I have been asked many times to put together a basic table of times and temperatures for smoking meats. This is the times and temperatures that I use but please understand that they are only guidelines.
All smokers are different and add in the other variables like weather conditions, wind, ambient temperature, etc. and things can vary by as much as an hour or more.
Learn to tell doneness visually as well as with temperature and time and you will be a much better chef at the smoker.
| Type of Meat | Smoking Temp | Time to Complete | Finished Temp |
| Brisket (Sliced) | 225°F | 1.5 hours/pound | 180 degrees |
| Brisket (Pulled) | 225°F | 1.5 hours/pound | 195 degrees |
| Beef Ribs | 225°F | 3 hours | 175 degrees |
| Pork Butt (Sliced) | 225°F | 1.5 hours/pound | 175 degrees |
| Pork Butt (Pulled) | 225°F | 1.5 hours/pound | 190-205 |
| Whole Chicken | 250°F | 4 hours | 167 degrees |
| Chicken Thighs | 250°F | 1.5 hours | 167 degrees |
| Chicken Quarters | 250°F | 3 hours | 167 degrees |
| Whole Turkey 12# | 240°F | 6.5 hours | 170 degrees |
| Turkey Leg | 250°F | 4 hours | 165 degrees |
| Turkey Wings | 225°F | 2.5 hours | 165 degrees |
| Boudin | 230°F | 2.5 hours | 165 degrees |
| Breakfast Sausage | 230°F | 3 hours | 160 degrees |
| Fatties | 225°F | 3 hours | 165 degrees |
| Meat Loaf | 250 -300°F | 3 hours | 160 degrees |
| Meatballs (2 inch) | 225°F | 1 hour | 165 degrees |
| Spare Ribs | 225-240°F | 6 hours | 172 degrees |
| Baby Back Ribs | 225-240°F | 5 hours | 168 degrees |
| Smoked Corn | 225°F | 1.5 – 2 hours | N/A |
| Smoked Potatoes | 225°F | 2 – 2.5 Hours | N/A |
Note: Be sure to use temperature to tell you when the meat is done.. time is just an estimate and is NOT an indicator of doneness.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by darelleats. darelleats said: RT @tulsajeff: Updated times and temps for smoking almost anything. http://bit.ly/16XDQp [...]
Thank you for these guide. I was looking for the smoke meat temps. I am curious though. On some of them you have 225 and some you have 250. How come they are not all the same temperature? I’m new to it so I didn’t know. Thanks again.
My temperatures on smoke cooking will vary to some degree.. I am constantly testing and improving my methods and for this reason I will post what I have had the best luck with.
In general you will see that temperatures can range between 220 and 250. I usually try to hold it to 225-240 but that’s just me.
For most things, you will do just fine if you keep it somewhere between 225-240 but there are meats such as poultry that can easily be cooked hotter if you wish.
Chicken and turkey do not benefit “tenderness wise” from cooking low and slow however the low and slow gives more time in the smoke which increases the smokey flavor.
There are processes such as brining which will also greatly improve the ability of the meat to handle the temperature swings without drying out especially poultry. I have a good writeup on brining at http://www.smoking-meat.com/brining-meat.html which should give you a really good idea of what it is and how to do it. It will change the way you expect poultry to taste for the rest of your life.
Having said all of this.. I recommend that you keep a log of what you cook, how you cook it, weather conditions, etc. and you will begin to find what works best for you.
What I provide is a place to start and hopefully you will tweak it to your own liking as you progress.
I just looked at the brining page and it’s great. Definately going to start doing that. But, I had a question. Do you literally soak the meat in the water and does that include all different meats? Is it possible to get a time to soak for different meats? Thanks for your time and advice.
Thanks for this great page.
I built a smoker and am having trouble getting the temp up in the smoke box. The fire box only gets to about 200 degrees and 150 in the smoke box. This is a propane driven smoker on a trailer. I guess the first thing to do would be to get bigger burners for the firebox. Any suggestions out there?
find a different valve that puts out more presser or look and see if there’s a screw under a cap on the valve.lite the burner and turn the screw one way or the other that should work no need to buy something else.
Great post Thanks.
Does the smoking time depend on the weight of chicken or what ever meat you are smoking?
Thanks
to make up for opening and closing the smoker, shouldn’t they be cooked an extra hour?
cooking ribs – shouldn’t you add an extra hour because of opening/closing the lid to the smoker because of hourly spraying of apple juice?
as long as you watch the pull back on the bone you’ll do just fine. the meat will shrink back then it’s done.
This is perfect!!!!!!!
Thanks for the temps Jeff. I have been using a charcoal vertical smoker (little smokie) for 4 years, but the brand of charcoal I had been relying on had changed its briquette reciepe and they were not getting hot enough, nor stayin hot long enough.
The old smoker had a temp gauge which only said, low, ideal and high and was not sure exactly how hot was ideal.
I will be using 225 to 250 F.
Purchased a vertical LP smoker at a great price with lots of good reviews, but nearly all said not enough smoke from the chip box. So, I purchased two other chip boxes, one cast iron and the stainless steel, and going to see which provides most even and lasting smoke; the original, cast iron or the stainless steel.
Photo documenting it as we go, that my son can use it for a science experiment for school.
I will let you know what the results are if you are interested.
I just bought a Traeger Junior. Grilled Pork Loin and Whole Chicken for dinner tonight. What a hit. Any tips for this type of grill? I’m sold on it. Best I have ever used.
I just transformed a 22inch charcoal grill into a electric smoker by installing a 1100watt hotplate on the bottom. On the first try, which is today, I noticed that it does real well on putting out smoke (using Hickory chunks not chips) but I see two problems already. 1 I see quite a bit of smoke escaping and 2 the max temp ive its gotten to is 190 and its been going for about a hour and a half. I can send pics of my project to a someones email if needed. Any suggestions on how to fix these issues to get it to the desired 225-250degree mark? Thanks, Chris
Chris,
1100 watts seems to be a little low for that smoker.. most electric smokers that I have seen use a 1500 watt or higher element to control the temperature. In my opinion it would be better to have more wattage than you need and let it cycle on and off rather than a small one that will have to stay on the entire time and still not be able to keep up.
The only other option I can think of would be to insulate it somehow.. perhaps use some of that aluminum backed insulation around it.
Hi there, i just put together an electric smoker from an old chest style freezer. I used a 1600 watt hotplate and i placed on top a cast iron pan and hickory woodchips inside. Now my problem is that i can not get temperatures higher than 80F and my intention was to make Hot smoking not cold….any ideas what’s wrong????
Great website cannt wait to try these produce
Thank you so much for your effort. Happy 4th of July to all.
just invested in a afos mini smoke house it has 3 chip draws on 1 side and eliment in the top with a thermostat the top gets to temp ok but the smoke oven dosnt seem to get as hot even with fan going .any info on this type of smoker
I am from KC, and we love to smoke/bbq. I have had several different types of smokers over the years, and the best ones I have found are here: http://thegood-one.com/ I have been using a good one for about 10 years now and it is a set it and forget it kind of smoker. I use both charcoal with wood logs and don’t have to add anything to the box for at least 13 hours. Good luck and happy smoking.
Thanks for the table. It’s nice to have when smoking up 3 or 4 different types of meat to use as a guide for when to add them to the smoker.