Little Chief Smoker

[Piker]

I dug out my old smoker to take to the lake and I was wondering if it is safe to smoke for a couple of hours and then transfer meat to the bbq.the little chief does not get very warm and i was concerned about the time the meat will be in the danger zone. It has been a long time since I used it and I know I did fish on it untill they were done but kinda forget about the rest. Thks Piker

[La Quinta]

Piker...can ya give us a clue about what kind of meat?

[NePaSmoKer]

  :D

Funny i still have my Little Chief from when i was 17. Old school smokin  :D  ;D

nepas

[Smokin Soon]

I have a couple of friends with the Li'l Chef and they use them mostly as a smoke machine and finish on the grill. Most have not been really happy with the results. Can't really say as I have not even seen one!

[Piker]

the main point I was worried about was that the meat [pork,chicken,beef] would be in the temp zone where bacteria can get started for as long as I am smoking. When I finish it off on the bbq at the proper temp will that kill the bacteria? thks Piker

[NePaSmoKer]

I think your litle chief will get every bit of 140* out of the danger zone.

nepas

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm not familiar with the the little chief, so as far are the cabinet temperature I will defer to NePas. You are not mentioning how long in the danger zone; which is important. I'm cautious about giving advise about extended periods in the danger zone. If you have a salt in the rub that will provide some additional protection, and smoke has antimicrobial properties so both will give additional protection to the surface of the meat. But this should not be a substitute for proper food handling.

I've seen several post about killing off bacteria at high temperature makes it safe. That is true to an extent, but if meat is not handled properly you can still become ill. There are mainly two type of food borne poisoning from bacteria. Food infection (illness), caused by ingesting live bacteria. Also there is food toxicity; which is less common. Some bacteria produce a toxic waste by product that is not destroyed by heat

[Piker]

I use it as a smoker so the times will vary but not likely more than 1/12 hrs. as I like a mild smoke. Thks Piker

[Habanero Smoker]

I thought you were talking about several hours. I would even say 3 hours would be more then safe.