please help

[cherylm517]

I made a whole chicken, recipe called to cook at 220 for around 2 hours. It cooked for 13 hours before getting to safe internal temp and that was after I took the smoker to maximum temp. Should it have taken that long? Is it still safe to eat after being in there that long?
Time before that, I made chicken breasts, they never did come to the correct internal temp but came out too dry to eat. Am I doing something wrong or does it sound like something is wrong with my smoker? Thank you, Im new with my smoker and this group.

 

[radio]

Welcome to the forum!
My guess is you have a thermometer issue. The thermometers on factory built smokers are notorious for being off, sometimes wildly so!
Tell us more about your smoker and what you are using to check smoker temps and internal meat temps with and we can help narrow it down for you.
Personally I would not eat poultry that took that long to reach safe temp

 

[daveomak]

Cheryl, Morning... the chicken is still safe... Whole muscle meat is considered "sterile" inside... the high temp. of 220 kills the bacteria on the outside...
In the smoker, the air flow causes evaporative cooling to the meat...
For moist chicken, have you tried a salt, sugar brine ?? The salt and sugar are hygroscopic and hang onto water.. once inside the meat, they keep it moist... A salt, sugar rub will do "almost the same".... weigh out 2% salt and 1% sugar, based on the weight of the meat... rub on the outside and throw some inside, if it's a whole bird.. other seasonings can also be added.. be careful of salty seasonings.. leave it rest in the refer for a day or so then throw in the smoker... after a couple hours of smoke, I prefer to finish poultry in the oven.. 350-400 to get the skin crispy...

 

[cherylm517]

I made a whole chicken, recipe called to cook at 220 for around 2 hours. It cooked for 13 hours before getting to safe internal temp and that was after I took the smoker to maximum temp. Should it have taken that long? Is it still safe to eat after being in there that long?
Time before that, I made chicken breasts, they never did come to the correct internal temp but came out too dry to eat. Am I doing something wrong or does it sound like something is wrong with my smoker? Thank you, Im new with my smoker and this group.

Welcome to the forum!
My guess is you have a thermometer issue. The thermometers on factory built smokers are notorious for being off, sometimes wildly so!
Tell us more about your smoker and what you are using to check smoker temps and internal meat temps with and we can help narrow it down for you.
Personally I would not eat poultry that took that long to reach safe temp

Hi! Thank you for your response to me! I also thought it may be a thermometer issue, but I forgot to mention in my post that I used 3 to check it because I am an OCD freak with poultry haha. I used the one with the smoker, (its a Masterbuilt 40" electric with digital screen and remote to show temps), and I also used another oven safe thermometer and then just a regular digital one. The recipe said to let the internal temp get to 175. Like I said, Im new with the smoker but I have made a few things and they came out perfect until now. Maybe all my thermometers went bad at the same time. I will have to say, that the chicken smells so good and was still juicy and the skin was perfect! Just sucks that I had to take it out at daylight this morning. I'm stumped. Thanks again!!

 

[cherylm517]

Cheryl, Morning... the chicken is still safe... Whole muscle meat is considered "sterile" inside... the high temp. of 220 kills the bacteria on the outside...
In the smoker, the air flow causes evaporative cooling to the meat...
For moist chicken, have you tried a salt, sugar brine ?? The salt and sugar are hygroscopic and hang onto water.. once inside the meat, they keep it moist... A salt, sugar rub will do "almost the same".... weigh out 2% salt and 1% sugar, based on the weight of the meat... rub on the outside and throw some inside, if it's a whole bird.. other seasonings can also be added.. be careful of salty seasonings.. leave it rest in the refer for a day or so then throw in the smoker... after a couple hours of smoke, I prefer to finish poultry in the oven.. 350-400 to get the skin crispy...

Good morning! Thanks for your response! I have tried a brine before. I made the breast the same as I did before when they came out perfect, so I don't know what I did differently with the last ones I made. And I have no clue why the whole chicken I just smoked took 13 hours. I was telling someone else that it came out perfect. The recipe said to let it get to an intern temp of 175. I did that and also took the smoker temp to 275 for the last hour to get it there. The skin was beautiful crispy and the inside was still juicy. I also used 3 thermometers to check temps. I wonder if altitude and weather play a part?? Thank you again!

