First Cook, Weber Expandable Rack/Brined Chicken on the 18.5" WSM (((Pic Heavy)))

First Cook, Weber Expandable Rack/Brined Chicken on the 18.5" WSM (((Pic Heavy)))

It started with an order from the Pit Barrel Cooker folks...I'd heard they make the best hooks to hang chicken...I also went with a jar of their all purpose rub



here's the Weber expandable rack sitting on the mid section of my 18.5 WSM



I wanted to use good chicken and it just so happened we had several Greenwise chickens from Publix grocers in the freezer...these are anti-biotic free birds



next step was to brine the birds



I used a brine recipe (for the 2nd time) from the Weber Smoke book...6 cups water, 1/3 cup Kosher salt, 1/4 cup sugar, 4 all spice, 4 cloves, 3 cloves garlic, 1 bay leaf

I stirred the salt water and sugar in this bowl, so it would be easier to dissolve



I used the Dr. Brown memorial mortar and pestle to crush the all spice and cloves-



here's all of the ingredients in the brine. a teaspoon of marjoram was called for...I didn't have any so I substituted using some fresh parsley



Thought I'd cut the birds in half before submerging in the brine to save space, here I went through the breast



cut the back out using my 8" chef's knife. one of these days I'm going to buy a good pair of poultry shears, if for no better reason than to save the edge on this knife, from going through chicken backbones




then the chicken went into the brine



I got this food grade pail from a local rest. supply house, originally to use to rise bread dough, but it works great for brining large cuts of meat

Okay, time for the chicken and brine to go into the fridge for a few hours



this cook was done yesterday BTW...

I wanted to make sure I had plenty of coal so I lit two Weber chimneys, using Weber firestarters (paraffin cubes)



approx. 20 minutes later and the coals were ready



having two Weber charcoal chimneys means you'll always have a rip snorting fire ready at your disposal

after dumping the coals into the bottom of the 18.5 WSM, I added some hickory chunks



now it was time to hang the chicken...I elected to hang the chicken on the rack before I set the middle section over the fire. Note that I used a food temp probe, inserted into one of the chicken breasts, through the side of the mid section, using the supplied silicone gasket to get the food probe into the cooker. I also poked the pit temp probe of the Maverick ET-732, just into the silicone gasket, to monitor pit temps



here's the chicken, rack hung over the coals and wood fire



starting pit and food temps as seen on the Maverick ET-732 receiver



lid on, we're roasting chicken



this chicken is being roasted over a direct fire...IOW the water pan was not put into place on this cook

I started this cook at 7:40 PM, an hour later when the cook was finished (food temp probe was registering 163 degrees f measuring breast temperature), it was quite dark, and I had to shine a flashlight to get this pic



here's another night view via flashlight

How was it?

I get enough flavor from the charcoal and don't add additional wood. That was a lot of wood. Also, you might want to try cooking around 325.

brought the birds into my kitchen



not my best photography yet, here it is sliced into the breast



the chicken is moister than these photos indicate

Plated!



Between wifey, the house dog, and me, we went through one of the two birds lickety split! The other will be for left overs, maybe sandwiches or eat the chicken cold, maybe re-heat, who knows

My thoughts on using Weber's expandable rack for the WSM 18.5". Since this is my first cook, and I only have this one cook to speak to, I have to tell you, I'm stoked about cooking on the WSM over direct fire, and this was my 2nd time ever using the brining method. I'm liking those results too

I would say if any of you are on the fence getting this Weber Expandable hanging rack accessory...if you can afford to throw $30 + dollars at it, go for it. I think I have at least another $20 into the hooks I bought from the Pit Barrel Cooker people. Their hooks are quite sturdy, and their rub I used on this chicken I enjoyed immensely. I think next time I cook chicken in this hanging rack over a direct fire, I'll use the seasoning I normally use for grilled chicken, just to compare apples to apples, except normally when I grill chicken, I don't use any smoke wood

Something else I'd like to add...my thoughts on using the Maverick food temp probe inserted into the chicken breast (one of). This is the first time I used the food probe while doing a chicken cook. That is the way to go, keeping an eye on the breast temp using the probe, placed in the breast. There is plenty of meat to get the probe in w/o hitting a bone and by watching the temps, you'll never over cook your chicken breast

That about wraps it up...I hope you enjoyed the verbiage and photos and thanks for looking!

That chicken looks great and crispy! I am going to try chicken without the pan today thanks for the tips.

Nice. Thanks for the input on the expanable rack. Gonna get one for my 18 WSM.

Nice job on the chicken I didn't know about the expandable rack for the smoker $34.99 on weber.com site.
I never saw this product in Loewes or HD....

So true about the restaurant supply shops their the best! Awesome products.
Thanks for sharing.

Slainte'

First I've even heard of the expandable rack. Is this a new item, or have I just overlooked it before?

Nice! This might be the thread that convinces me to get this! Great looking chicken!

Alan F said:

How was it?

Click to expand...

~~~I liked it a lot...I have more experience grilling chicken though so my wife likes my grilled chicken better, as the skin renders more on the grill. that said, I could have removed the hooks from the chicken, placed the halves on the grill and removed the mid section and set the grill over the coals for a few minutes...I've done that the first time I smoked chicken in the WSM, but did an indirect cook that first time, but when I set the chicken I did that time on the grill directly over the coals, the skin rendered up just fine, and w/o burning

the only reason I didn't do that for this cook...it was almost pitch black outside, and wifey refused to hold a light for me so I could see what I was doing in the dark. Dang!, the days are getting shorter this time of year<LOL>

Alan F said:

I get enough flavor from the charcoal and don't add additional wood. That was a lot of wood.

Click to expand...

