts all of your refrigerator and freezer temps for the last 24 hours. So in your case you could have looked on your phone and seen a timeline of your fridge temps during the time the power was out. I have 5 of the temp probes total, 2 for my indoor fridge/freezer, 2 for my garage fridge/freezer and 1 for a small garage freezer. This is a snapshot of my kitchen fridge temps for the last 24 hours.
Also, once you set your High and Low Temp alerts for each fridge/freezer, it will send you a notification on all your devices letting you know if the fridge is too hot or cold. So, no matter where you are you can be notified…..just download their free app.
Think outside the box (fridge, in this case). Save what's questionable for you - my gut tells me that if the pacs are tight there wasn't a bacterial bloom and everything is more than okay. Replace what is meant for others with new stuff. No waste, and some great meals in store for both parties.
Caveat - here in Missoura, there's a road kill butcher advertising on Craig's List - bring in your collateral damage and he'll process it free and split it with you. Out here in Deliverance Country we know that if you can pasteurize it, you can eat it. LoL
Comment