How long is safe to let ribs sit before smoking?

[jasonwilliams14]

Hey everyone.
Phoning the amazingribs bat phone.

I started some ribs this morning but wanted to ask for some help on what is considered "safe" (time wise) for letting ribs sit out before cooking.

I was prepping the kettle for a couple racks of ribs.
I took my ribs out from the fridge (overnight brine) around 855am PST and started to work the rub in.
Kettle chimney.

We had a little bit of a minor crisis at home and I as not able to get the ribs on the kettle until about an hour later (say 60-65 minutes) after I pulled them from the fridge.

I am always very concerned about preparing things safely and correctly.

I was not sure if they will still be ok to cook and eat?


I appreciate the help!

Jason

[DaveD]

Nothing to worry about! Highly unlikely that the meat would have spent much time at all in the unsafe zone, I reckon, assuming your room temperature was not unduly high... I would proceed with impunity!

[jasonwilliams14]

Great thank you! It was chilly here this morning (well, chilly for San Diego.....high low 50s...)
I dont think my kitchen was super warm.

Thank you! I appreciate it!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Smoke on.

[DaveD]

And please be sure to post some pics here afterwards so we can see how they turned out!

[Donw]

As stated no problems. However next time if you get a chance throw them back into the fridge as smoke is attracted to cold surfaces.

[jasonwilliams14]

Quick update.
Cook was a success!
Family says they were the best ribs I have cooked in my brief career, so that is good to hear.
Cooked two racks. Family ate 90% of the ribs before I could snap some pics.

I learned a lot. Lots of questions popped into my mind to ask the community folks here.

I also was much more relaxed during this cook.
Will provide more info this evening!

THanks for the help as always!

[Santamarina]

Glad things turned out well. And I’m sure tomorrow everything will still be good because those ribs were never in the danger zone for long enough to cause any problems.

[texastweeter]

Your fine, probably spent very little time above 40°. Plus salt and sugar (probably both in your rub) are both antimicrobial. Combine that with the fact if anything DID grow it would be on the surface which is about to get hit with both smoke and temp (again both antimicrobial) any you are safe as a date with a nun.

[jasonwilliams14]

I appreciate all the help and feedback. Very good to hear. I have much to lean, but I am ok with that.

Where can I learn more about food safety? This is probably one topic that crosses my mind a lot when I cook.
Everything from food prep, food safety (temps, what to do, what not do do) to clean up.
It is one of those topics that I feel would be good for me if I had a better understanding of it, as it might make me feel a bit more comfortable. I even considered looking for some type of food safety course I could attend.


For the cook that took place yesterday, I wanted to share a couple things that was interesting. It was great overall.

- The cook took about 5 hours. I was sitting between 250-275 cooking temp. One thing have learned is to cook by temperature, not by time. I think in my previous rib cooks, I would get to a certain time point and I would start to get ancy. "Why is the temp not here..." for example. This time around, I told my self not to put an expectation on time, but go by temperature. I think that worked out for me.

- Still learning all sorts of new tips and tricks with my kettle. I am getting better at managing my temps, charcoal management (moving some briquettes, adding some to keep the heat going). I feel more comfortable and confident.

This last piece was interesting. I noticed this on my first rib cook and my third rib cook (yesterday was my 4th).
At one point, the ribs seemed to "stall" a bit around the 170-180 mark. I think that is normal, but it was noticeable. The temps just seemed to slowly tick up. Yesterday, had some personal challenges (mostly my kids fighting...heheh....they are ok now) and I quickly did some searching on the site about when to wrap ribs and such since I had never done that.

Fast forward, I decided to wrap the ribs in double heavy duty foil. I put down some ACV, brown sugar and honey. Wrapped, but them back on the grill. About 30mins later, when I was probing, they were all right in the sweet spot. Between 200-206.

I pulled them off and let them rest.
Then they were devoured by the family.

I am not sure if that was the correct thing to do, but it was interesting because I have learned so much on this board and from Meathead that it was like my instincts said "Ok...lets wrap".

Every cook is learning experience and I gain more confidence.

I thought I would share because everyone has been so fantastic in the community.

My family asked for more ribs today, so guess what I am doing today?


Thanks again everyone!

cheers

Jason

[shify]

Sounds great. And there is no “correct” thing to do, it’s all preference. Key is learning what each step does and if it’s aligned with your taste and adjusting as needed.

[Mosca]

Regarding food safety, I know two numbers: 4 hours, and 7 days. 4 hours is the max for food that has been cooked, sitting at room temp (ie, not in the sun or in 85° weather). And 7 days is the max for food that has been cooked and held in the fridge.

I’m not saying I’m right. But I’m saying I’m still here, and haven’t been hospitalized for food poisoning. Yet.

[DaveD]

Sounds like a great experience!! We'll let it go this time that there are no pics... *wagging finger*

Cooking to temp and not time is a bedrock principle, always to be followed, just like food safety. Just google "bbq food safety" for a metric crapton of info, and of course there's plenty to be had right here at AR. The handy fridge-magnet temperature table one gets free with our memberships goes a long way for this.

I heartily endorse an experimental approach: Do two racks sometime, wrap one and don't wrap the other, keep as many other things the same so you can isolate the contribution from wrapping. For science, of course.

I've seen a stall in just about everything I've smoked, be they spare ribs, beef ribs, pork butts, brisket, chuck roast... pretty much anything that has an approximately flat, approximately horizontal surface will likely have enough liquid pool on it to offset the heat being taken up.

And Family Seal of Approval for the win!