Cold Smoking Temperature Dangers

I'm having a hard time finding any solid facts on cold smoking beef and keeping it in the temperature danger zone. I'd like to cold smoke a brisket for an extended period of time but am worried about being between 40 and 140 degrees for more than a few hours. I plan to cook it sous vide for 48 hours immediately after smoking it. Any recommendations?

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Johan_Edstrom_5586

Why not follow the pastrami directions?

Smoke ribs at 149°F / 64°C for 5 – 7 hours at a relative humidity around 65%

With the ice bucket in the smoker and trying to maintain the temp.

My smoker (as @Chris has indicated is the norm) fluctuated wildly going up and down around 145F

ParkerCook_66639

I don't have much temperature control in my little, old grill. I only smoked it for about 2 hours before bagging it. I didn't have all the stuff ready to try getting up to 145. Next time!

ParkerCook_66639

Thanks for all your help, @Johan. I really appreciate it.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Hope you'll have tasty eats!

prince_of_porcelain

Are you going to brine the meat beforehand? If you use curing salt, I think you could cold smoke for a longer time with less worry. Without curing salts, I'd stick to 2 hours or less in the smoker at low temp, or start the smoker temp a little higher to get the meat temp out of the danger zone, then back down to maintain a lower heat.

Chris_Young_80640

@Parker — If you are going to cold smoke it less than 4 hours, then under the FDA rules you can use any temperature. If you are going to cold smoke it for longer periods of time, at temperatures below 54 °C / 129 °F, then you are going to need to achieve a certain salinity level within the meat, a low enough pH, and/or include nitrite salts.

If you have a hardtime keeping your smoker's temperature low enough, one thing I like to do is add a bunch of ice to the smoker. The ice takes a huge amount of heat energy to melt, which keeps the temperature from spiking.

meathead

Most competition BBQ teams do ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, etc. at 225F , plenty safe, but sill low and slow. And you DO have control over temp on your grill, you just don't know how. If it is a charcoal grill, you need to learn how to control air flow. If it is a gas grill, you need to work with some burners off and some on. Other tricks include using a water pan to absorb heat and cracking the lid a bit. You also need a good digital thermometer. The dial on the lid is cheap garbage.

Brendan_Lee_56950

While true about the control, on a site dedicated to sous vide cooking the control we have over our grills is nowhere near as precise as I would like it to be.

ParkerCook_66639

Welcome to the forum @Meathead! I love your website! I'm using an old jumbo joe and a tin can with a soldering iron stuck in it to cold smoke the meat before I put it in my circulator. Thanks for the advice though! I just smoked it for about an hour and a half and stuck a big pan of ice in the grill to help keep the temp down. I got the grill off of Craigslist for $15 and the covers on the vents are a little jacked up so I haven't taken the time to figure out what's best for traditional smoking anything in it yet.