Cooking directly on a wsm


 
G

Graham Timson

New member
This weekend I would like to do Roadside Chicken thighs for the first time on my wsm I have cooked it many times indirectly on a kettle and love it, so do most of my family and friends, most of whom will be coming over this Sunday.

I like the idea of cooking directly, the wsm offers the possibility due to the height from the charcoal to do this when the water bowl removed.

Am I correct in attempting this using the top grate only with a full ring of charcoal? I am assuming that I would be better cooking with the lid on at around 325c. I am guessing cooking time would be in the order of 45 minutes.

I do not have much chance to practice, so any guidance or advice would be very much appreciated.
 
That is my favorite way of doing roadside chicken. Two full chimneys will be sufficient vs. a whole ring. Good luck!
 
I'm doing chicken halves like this on my WSM tomorrow. I can't wait. I dump one unlit chimney and then one lit chimney on top of that into the charcoal ring. Throw on a few apple chips and don't open the lid for about 2 hours.
 
Branon

Do you cook the chicken halfs with all the vents open 100% for 2 hrs.

I want to try some chicken halfs hopefully this week, thats about the only way of cooking chicken I haven't tried so far.

Any info appreciated.

Thanks
 
I made two chicken halves tonight. I used one semi-lit 3/4 full chimney and dumped that onto about a 1/4 chimney of unlit lump (more than enough coals). Kept the main chamber off for a few minutes to let the fire spread and heat up. Left the vents wide open for the first 20 minutes (grate level temp was over 500 degrees) and then closed them half way and the temps settled to 350 degrees at the lid vent. I did not use the pan or lower grate. I placed the chicken skin up for about an hour and then skin down for 30 minutes. I checked the temps around 1.5 hours and the breasts was 190-ish and the thighs were close to 210. I removed them from the grill and tented with foil and let them rest for 15-20 minutes while I finished the side dish. I was expecting tough, dry meat but it was perfect. Almost had a fried chicken quality to it (the skin was AWESOME). The meat was super moist and tender. Making chicken this way is very easy and delicious. I was using an Indian spice mix and did not add any wood for smoke. I recommend going light on the wood if you are using this method for chicken. The meat will absorb plenty of flavor from a little bit of wood. Try using apple chips the first time you make it.
 
This is a very easy cook...maybe the best taste for the effort. 1/2 chimney of lit on a 1/4 full ring of lump, all vents open, one hour later the chicken is usually done (160 breast, 175 thigh)....I usually spatchcock.
 
Well the experiment with cooking Roadside chicken this way was a success, though the result was a little unexpected. Here’s what I did after listening to you guys.

I took the water bowl and bottom grill out of the wsm and filled a chimney with briquettes, I was concerned this would be enough because it barely 40% filled the charcoal bowl of my 18.5 wsm. However it did prove to be sufficient and I did not use any unlit. I chucked on just one fist size piece of Apple wood.

I marinated 10 chicken thighs with Roadside chicken recipe exactly as Brian’s original recipe except though, I did not leave out the oil which he suggests when marinating, I wonder whether this was a mistake, more on that later.

With the lid on and all vents 100% open the wsm climbed to 320F fairly quickly. At this point I started cooking, the thighs which were skin side up. The temp remained around 310 – 320F for an hour even after I lifted the lid after 30 minutes for a few seconds to marinate the chicken. After an hour I turned the chicken over, I noticed the chicken had become quite dark though the side facing the fire was really no darker then the skin side. I marinated again and turned the chicken over so it was skin side down. The temp remained very constant at 310c and after a further 30 minutes I lifted the lid again and checked the temp of the meat which was 210F. I then lifted the chicken off the grill and closed down the wsm.

The result was very dark but not burned chicken thighs, with a super crispy skin. The chicken meat remained moist inside, though I wondered whether it had lost a little of the RS chicken taste. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I would certainly do it it again, possibly cutting the cooking time down to 1.1/4 hrs and do as Brian suggested, take out the oil because I would have preferred a slightly less dark exterior. Thanks to all who commented and made suggestions.
 
When I do RSC direct on the WSM I do it with one lit and one unlit chimney, no water pan and chicken on the top grate. I allow the charcoal to light fully, add smoke wood (just one chunk), then stick to the recipe - that is, basting every 5 minutes and turning every ten. Thighs take about an hour this way.

I'm not sure why you guys are taking your chicken to 210 degrees. That's at least 40 degrees overdone. It's likely that the marinade saves it a bit but you could be losing a lot of moistness/tenderness.
 
I didn't intentionally take the chicken to those temps. I just let it rip for 1.5 hours before I checked it. Like I said before it was some of the best chicken ever and I did not marinade or baste it in any way. Even the left overs were great after some nuking. I think cooking it with the skin on and in halves or spatchcocked is the key to retaining moisture.
 
This IS the way I do RSC every time. I have some posts in the recipe location and some pics as well.

Looks like you did just fine! I just load the ring 2/3 or so then dump on a load of lit.

No water pan. I have used both grates at times but not always. Control flare ups and heat using the lid and the door. Vents are all left open when I'm doing this.

Oh, and I've always used lump.
 
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