Below is the section of the code that defines the oven temp, humidly level, and holding at temp times. The times below are for everything but poultry and yes this is the pasteurization temps and times. Any Sous Vide chart will show the time for chicken that is under 165. I will point out though that every table has a "you should cook your chicken to 165" disclaimer due to tort liability and the FDA min temps.... 145 is the min for beef, for the FDA but there are "exclusions" for how its cooked (see below) and for intact muscle seared on a grill etc, which the surface has to hit 145.
Humidity helps kill the bacteria hence the requirement for high humidity cooking, it basically more similar to Sous Vide which is 100% humidity cooking. I will point out that for a restaurant to cook brisket they have to have at least 1 hour of 90% relative humidity as part of the cooking process if it is smoked under 250 degrees. I will point out that every home smoker violates the safe cooking temps and humidity for brisket, ribs, pulled pork.....ect. That said if you wrap it for an hour then you meet what a restaurant is held to.
View attachment 657851
Final note is that most home cooks do not have precise or actuate food temping device or know how to check, so with regards to the FDA temp of 165, this leaves lots of room for device error and the bugs are still killed. The 165 has a number of factors of safety because risks with chicken. 165 kills 99.9999% of the bugs in chicken however, 145 held for 8.5 - 9 minutes will make the same kill, however, the margin of error to temping and probe placement at 145 is very narrow vs 165.
This is the moral of the story....
smoking chicken breast at 225 till it hits 165 is money and if you happen to pull it at 160, just wrap it in foil for 10-15 minutes and your golden..... When I do 8-10 breasts for my wife for the week, I have breasts from 155 to 165 and once done I put them in a covered foil pan and then hold them i the oven at 155 for 20 minutes to and hour...
