Eat or Scrap the Chickens

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Cliff H.

Master Chef
Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Messages
6,143
Location
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Little Tommy puts 4 chickens on the pit at 3:00 pm. The wind is blowing so hard the pit holds only at around 210-220 deg.

The internal temp of the chickens are below 150 deg for 6 hrs.

It takes 9-1/2 hrs to get the chickens up to 170 deg. Tommy then takes the chickens off the pit, lets them rest for 20 min and then covers with foil and puts them in the fridge.

Should Little Tommy eat these chickens or should Little Tommy scrap this project ?
 
If you're asking then you already know what to do.

Do the Math:

3 days out of work clinging to a porcelin fixture, with a fever so high that your head feels like it's going to explode, the trip to the emergency room or a Dr. Visit. Antibiotics, etc. etc....

or

Throw $20 worth of chicken in the trash and cook some more tomorrow.

Jack
 
my neighbor would eat it in a heartbeat.

Better safe than sorry in my opinion. It's just chicken.
It's not like beer or anything.
 
Well i once in a while cook my chickens at 220-230 and they never take longer than 4.5 hours,so little tommy would never have this problem in 6. So i say little Tommy should take them chickens off at the 6 hour mark,by then they at 170+ and enjoy. :ack:
 
BBQmmm said:
Well i once in a while cook my chickens at 220-230 and they never take longer than 4.5 hours,so little tommy would never have this problem in 6. So i say little Tommy should take them chickens off at the 6 hour mark,by then they at 170+ and enjoy. :ack:


Yep, we'll be going out to eat when I come up in August. :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :loony: :loony: :loony:
 
I see no reason not to eat the chickens. The chicken would be pasteurized. The concern would be Staph. aureus, which is toxigenic. However, S. aureus doesn't multiply in raw foods because of competitive spoilage organisms. It would have to be approaching a 15 hour slow come-up in temps before I would worry about it all but--still--210-220 is hot enough to take care of surface bacteria, where the concern is. Intra-muscular bacteria are extremely rare unless meat has been poked or cut with a contaminated instrument. The cavity of the chicken (if the chickens were left whole) can be a concern but, again, the come-up time is quick enough that I wouldn't worry about it.

A larger problem is the treatment of the chickens post cooking. A significant percentage of food borne illnesses arise from the improper treatment of food after it has cooked: It should be cooled quickly, reheated properly, and minimally touched--technically it shouldn't be touched at all with an ungloved hand once it becomes ready to eat, irrespective of whether it is cooled quickly and reheated correctly.

I would eat the chickens--when they were fresh out of the cooker.
 
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