Not much of a cook

[cragmor]

I used to have a cheap electric smoker some time ago, and just could not get it to work. Gave up on it, and just relegated myself to restaurants that did bbq. Anyhow, just purchased the basic 4 rack electric smoker. My buddy recommended it after looking them over. Seasoned it last night, and could not believe how much smoke there was compared to my old one.
On to my question. I am taking my smoker of to my buddies place this weekend to break them in, and watch some football. I am planning on 3 chicken breasts, some baby back ribs, and a turkey roast. What I am wondering is, how do I deal with smoking them, and then cooking later? Should I be OK to smoke them, put them in a cooler, and cook them that evening at home? Or, could I possibly smoke them, then freeze them for a later date? Thaw them out, then finish them up on the grill, etc?
I normally would not smoke away from home, but I am looking forward to getting some tips while running the smoker. My friend is much better at this stuff than I am. When it comes to cooking, I just wing it.

[beefmann]

welcome aboard,

if you are  going to  smoke food, you  should cook it as well on the same  day,,, not smoke it and cook it  later , there are contamination issues  with the food in what  is called the danger zone which is between 41 f and  140 F which can create microprograms that make people  sick... I  would smoke and cook to minimum temperatures before freezing   

[cragmor]

Thanks for the reply. So, if I smoke it, but let it sit for maybe an hour until I am packed up, and get home, then finish it to minimum temp I should be fine then. Could take a couple of hours to get home, depending on the game etc. I guess, just do not let it sit all day before finishing it.

[Ka Honu]

Once you start cooking meat, especially poultry, don't stop till it's done.

[KyNola]

Exactly what I was going to say Paul.  You might get away with that with ribs(although I wouldn't try it) but with the chicken and turkey you are asking for big trouble.

[cragmor]

I am reading over some recipes, and from my cheap smoker, I could never finish something in it, it always had to go on the grill. Sounds like this smoker will handle the job from start to finish. Nice. Guess that answers all my questions right there. Toss the stuff in, let it finish.