Internal Chicken Temperature.

[Whart80]

Thing with chicken is that it is full of bacteria inside the meat itself, so washing and potentially splashing bugs all over the shop won't make a great deal of difference. The outside will defo get cooked, so just a risk not worth taking.

Re. The temp thing I always find that chicken can be quite chewy if not cooked out properly, especially thighs and tougher cuts. I've always taken my chicken to 74C and never have dry meat. I use fatty parts and leave the skin on.

I think the 74C thing is for clarity. Most of the public don't have a scooby and 74 is instant kill. That's what I meant before when I put 'you had a long cook'. As in, even though the IT was low, the long cook will have fixed that. Bugs like salmonella can actually start dying as low as 52C, but would need hours and hours to be safe.

I am certainly glad I asked as you have all helped clear things up in my mind,

I would never think of popping a thermo in a roast chicken I have cooked in my oven I would just accept that cooking at the correct temp for correct amount of time will get the job done and confirm this visually. The info you guys have passed on has made me realise that there isn't really a difference when using my smoker. My cooking temp was stable and the cook time was plenty to cook the made properly and after inspecting I knew deep down it was cooked properly.

I will proceed with a lot more confidence now.

[essexsmoker]

You can't really tell by looking or the juices to be fair. That was just another helping guide for the days when no one had digital thermometers.
I wouldn't dream of doing chicken without a digital thermo. If nothing else just to give me a guide of where I am IT wise. I use one on everything now that I have one. It's there, its cost you money, why wouldn't you use it?

I've had a case where I had chicken defrosting in the fridge for 2 or 3 days before cooking. Turns out that the bottom of my fridge is so cold it was still partly frozen. I would never have kown that without my digital thermo.

[Whart80]

You can't really tell by looking or the juices to be fair. That was just another helping guide for the days when no one had digital thermometers.
I wouldn't dream of doing chicken without a digital thermo. If nothing else just to give me a guide of where I am IT wise. I use one on everything now that I have one. It's there, its cost you money, why wouldn't you use it?

I've had a case where I had chicken defrosting in the fridge for 2 or 3 days before cooking. Turns out that the bottom of my fridge is so cold it was still partly frozen. I would never have kown that without my digital thermo.

I will still be using the thermo but I am now more confident that other factors will help me decide when its cooked other than just a reading of 165

[essexsmoker]

http://www.chowhound.com/food-news/1132 ... ore-113229

[KayCeeSmoker]

Yes, as I said, stone the heretic.

After nearly 40 years of smoking, I'm comfortable with my methods. Never had anyone get sick or even have tummy upset at all.

Probably has a lot to do with how you learned. My Mom washed everything from the grocery too with the same good results.

Your mileage may vary.