 

[SonnyE]

Hi Cheryl, Welcome to SMF!
I recently did some Cod smoking and had a stall occur, which is very unusual for fish in my experiences. But in trying to attain the IT (Internal Temperature), I just let it run... and run.... and run... and to me, ruin. LOL! But it was my first attempt at Cod. (May be my last, too.) :confused: Oh, it tastes OK now. But awfully dry. My final judge is my little dog, and he loves it.

On chicken, my wife and I have one of those Air Fryer machines, and we love what it does. But she does not like smoked food. So as an experiment, I had 8 chicken thighs with the skin on. I smoked 4, for 2 hours, with Hickory. (I like the flavor of Hickory).
I did her chicken while mine was smoking. Her's came out just the way she likes it, done a crispy skin. Perfect, and why we like the machine.
Then I did my 4 smoked pieces. Aside from being a tad darker from the smoke treatment, mine came out perfect, too. Done, crispy skinned, with a wonderful smoked flavor. ;)
I wasn't going for 'done' in the smoker. Just smoked flavor. So used the one-two punch to get both.
How you get the IT isn't as important as THAT you get the IT.
So keep trying. Try a bit of smoking, then finish in a way you know you like. (Roasted, fried, etc.)
There is no shame in doing steps to get your results.

If I try smoking Cod again, I won't try and do it all in the smoker, but smoke it, then finish another way. Right now I'm trying Sous Vide.
And I might be able to save my smoked Cod by infusing moisture back into it with a little lemon juice, vacuum bagging, and Sous Vide to get it back. But it just an idea at this point. :)

 

[cherylm517]

Hi Cheryl, Welcome to SMF!
I recently did some Cod smoking and had a stall occur, which is very unusual for fish in my experiences. But in trying to attain the IT (Internal Temperature), I just let it run... and run.... and run... and to me, ruin. LOL! But it was my first attempt at Cod. (May be my last, too.) :confused: Oh, it tastes OK now. But awfully dry. My final judge is my little dog, and he loves it.

On chicken, my wife and I have one of those Air Fryer machines, and we love what it does. But she does not like smoked food. So as an experiment, I had 8 chicken thighs with the skin on. I smoked 4, for 2 hours, with Hickory. (I like the flavor of Hickory).
I did her chicken while mine was smoking. Her's came out just the way she likes it, done a crispy skin. Perfect, and why we like the machine.
Then I did my 4 smoked pieces. Aside from being a tad darker from the smoke treatment, mine came out perfect, too. Done, crispy skinned, with a wonderful smoked flavor. ;)
I wasn't going for 'done' in the smoker. Just smoked flavor. So used the one-two punch to get both.
How you get the IT isn't as important as THAT you get the IT.
So keep trying. Try a bit of smoking, then finish in a way you know you like. (Roasted, fried, etc.)
There is no shame in doing steps to get your results.

If I try smoking Cod again, I won't try and do it all in the smoker, but smoke it, then finish another way. Right now I'm trying Sous Vide.
And I might be able to save my smoked Cod by infusing moisture back into it with a little lemon juice, vacuum bagging, and Sous Vide to get it back. But it just an idea at this point. :)

Thanks so much for the advice! I too have the Air Fryer, but Ive became quite addicted to our smoker. In fact, I think the smoke smell that I now always have on me must be my new perfume LOL

 

[SonnyE]

Thanks so much for the advice! I too have the Air Fryer, but Ive became quite addicted to our smoker. In fact, I think the smoke smell that I now always have on me must be my new perfume LOL

Glad you like it so much. I sure like mine! But I've done a LOT of modification. (All reversible.)
Next time you think Chicken, try a tad of smoke, then Air Fry like normal. (I simply use the menu and the drumstick program. 20 min, turn, and 20 minutes.)
Many simply add an AMNPS they can set inside for the smoke, and don't use the chip feeder part. A highly recommended way to get your smoke on, and run below 200-225°.
You'll do just fine. :D

Cute little Puppy you've got there.