That chart shows cooking venison to 160 and pork to 145. Guess I’ve been doing it wrong for 30+ years.

Yes you guys want to follow the same ones that you bad mouthed about the shot being ok? If you can't tell if something is done you don't need to be cooking......

Pork if its tough or still has blood coming out it ain't done
Chicken on the grill blood still coming out IT AIN'T done.
Beef to each his own......

it's not JUST about being "done"...how long was it in the "danger zone" after it reached "done"?

remember, the meat temperature was 60 degrees when he checked it that morning.

do you let [barely] cooked meat sit out for 6 hours and feel okay with serving it to guests?

No I don't let anything sit out for 6 hours. Describe "barely" How does he or you for that matter know it had sit for 6 hrs without a heat source? BUT with that said. How long does jerky sit out? Key word is being "done" First I would never let my smoker go unattended for any amount of time. Second I wouldn't post asking if I had doubts the neighbors dog would be foundered for 3 days. My comment about not knowing if something was "done" was in regards to having to use a chart to tell if cooking was complete. If you ask the "chart" about his case they would say toss it. Smoking is a way to preserve meat. If it was done than it's fine.

The 60 degree temp is irrelevant . You think that turkey my mom cooked on thanksgiving didn't reach a temp of 60 degrees after it sat out? At some point it cooled back down but it was done.

OP guessed it was "around 145-ish". according to the chart, that just met the standard..(IF he guessed correctly)

OP said the meat temperature when he checked it that morning was 60 degrees (ostensibly down from the 145 estimate). doesn't take a genius to figure the meat would have quickly dropped below the 140 degree safety threshold, when it started at 145-ish; on its way down to 60. (did it stay at 145-ish for hours and hours, then suddenly drop to 60 in ten minutes??) which, btw...is STILL within the "danger zone" of food safety.

jerky is DRIED meat. this was NOT.

according to your "logic", why would you ever refrigerate ANY leftovers? (it was done, yes?)

my apologies, btw...I forgot that you know everything. carry on, Cliffy...

How long does it take for smoked meat to spoil?
To store smoked meat properly, keep it in the refrigerator at a temperature of 40°F or below - it will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge

You completely let my answer soar over your head. First if it was snowing out it was colder than 40 degrees. (recommended temp for storing by same people that wrote your chart)

Based on your logic people should eat it while it's hot then throw it out. It will be 60 degrees at some point from smoker to fridge. IT WAS IN THE REFRIDGIRATOR if it was snowing !!!!! If you had stopped and read the OP you would have seen the reason for the flame out. COLD WET SNOW .... Not like he had it sitting on the snack bar for 6 hrs.

He has no ideal when the flame went out. But it would be no different than taking one off the smoker . Sticking it in the fridge and waiting to reheat it later for a meal. In fact I do that all the time. Get it fixed by lunch but it's for supper. Stick it in fridge and back in oven intime for supper.... DUH

Yes I do know how to cook !!!!
Fish hunt
shoot
What else you need.....

from the time the meat dropped below 140 degrees (from MAYBE 145), until he checked it the next morning, the meat was in the danger zone for bacterial growth.

SOOO if I take mine off the smoker and put it in my fridge at 38 degrees my meat is in the danger zone??? The outside temp did nothing to move it into a safety zone ? LOL LOL LOL

You are not factoring the ambient temp the meat was cooling down in... You can't compare it as if it was inside the house or a warm sunny day.....

until the meat reaches 40 degrees, the answer is "yes".

it's really not that difficult of a concept: think of it as a slot limit.

you want to get the meat OUT of that slot, as quickly as you reasonably can.

In soiux falls SD that night it was 13 degrees. That pork butt heck any butt ain't going to be in a danger zone unless it's frost bite. He said it looked done so I bet if he was an hour later looking at it the temp would been lower. Now your argument doesn't have a leg to stand on . Its like taking off smoker and throwing it in the freezer.....

Good maybe you can understand the concept of refrigeration. Do you leave a temp probe in your ham while it is on the table. ? Telling your guest to hurry and eat before their meat hits the danger zone? Heck I grabbed chunks off the turkey and ham as I was going out the door 5 hrs later. Didn't know I was gambling with death from the danger zone !!!

did the meat get below 40 degrees in that "freezer"?

no, it did NOT.

was it ABOVE 140 degrees beforehand? MAYBE.

from the time the meat registered 140 degrees on its way down to 60 degrees, it was in the danger zone.

No but it would have given enough time. He found it before it cooled off. You original line of thinking was it was left out in warm temps. Been lot of roast
hams
turkeys
pork butts. left out for hours before being chilled at less than those temps I posted.....
SO the fact he was going to heat it back up did nothing to kill the bacteria IF it was present... NO ONE told him to eat it as is......Geez. I don't care if you smoke it for 2 months . Take it off the heat and it will be 60 degrees at some point....

you must be right, then*...it doesn't matter how long the meat you're preparing stays un-refrigerated; you can** leave the meat out for several days, as long as eventually, you get it up (or down as the case may be) to temperature.


*[you're NOT!]
**[no, you CAN'T!]

But what you are failing to see is IT WAS refrigerated !!! Mother nature had it in a big one. Someone took it out too soon for you...
Happens every year in Arctic ! Once again . He didn't say days. Ok what would you have done with it.... simple question ? No more

You ever eat deer meat from a deer that was found the next day ??

depends on the situation...

if I was planning on serving it to others; yes, I would have pitched it out.

if it was just for me; I would have thrown it out.

Ready for any "Danger Zone" meat being served!

what you don't seem to be able to grasp is that it ISN'T the temperature of the container that it sits in, it's the temperature range of the MEAT itself.

As much as I hate to say it, I agree with jbyrd. If you took a pork butt out of the oven at 160 degrees, 145 degrees, whatever and put it directly into the fridge (which is not recommended) and checked the temp 4 hours later, I'd be shocked if the internal temp was below 60 degrees.