I'd Hate to Throw It Out

Since having kids I don't have nearly enough time to cook. This week I decided to throw caution to the wind and make turkey pastrami. Thursday morning the turkey breasts went into their brine. I took them out this morning, patted them dry and applied the final seasonings. I put them on the smoker at 9:15 am. Two hours later the internal temp was only up to 145. I needed to head out for an appointment. I filled the water bowl and charcoal ring and left. I got back home at 5:00 pm. The fire was pretty much dead, with a few red spots amongst the ashes and the water bowl was still about 1/3 full. The internal temp of the birds was now at 175. I am sure their internal temp was higher between noon and two before it started to come down over the next few hours. Is there any reason I have to throw out the birds?

David Mitchell wrote:Since having kids I don't have nearly enough time to cook.
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Is there any reason I have to throw out the birds?

Yes. Two.
1. Doubt.
2. You have kids.

I'd say no, because the internal temp should be about 175 anyway. If you're worried, you can use it in soup so you can boil the meat. Just don't feed it to your kids, just in case.

I am a little confused - did you consider throwing it out because of safety concerns or taste concerns? As Pie Lady points out, 175 degrees is more than safe. If you believe that it was significantly higher than 175 before, then you may indeed want to discard it because it might be unpalatably dry and overcooked. That question is easily answered by tasting it.

"Unpalatably dry and overcooked" can be remedied by simmering in a pot of water (like the New York style beef pastrami).

i think the OP might be concerned, as i would be, that leaving the bird when it was at only 145 degrees, means that they don't know how long it took to rise to a safe level. plus, it took over 2 hours to just get to 145degrees. i'd toss it, and not leave the premises if trying this again. justjoan

spinynorman99 wrote:"Unpalatably dry and overcooked" can be remedied by simmering in a pot of water (like the New York style beef pastrami).

New York style? Simmering unpalatably dry meat in a pot of water might be a "remedy" used in New York area prisons, but it is certainly not a technique used by decent delis or anywhere else where one should consider eating.

justjoan wrote:i think the OP might be concerned, as i would be, that leaving the bird when it was at only 145 degrees, means that they don't know how long it took to rise to a safe level. plus, it took over 2 hours to just get to 145degrees. i'd toss it, and not leave the premises if trying this again. justjoan

When you cook anything "low and slow", it takes at least that long to come up to 145. I don't think there is anything unique or unhealthy about how the OP began the cook. The only affect of leaving the house is that he probably let it cook longer than he would have liked. I'm with Kennyz: there doesn't seem to be anything unhealthy about the food, though it may be dry and overcooked.

spinynorman99 wrote:simmering in a pot of water (like the New York style beef pastrami).

i thought n.y. delis smoke their pastrami, then hold the whole pieces in steamers until ready to slice.

I see no reason it would need to be thrown away. The temp was 145 (safe) within a reasonable time (2 hours), and then got hotter and stayed hot. Completely safe, although likely to be dry and tough, as noted.

elakin wrote:Completely safe, although likely to be dry and tough, as noted.

That's why God invented Miracle Whip.

i thought n.y. delis smoke their pastrami, then hold the whole pieces in steamers until ready to slice.

They do. The traditional way is smoked then steamed. But you can absolutely resuscitate an overdone pastrami by immersing in a pot of simmering water. I know from personal experience. And we're not talking optimal conditions, we were discussing how to recover from an error. So, no, I would not recommend it as a regular practice, but it's a decent alternative to throwing out a piece of otherwise good meat.

Pie Lady wrote:

elakin wrote:Completely safe, although likely to be dry and tough, as noted.

That's why God invented Miracle Whip.

Miracle Whip on dry turkey = adding insult to injury?
I'm not sure who invented MW, but I'm certain that it wasn't any god of mine.
--Rich