couldnt go ice fishing so i smoked a couple fatties.

[Boar]

fridged temps kept me home an boared so i preped some bear/pork bureger. Two are a breackfast sausage maple flavor with a BBQ rub an one is a famous daves rub.One question, wat is the desired temp to reach with in meat smoked.

had them at 175 in the smoker. for soem reason I thought 160 was the temp. they sat an cooled doen an dripp a littlle blood so i finised them in the oven to 200. is that good temp?

[eyeguy 54]

HEY... WHERE"S THE BACON???? ;>)

[arcticpond]

Ya, where is the bacon. I smoke mine untill the bacon is done.

[Boar]

I used invisable bacon, cant u see it, its right there, cris an craker.

[pushbutton]

Boar if it makes you feel any better, I whimped out today as well. Smoked up some of old McDonalds cow and pig instead. Essentially made a bacon and cheese meatloaf with darn near a whole lb of thick strip bacon Cooling right now and trying to decide between a sammie or or gravy over it thingy.

[Boar]

I can see now that i shouldnt use invisable bacon but instead visable bacon, that looks delicious.

[eyeguy 54]

you guys are making want to do this again.... stop the madness!! lol

[pushbutton]

Think I remember this discussion....now. Don't do the thick cut bacon. While it looks good, no doubt adds flavor, but just the top browns and rest is undercooked.

[eyeguy 54]

yepper, I did thick on my first one and was wondering how yours was. I ended up slicing mine a then frying a piece a bit with breakfast. Very good!

[eyeguy 54]

165 to 175 on the internal temp I think. I gotta do one this week. Doing tullees also. :>)

[DonBo]

You guys don't have problems running the smoker when it's this cold out? Mine has some insulation, but still thought I'd have a problem keeping the temp up when it's really cold out. Should I fire it up and not worry???

[Boar]

Don mines is just a 5/8 plywood smoker an no insulation, but i have it in teh garage out of the wind, garage isnt heated either. no problems in this weather.

[Boar]

I could easily regulate the temp at 150 or 175

[Leaky]

I have a masterbuilt digital (insulated) and did an overnight cook Friday of a 7lb butt. 4 hours outside (6:00 - 10:00, temp held perfect @ 225) with apple and hickory combo and then wrapped in foil and into the oven @ 225. I didn't have time to do a brine that I like to do ahead of time, so did an injection. 15 hours after starting, I put into a cooler wrapped in towels and pulled at half time of the 1st football game yesterday. The butt stayed nice and warm, pulled easily and was moist as can be.

[otterman91105]

I must have the same one it's a masterbuilt electric smoker. Have no problem with keeping the temp up in cold weather love this smoker.

[DonBo]

Ha! Reading the title of this thread, I immediatly was thinking Cheech and Chong.

[mainbutter]

I thought 160 was the temp. they sat an cooled doen an dripp a littlle blood so i finised them in the oven to 200. is that good temp?

Safe cooking temperature recommendations from the USDA for beef and pork is 145.. you would obviously measure the temperature of the very interior of your fatties with a probe thermometer and can't rely on a couple hours at 175 guarantee you hitting a safe temperature for a thick piece of meat.

As for safe cooking temperature for bear.. I don't know of any official recommendations, but I assume it's similar enough to beef and different enough from poultry that if you err on the side of caution because it's wild game, 160 sounds like a great safe temp. I do like to finish my wild game at a higher temperature just to be on the safe side, I finish my venison jerky at a higher temperature. Water boils at over 200, so in a short period of time you CAN get temperatures over 160 without drying out your meat out if you want to err even more on the safe side.

Those look delicious by the way!

[delcecchi]

Need to treat bear like old school pork since they can carry trichinosis.

[Boar]

bear is of the swine family so its treated as pork. Sorry i shoulda been more specic in my temps, I had the internal temp of the fatties at 175, but as they sat an cooled it dripped juices an a little blood so i finisehd them off in the oven for a half an hour till they reached 200. May have dried out a little but I dont deal with blood an pork very well.

[delcecchi]

That was plenty hot, but I wouldn't want sausage cooked medium, too much fat. Now a pork chop 150 is good.

[Boar]

so is the fact that they drip blood with a internal temp of 175 nothing to worry about or maybe my prob thermometer wasnt accurate. new to this an all the advice an tips are appreciated. Thanks

[delcecchi]

so is the fact that they drip blood with a internal temp of 175 nothing to worry about or maybe my prob thermometer wasnt accurate. new to this an all the advice an tips are appreciated. Thanks

I would check the thermometer. I have never seen anything look even remotely pink at 175 (except for that red ring on Q.) Dripping bloody juice sounds more like 125....

Pick up a new meat thermometer, one of the inexpensive digital ones will do, run some hot water in a bowl and compare them. Give the bowl a minute or two in the microwave and compare again.