Is this raw or just pink from the smoking process?


 
P

P Mata

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(I hope this link works)

I ended up throwing the chicken away and just ordering wingstop
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2.5 hrs of indirect heat for nothing.
 
Did you not temp the meat?

It does not look at all raw. Whether pink from smoking, pink from being a young bird or pink from undercooking I can't say. Doesn't look undercooked though.
 
I didn't have a meat thermometer that's why I didn't temp it. In regards to why didn't I put it back in the grill, it was getting late, I had already cooked it for 2.5 hrs, but most of all, because I wasn't going to eat it comfortably anymore regardless of how long I cooked it.

I'm new at this indirect cooking thing. My original intention was to do a beer can chicken but it wasn't until I had the coals set up and ready to go that I realized it didn't fit in my Weber. So I decided to just put the bird on the grill and cook it like that. It didn't turn out well at all.

Worst of all is that I still tasted a little of the chicken breast and a piece of the wing and it was pretty much tasteless.
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Dave,

The thermomter I placed in the vent read 400 degrees when I started the cook then it settled down to 300 over the next hr or so. It stayed at 300 for about 1/2 hr while I started another chimney of coals. After I added the newly lit coals the temp went up to 425 degrees. and it gradually dropped down to 375 in the next 1 hr. I turned the chicken over three times throughout the cook.

edit:
I started with 3/4 of a weber chimney then added another 3/4 chimney. (In total I'm guessing I used 1.5 chimneys worth of charcoal)
 
Well, at those temps for 2.5 hours in a kettle grill, I'd say that chicken was cooked, and then some. Just for comparison, I cook chickens indirect on my kettle that go about 4-4.5 lbs and they are done in about 60-75 minutes. That area where the thigh meets the breast sometimes is the last part to cook fully. However, in your case, I'd say the color was from smoke. Did you use cherry wood by any chance? Do yourself a favor and get a thermometer. Don't be put off by indirect cooking. It's just like using an oven
 
yea, that shoulda been cooked unless the bird was frozen. pink is not bad. bleeding is.i cook birds to temp and some parts are really pink but not bloody so i eat it with no problems.
chicken nowadays is rather bland thus the need to brine or injuct them. i don't bother though.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I think I'm gonna stick to just regular direct grilling. To be honest, i'm beginning to discover that I don't really like the taste of indirect cooking very much.
 
I dont think its raw. My chickens can get the same look around the thighs. I belive its pink from the smoke.

The clear juices on the pic indicates that its fully cooked.

And Judging from the looks of the meat "texture" i think it looks firm as it should while cooked and not "mushy" like raw chicken is.
 
P.the chicken looks fine. Keep trying,you'll get the hang of it!
And if it's tasteless,add more salt and pepper! That will make almost anything taste better!
 
I'm with Dave/G. At those temps the chicken was well cooked, if those temps are accurate. It was likely safe at just about an hour of cooking, maybe a little more. Palatability of dark meat usually means higher internal temps but the chicken would have hit those for all the time it cooked.

Direct or indirect you should get a tip-sensitive digital thermometer to temp what you cook for safety.
 
Yep I'd say past done.

Here's how I did my BCC last night on my 18.5

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Took bout 75 min in the 400 range and pulled when 165 in the thigh. That's a cajun sausage cap, mmmm mmmm it was good!
 
That's cooked yo, you're just looking at the dark meat.

Without a thermometer a fairly reliable indicator of doneness is the color of the juices. If they run red, it's probably not finished cooking. If they run clear, the chicken is done.

Of course you'll have some birds or a vein you cut into that will run red when the chicken is well cooked, but that's how many chefs i.e. Julia Child advocated testing the doneness of a chicken before the advent of instant thermocouple digital thermometers.

2.5 hours is a long time to cook a chicken, even at 250 degrees.
 
I'm on the cooked side as well. When I first started temping things, particularly poultry, it was an amazing revelation.
 
We CA boys are stickin' together on this one...I'm gonna say undercooked. Not only because the pale and rubbery skin, but I think I see juice in the joint (smack-dab in the middle of the pic) that doesn't look clear to me. I like my chicken medium well...where's there's a very fine line between being cooked thoroughly and dry; not a huge chicken juice fan.
 
There are a few possibilities for 'done' when it comes to chicken. The first done concerns safety - getting it to the point it is safe to eat. Young chickens can remain pink - even red - near the bone, especially at the joints, yet hit or pass safe internal temps. Juices will not necessarily be clear but the meat is safe to consume.

Safety established, done then has to do with palatability. Chicken breast, for many, need only just hit safe for best palatability. Dark meat, for many, though safe, is not palatable till it cooks more, i.e., more rendering, higher internals so that juices in fact 'run clear'. Dark meat, especially, can be safe to eat but not very palatable.

For safety, chicken should be temped with a tip-sensitive digital thermometer, not a bimetal analog therm.
 
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