Bone-in Chicken on the Kettle - direct vs indirect


 
M

Martin Chicago

TVWBB Member
Hey Guys,

Martin here from Chicago. I grill pretty often on my Weber grills (Summit, Genesis Gold, 22" Performer). When I do bone-in chicken, it's exclusively on the kettle, with a couple minute sear on the direct side, then off to the indirect for the remainder of the cook, with some apple wood smoke and sauce at the end - the typical setup.

I know some of you grill these indirectly for the entire cook at a relatively high temp, and potentially sear at the end to crisp up the skin. I've tried this several times, and the color is outstanding, but can't really tell if I like one method over the other. What is your preference for bone-in chicken (thighs, quarters, halves, drums, etc?)

Thanks.

Martin
 
Martin, for chicken pieces on a kettle, I like to place the coals in about a 14" circle in the center of the charcoal grate, then start the chicken pieces skin side up
in a circle at the outer edge of the grill. Then as the chicken skin gets some color at 15 -20 minutes into the cook I can move them direct with no sticking. It works
well for me and with some practice you can get great color with no burning.
 
Bob H. said:
Martin, for chicken pieces on a kettle, I like to place the coals in about a 14" circle in the center of the charcoal grate, then start the chicken pieces skin side up
in a circle at the outer edge of the grill. Then as the chicken skin gets some color at 15 -20 minutes into the cook I can move them direct with no sticking. It works
well for me and with some practice you can get great color with no burning.
Click to expand...

Bob,

I'll have to try that out today after work. Roughly how much charcoal do you use (chimney reference, or count perhaps), and do you keep all vents open?

Thanks again!
 
I do chicken parts on my OTG and Performer, regularly. I cook them indirect and finish direct to crisp the skin. I also sauce a couple of times before doing direct...

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
Hey Martin, I use the charcoal trays in the middle with about a full chimney and do direct cook to sear the bone-in pieces a couple minutes a side then move the trays to the side, put the lid on with vents wide open and cook until done another 20-30 minutes but all the methods mentioned I'm sure work well. Here is a pic doing wings this way after pulling trays to the side, it works well with the hinged cooking grate

 
Out of curiosity, why do you all either put the coals on both sides or in the middle? Any reason for that? I just put my coals to one side and chicken on the other.
 
PaulFisher said:
Out of curiosity, why do you all either put the coals on both sides or in the middle? Any reason for that? I just put my coals to one side and chicken on the other.
Click to expand...

Good point and never thought about why I do it my way, besides grilling for over 20+ years and just kind of winging it and refining my process. I do think using the trays to sear in the middle and then pulling them out to both sides providing 2 piles of coals heating the kettle maybe it's a little hotter giving quicker cooks. Then again a quicker cook might not be a good idea since that is less beer time, HA! I Enjoy all the quality input.
 
Whole chicken when it's .99 per pound, indirect and kettle-roasted to golden brown perfection is my favorite way.
Might take 3 hours.
I can wait....more time to drink beer !
 
I put both baskets to one side then a direct sear and move the chicken to the other side for indirect. With the baskets on one side I get a little cooler indirect zone, the chicken seems to be a little moister then with a basket on each side and the chicken in the middle.
 
I do chicken indirect now for every type except kabobs and boneless skinless breasts. I use the indirect method with coals on one side behind a couple fire bricks and foil to over lower grate to direct airflow up through coals on the side. I usually run the kettle wide open if chicken pieces or maybe keep it to 350 or 375 if whole chicken. Typically I cut chicken in half, rub or marinate and then grill indirect. If saucing I think the sauce a little with vinegar and put on for last 20 min with heat as high as 450.

Summer favorite this year for family is my "El Pollo Loco" version of citrus juice, garlic and onion overnight marinade then gilled indirect until done. Comes out golden and delicious.

Boneless skinless breasts get pounded to thin them out, brushed with olive oil and then grilled direct with various spices based on mood and availability.
 
I get my best results when cooking next to a blazing Indirect fire. If the fire is hot enough, I don't even need to sear at the end.

This is also my favorite way to cook burgers and hot dogs. My setup is very similar to GGross.
 
Pinny I'm gonna try the indirect with burgers cuz I have to make a bunch of them at one time and don't want a flame fest. Probably keeps the burgers from shrinking up so much too.

FYI I can sustain close to 400 degrees using a full chimney of lit regular K in the kettle with my indirect method. I think the foil channeling the air up through the coals creates a semi-forge effect. I'm at altitude in Denver so I usually have a hard time sustaining high heat indirect.
 
I can sustain close to 400 degrees using a full chimney of lit regular K in the kettle with my indirect method. I think the foil channeling the air up through the coals creates a semi-forge effect.
Click to expand...

I thought the foil on the cool side of the charcoal grate actually helped keep temps down. Am I remembering wrong?
 
PaulFisher said:
Out of curiosity, why do you all either put the coals on both sides or in the middle? Any reason for that? I just put my coals to one side and chicken on the other.
Click to expand...

I have done a whole chicken indirect either with coals on both sides or just one side, the 22.5 kettle dome design seems to make either way work just fine. Being somewhat lazy, I gravitated to just one side because it seemed easier, and certainly worked fine.
Then if I did two whole chickens indirect, I put them in the middle of the kettle back to back, over a drip pan, and then coals on both sides make sense.

However, since my spouse authorized a kettle rotisserie a few years back, I am now requested to do whole chickens on the rotisserie ONLY. So two 5-6 lb chickens on the spit, coals on both sides, drip pan under the spit, takes 1.5+ hrs or so. (significantly quicker than two chickens were taking to do just indirect).
And since I always do what she asks (grin), that's the current method I use for roasting whole chickens.
It's all research, anyway, I figure.
 
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