Have I been smoking wrong?

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phreak

Meat Mopper
Original poster
May 9, 2008
196
11
St Pete FL
I've noticed a lot of advice being given out about higher temps than what I do Q. I pretty constantly smoke at between 200-250 for everything from pork to birds to beef. I have been completely satisfied with the results that I get....Is this dangerous???
 
The only one I would be concerned with is the poultry. You need to get the meat up to temp pretty quick to ensure safety.

If you will PM me your e-mail address I can send you a great time and temp chart that I found on the web.
 
with chicken , I have heard that you need to go with a higher temp, 300-350. The most important reason is the time the chicken spends in the "danger zone", that would be when the bacteria is being killed, I am guessin. The second reason I can think of is so you can have a crispy skin, if that matters to you, everyone is different.

On pork and beef I wont go higher than 250.

hope this helps
 
I like the 225 to 250 range. Once I get it in there I don't mess with it. If I was only cooking chicken I would probably go 275 to 300, but that's just me. Most important is that you are satisfied with the results you are getting.
 
As long as the internal temp of chicken reaches at least 165° you should be fine, I pull mine at 170°. I've cooked bunches or chickens and turkeys with my cooking temp between 225° and 250°. Like Kusher said, the higher cooking temps will give you a crisper skin.
 
Thanks for the input. I figured if it works don't fix it, I just started getting a little worried about potentially getting guests sick.
 
Also, you may want to check and see if your smokers temp gauge is spot on. I know I have an old EL Cheapo Brinkman that I use to love the 180º range for smoking. Then one day checked the gauge and found it was off by 65º. Add those two together and you get 245º a very good smoking temp.
 
I wouldn't change a thing, if your happy with your food and no one has gotten ill. As far as what others do for their Q, It seems to be just everyones opinions and advice. (98% of it is good and valuable, a very small percentage is B.S) What works for one may or may not work for others. If you are happy with what ya got, thats what matters. If you are curious or lookin for some variety, then enter the other opinions and advice.
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what dan said...........the 300-350 for poultry is for the folks trying for a crispy skin........i do my poultry at anywhere from 230-275........long as my temps stay within that range, i don't sweat it............like most folks have said here, if it werks for you.......there you go...........if it aint broken, don't try to fix it
 
Hey brother if it's not broken don't try to fix it , I cook my chicken at 250 ...and no one in my family has got sick yet
 
Too many of us smoke multiple meat together for the high temps to be practicle for chicken unless it is by itself. Also, a lot of guys here throw the chicken on the grill with some sauce to crispy it up just before it goes on the table as well.
 
I smoked just this weekend a brisket, butt, sausage, and a turky breast at the same time. I simply put the poultry on the firebox side and ran my smoker at 250 until the internal temp on the bird was 150. I then lowered the temp to 225 and went with the internal temps on all meat removing each as it was finished with the exception of the sausage on the top rack which I do visually. Worked fine. And yes I do wrap everything after taking on the smoke i want.
 
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