~~~the first time I roasted chicken in my WSM, using indirect heat I was trying to emulate Chris's BBQ chicken for sandwiches), I forgot to add wood chunks, so I roasted over coals only. I didn't care for the flavor. That said, I grill chicken regularly (have for years) over coal only, and I love the way that chicken tastes, w/o ever getting anywhere near wood, and for years I used the chintzy charcoal, not the good stuff like Kingsford. I have been using Kingsford for all of my WSM cooks


You never know though, I could try roasting over coal only with the expandable rack set up, and end up liking it quite a bit

Different strokes for different folks, I also put more wood (red oak) on the coals before setting the mid section with the chicken hanging, over the coals and wood. My taste buds said the taste was just fine, I could taste smoke in the food but it was not negative in the least. You may not have liked the way my chicken turned out, from the amount of wood I used

Alan F said:

Also, you might want to try cooking around 325.

Click to expand...

~~~the fire quickly lost the high temps...I was seeing the low 300's fairly fast. You have to remember, I ran with all of the vents wide open, and w/o a heat shield between the food and coals, so it lost heat quickly. FWIW, the temps this cook ran at, the chicken was mighty tasty. I did not perceive any negative tastes or flavors anywhere

I could probably get by using less coal next time...1.5 chimneys instead of 2 full chimneys

Just thinking out loud...everytime I've read recipes for chicken roasting like I did in the WSM, all of them claim you are finished in one hour. My cook was right on target, as I watched the food temp probe I stuck in one of the breasts and one hour exactly I had 163 degrees (reading) in one of the chicken breasts...

GaryB said:

That chicken looks great and crispy! I am going to try chicken without the pan today thanks for the tips.

Click to expand...

~~~Hi Gary!, Thanks for the compliments! The chicken looked crispy and it was to a degree, but not to the liking of my wife...she likes the skin rendered more, which I could have easily done by setting the chicken halves on the grill and then setting the grilled chicken on the lower portion of the WSM, removing the center section. I've done this once in the past and the skin renders out well, but you have to be on your toes ready to turn the chicken constantly...it doesn't take long to crisp the skin to anyone's satisfaction this way

I mentioned in the previous reply why I didn't set the birds on the grill over the coals and that was because my wife didn't want to hold a light for me while I would have had to work in the dark...she said her foot was hurting and didn't want to get up. Sheesh!

<LOL>

Tom Golden said:

Nice. Thanks for the input on the expanable rack. Gonna get one for my 18 WSM.

Click to expand...

~~~I suggest buying from Amazon, and go to Chris's sponsor link first here so he'll get credit. you'll pay the same low Amazon price yet Amazon pays Chris a portion of the sale, but you have to visit his link for Chris to get the spiff

Paulie O said:

Nice job on the chicken

Click to expand...

~~~Thanks for the attaboy!

Paulie O said:

I didn't know about the expandable rack for the smoker $34.99 on weber.com site.
I never saw this product in Loewes or HD....

Click to expand...

~~~I only have ever seen reference to it here on this forum, but if you go to Amazon you'll see a few peeps that have done reviews for it. If you buy one, go to the home page here http://tvwbb.com/ and look for the link near the top before purchasing at Amazon so Chris gets a portion of the sale, to help defray cost he incurs running this wonderful site

Paulie O said:

So true about the restaurant supply shops their the best! Awesome products.
Thanks for sharing.

Slainte'

Click to expand...

~~~this is the rest. supply I go to

http://www.tomatsides.com/

they sell everything, including new and used rest. equipment. I could drop some real money there fast, and have...I've purchased several three bay sinks from them

Chris in Louisiana said:

First I've even heard of the expandable rack. Is this a new item, or have I just overlooked it before?

Click to expand...

~~~I'm not sure how long this rack has been available. I first learned about it through this forum perusing threads....

One of these days I'm going to try my hand at making sausage and I'm going to smoke them in my WSM using this rack, but in the meantime, I can see myself using this rack regularly for roasting chicken. I think I'm going to try game hens next, but do them the same way, cutting in half along the backbone, then brine then roast

NGillette said:

Nice! This might be the thread that convinces me to get this! Great looking chicken!

Click to expand...

~~~Thank you for your kind words!, and remember, if you buy this rack through Amazon, make sure you go to the home page here and click on Chris's Amazon button so he gets a portion of the sale to help fund this forum

Cheers!

"~~~the fire quickly lost the high temps...I was seeing the low 300's fairly fast. You have to remember, I ran with all of the vents wide open, and w/o a heat shield between the food and coals, so it lost heat quickly"

Regardless of the water pan not being installed, the fire should not loose temp that fast. It only takes an hour for chicken at 325-350*F. Fill the charcoal ring with unlit and pour a chimney of lit on and the WSM is capable for many hours at those temps.

Jake Wilson said:

the only reason I didn't do that for this cook...it was almost pitch black outside, and wifey refused to hold a light for me so I could see what I was doing in the dark. Dang!, the days are getting shorter this time of year<LOL>

Click to expand...

Keep an eye on deal sites such as woot for headlamps. Last week they had a 2 pack for $10. My headlamp has become an invaluable tool when doing overnight cooks.

My chickens take about 2hr at 325 and have beautifully rendered, crispy skin. Here's an old post.

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?40418-Hanging-Chicken&highlight=hanging+chicken

Nice looking chicken. Might have been me that mentioned the rack. I got it several weeks ago and still have not used it yet. Nice to see someone cook on one. I am going to try the hooks that came with it first and see how they do before investing in others.

Nice job, Jake. Chicken looks great. Glad you upgraded the hooks. I bought the same ones.