Newbie question on smoked chicken...

[RocMo]

hi guys, this is my first post here though i've been lurking for a month or so now.  i've use my bradly a couple times now, the first to smoke homemade brats and they were awful! hickory for the full cook time, yuck!  way too much! that's when i found this forum :) next was a batch of polish sausages and salami.  that went much better and i was very pleased with the results.

so yesterday we got a late start and at around 4pm filled the bradley up w/2 chickens, a pork butt, bacon wrapped venison roast and a meatloaf to take up the extra space next to the vension (it was small).  the chickens were on top, then pork butt, and venison and meatloaf on the bottom.  i preheated to a little under 200* (that's as high as it'd go) and loaded it all in.  i put in 3 hrs worth of apple pucks and let it do it's thing.  i had the slider all the way up as it was windy and about 15* out there yesterday.  i've got the bradley in a protected area, but i still need to have a shelter put around it.  i'd put a thermometer in the meatloaf figuring it'd get done the fastest (i only have one thermometer as of now) and i pulled that out when it was done.  then i put the thermometer in the chicken breast planning on cooking till it got to 165*.  sometime later i added 2 more pucks since i'd had the door open 2x checking and taking out the meatloaf.  well by 2am it still hadn't reached 165 and i was tired (i started around 330-4pm.)  the venison was done and the smoke was long gone so i put the oven on 210* and put the 2 chickens and the pork butt in there and went to bed.  the alarm woke me up at around 430am, i pulled out the chickens and checked to make sure both were the proper temp.  i was suprised to find the one that had the probe was 165* in the breast but over 170* in the thigh.  the other chicken was up to 185* (have i said how much i hate my oven??)  the pork but was at 189*. 

the chickens had been brined for around 24hrs, the butt dry rubbed and put in the fridge for the same time.  my concern is the chicken.  i'd hate to have the whole family end up in the hospital and i'm wondering if the chicken took to long to cook?  i couldn't get the bradley up above 200* because of the weather, closer to 190*.  they look really good and did get up to the proper temp and higher, but i just wanted to check with you guys before digging in.  they're in the fridge now, i havent' even tried one. 

so what do you think?  did i have too much in there?  i'm concerned that it cooked so low for so long.  there are 4 racks in mine and i couldn't have fit in anything else, but there was space all around everything i figured it was ok.  any help would be greatly appreciated.  got the bradley for xmas and i'm a little unsure of myself here.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi RocMo;

Welcome to the forum.

I wish I could give you some good advice on this, but I'm not sure if the chicken is safe or not. I just didn't want you to think you were being ignored, but you posted a difficult question to answer. The chickens were in the smoker at very low temperatures for at least 10 hours, the longest I have had chickens in the smoker was around 6 hours but I got the cabinet temperature up to 200°F within 2.5 hours. There is at least one member who is very knowledgeable in the area of bacteria, hopefully he will see your post and respond.

What was the temperature of the chicken breast when you first placed the probe into it?

[RocMo]

i'm thinking the probe read around 129 when i put it in the breast.  the other chicken was likely higher, i've noticed the stuff at the bottom and back cooks faster, i put the probe in the top chicken.  not sure if that matters.  i was thinking maybe i could cut it up into pieces, sauce it to retain moisture and bake in the oven again and bring it up to temp to hopefully kill any bad stuff that's in there?  not sure if that'd work or not.  i even thought about deep frying it.  i read somewhere (probably on this site somewhere) about smoked fried turkeys, but again, not sure if that'd work.  i pulled off the wing a little bit ago and tried it, i figured that'd be the first thing to cook so hopefully i don't get sick lol.  tasted pretty darn good but i know that doesn't matter when it comes to botulusm (sp?)

BTW, i used one of your recipes for the pork butt, i found it on old's place forum, it turned out really good.  ;D  a little too peppery for the kids but that just means more for us!  planning on cooking up the sauce here shortly and having that for dinner.  of course i've already been munching on it today lol...

[Wildcat]

Welcome to the forum RocMo and congrats on your successes.  Can't answer the chicken question either, but others will eventually be along that may be able to.

[Gizmo]

No expert here either but I will venture to say I do not think you will be going to the hospital.  My logic would tell me, the birds were brined before being exposed to room temperatures over an extended period of time.  They were in a smoke environment during the time they were in the danger zone.  The internal temperatures were probably at 140 deg within a reasonable time and overall they were taken to 165 degrees or more.  I look forward to hearing from you within the next few days.   ;) 

[RocMo]

 :D LOL! I hope you hear from me too!  :D
that's what my instincts are telling me but i'm definitely no expert.  i really don't want to trash them but don't want to get sick either.  i think i'll cut one of them up, sauce them good, and bake till up to temp just to make sure.  maybe try them myself before feeding to the younguns. 

i'm so glad i found this forum, i feel like i've been groping around in the dark w/ absolutely no clue. nice to know there's a place to go to find out what i need to know.  i've learned tons just looking at previous posts, i think i could spend hours here  :o  i'm definitely hooked on smoking stuff.  my next project will be some of those bacon wrapped chicken breasts and some stuffed jalapenos, got a bag of those in the fridge just waiting for me.  :)

thanks guys, any other opinions are more than welcome, esp if you don't think we should eat this stuff. 

[Habanero Smoker]

If you are going to check it out, I would do it the way your are; and wait 24 hours. Gizmo is correct about smoke, and salt providing extra protection, but I also learned from one member on this forum, that when bacteria are exposed to low levels of heat, and the heat is gradually increased over time the bacteria becomes more resistant and are able to tolerate higher temperatures.

[EnglishGuy]

I think that whatever you do, chicken/poultry shouldn't be above anything, unless there is an effective drip tray beneath it.

Chicken harbors salmonella and you don't want that dripping on anything.  That said, I don't think salmonella produces toxins that can't be cooked out. Its the bugs that produce toxins that will survive whatever temperature you cook to.