Process

Hot smoking

Smoke applied while the product is cooked to a lethality endpoint.

Published parameters

Every figure here is quoted from the source named beside it
Parameter	Value	Source
Lethality	time and temperature combinations in the 2021 Cooking Guideline, Tables 2 to 4	FSIS-GD-2021-0012, revised Appendix A
Come-up time	FSIS recommends limiting time between 50 and 130 F to 6 hours or less	FSIS-GD-2021-0012
Stabilisation	no multiplication of C. botulinum and no more than 1 log multiplication of C. perfringens	9 CFR 318.17(a)(2)
Relative humidity	a critical operating parameter, with four FSIS options	FSIS-GD-2021-0012

What the step is for

Combines flavour with an actual kill step, and then a stabilisation step as the product cools.

The lethality tables in the 2021 Cooking Guideline are the reference for hot smoking, and this site does not reproduce them. They are published as images inside the PDF with no text layer, and transcribing a safety table by eye is the kind of error that does not announce itself. The guideline is linked instead.

What the guideline says in text is worth carrying: relative humidity is a critical operating parameter, not an optional refinement, and FSIS recommends limiting the total time the product spends between 50 and 130 F to six hours or less.

Cooling is a separate regulated step with its own performance standard. Getting a product to temperature and then letting it sit through the cooling range undoes the work.

Hazards this step bears on

Instruments this step is measured with

Every parameter above is stated in a unit. These are the instruments those units are read with, and that is the only claim being made for them: they let you find out what your product is. None of them makes this step safe, none of them is required by any of the sources cited above, and this site does not tell anyone that a procedure works. Consumables, cures and cultures are deliberately not linked from a method page; they are on supplies.

Affiliate links

The listings below are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate this site earns from qualifying purchases: if you buy through one of these links Amazon pays a commission and you pay the same price you would have paid otherwise. Links and prices were resolved on 2026-09-04 by a build script and are not re-fetched when you load the page. Full terms on disclosures.

Probe thermometer, calibrated

Every entry in the Trichinella heating table and every cooking endpoint is an internal temperature in all parts of the product. FSIS requires monitoring by a calibrated device.

Parameter: FSIS-GD-2016-0002, Table 1, 13 time and temperature combinations

Listing

RIWUSI Meat Thermometer Digital, Instant Read Thermometer with Dual Probe

Lowest new, checked 2026-09-04: $9.99
Lowest used, checked 2026-09-04: $7.59
Brand: RIWUSI
ASIN: B0F5WWFPBG

Affiliate link, tag carbs.com-20. Prices read from the Amazon Creators API on 2026-09-04 and not re-fetched since. Amazon prices move within a day; treat these as the figure on that date, not as a quote.

Smoker

Cold smoking holds a product in the range pathogens grow in, for hours. Hot smoking is a lethality step with a published endpoint. The equipment decides which one you are doing.

Listing

2026 Upgrade Electric Smoker Generator, Cold Smoker 60-70°F for Cheese

Lowest new, checked 2026-09-04: $99.99
Lowest used, checked 2026-09-04: $97.41
Brand: Ueiticsk
ASIN: B0GPWSRM8B

Hygrometer and thermometer, logging

FSIS treats relative humidity as a critical operating parameter for cooking, and a drying room is a humidity-controlled space. A logged record is what turns a chamber into a process.

Parameter: FSIS-GD-2021-0012, relative humidity as a critical operating parameter

Listing

tempi.fi Wireless Temperature and Humidity Sensor - Developed in The USA - 24/7 Data Logger with Alarm - Bluetooth Smart Thermometer and Hygrometer - Bluetooth Only - Not WiFi

Lowest new, checked 2026-09-04: $64.95
Brand: tempi.fi
ASIN: B07TK22DQQ

Regulatory citations are to the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, as in force on 1 January 2026. FSIS guideline citations give the guideline identifier; the documents are listed with their URLs on methodology.