# Is there a minimum smoker temperature for meats?



## patinlouisiana (Aug 17, 2019)

Is 212 F at sea level the lowest one should ever set their smoker too?
Can you cook below the boiling point of water?


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## mike243 (Aug 17, 2019)

I have ran mine at 150-160 for 3-5 hrs, have read you want your meat to hit 140 by 4 hrs, never any problems here, 225-250 most of the time but chicken at 350 after some low temp high smole on the pellet smoker


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## chilerelleno (Aug 17, 2019)

That depends on what smoking and the method you're smoking it with.
Are you cold smoking?  Smoking cured or salted fish, bacon, sausages, or maybe cheese, nuts or salt?
Then no, you can go much lower.

Or are you hot smoking? Any of the classic cuts of meat or fish?
Then typically yes, you're gonna want 200° minimum or higher.
One of the cooking safety rules is 40° to 140° within 4 hours to avoid food poisoning.
This rule is for meats that are ground or injected.
This rule is best met with a minimum 225° cooking temp, but even better at higher temps.
Also, when you're trying to get a piece of meat to a certain minimum temp, your cooking temp should be at least 20° above the desired finished temp or higher.


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## chef jimmyj (Aug 17, 2019)

USDA and SMF GUIDELINES RECOMMEND Smoking uncured meat at 225°F or higher, for Food Safety...JJ


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