Is it safe...Brisket cooked at 160f

[Jerod Broussard]

Thanks for the feedback. I think the only unknown I'm concerned about is the time in the danger zone since the grill was over 260 when I left it, but it obviously cooled at some point during the night. The brisket was on the grill for 5+ hours when I checked it at midnight (brisket temp 173) so it sounds like any surface bacteria would have been killed. Since the brisket remained on the BGE while the temperature fell back into the danger zone, I'm curious where or how it develops new lethal bacteria. Would it pick it up from the night air? Just trying to understand.

Thanks for your help.

Not so much picking up new pathogens, but rather not allowing those that by chance who survived the opportunity to multiply. That is why there are "stabilization" Regs concerning ready to eat products. They must be cooled down within a specific time frame to "stabilize" what you have. Many times it deals with spore forming bacteria.

[ProfessorJohn]

csumner411 At the temperature of 99 when you checked it the next morning, my first thought was Staph growth and a heat-stable toxin. But as you pointed out, that surface would have been free of any organism to grow, so the other issue would be spores of Clostridium perfringens internal. Since you took the temp back up above 140 and hopefully above 160 to finish the brisket, it should have been safe. Louis Pasteur conclusively proved in the late 1800s that bacteria do not "spontaneously generate" if you kill them.

[csumner411]

I finished the brisket at 203 degrees. It turned out beautiful with a ice bark and the gelatinous feel I was expecting to see. It's now wrapped in a cooler resting. I may not eat it, but at least I know I can finish a brisket. Thanks for your comment.

[ProfessorJohn]

It is safe to eat; if I were there I wouid ask for seconds. The organisms that survive cooking and can grow when cooling are no longer capable of standing a second round of heat. That is why when a restaurant cools left overs, they need to do it in a certain amount of time (4 hours) and they also must reheat the left overs to a minimum of 165 to kill whatever bacteria grew during cooling.

[csumner411]

That makes sense to me, but what about heat-stable toxins that are left behind? From what I've read, you can't cook those out of the meat once they are there. Is that true?

[ProfessorJohn]

csumner411 You are completly correct about heat stable toxin, it does not cook out. But you did not have that toxin because that toxin is produced by Staphylococcus aureus and it has to grow to high numbers before producing toxin. The surface was well over 140 and you had already killed those organisms before you lost heat. Since the egg was not opened, there is no way that there was Staph there to produce the heat stable toxin. Did you enjoy the brisket?