Hot and Fast- Chicken on WSM - Thoughts?


 

Lew Newby

R.I.P. 1/26/2024
On the main Virtual Weber website Chris has an article on this and I have a cook coming up where I'm thinking of using it. http://virtualweberbullet.com/chicken4.html
I'll do some test cooks on my 22" WSM but I would appreciate any and all thoughts on doing this. This cook is for the birthday of our granddaughter-in-law (mother of our 2 great grandsons) so she gets special treatment.

Questions.
Will this work with Chicken pieces- thighs and breasts? I prefer to do pieces for ease of serving 15 people but I have done Spatchcocked chicken for a smaller group.

Any comments on Slap Yo Daddy all purpose rub?

Any gotchas to watch for?
 
I've done this method for both pieces and spatchcocked birds & had no problems either way. Works great. If doing breasts & thighs pieces, just watch your internal temps for the breasts, they tend to cook a bit faster.
 
I haven't done it in some time now, but I used to regularly do beer can chicken with the WSM running like 375-400. I've done several turkeys that way too. Just use it like an oven that has the benefit of smoke. I cooked a peach pie in it one time when the turkey was done and the smoke wood had burned up. Worked absolutely fine.

I wold go light on whatever rub you use. Might also want to consider brining the breasts to keep them from drying out. Giving the thighs a head start probably wouldn't go amiss either.
 
Thanks for your thoughts guys. All very helpful. I'll give the breasts special attention.

Hey Tim, I grew up in south county. Is Metro East on the Illinois side?
 
That's correct, Lew. I live 17 miles due East of St. Louis. South County is about a 30 minute drive.
 
Barb and I do HH chicken all the time on our 18.5WSM. It's really the best way to cook it, the grease dripping onto the hot coals adds a different flavor. Yes it will flare up but the chicken is far enough from the flames that they do no damage.
 
Barb and I do HH chicken all the time on our 18.5WSM. It's really the best way to cook it, the grease dripping onto the hot coals adds a different flavor. Yes it will flare up but the chicken is far enough from the flames that they do no damage.

That flare up is why I don't want to use the Performer for this. Thanks.
 
I did my first test cook today. I bought a 5 pound roaster, broke it down into pieces, and prepared half for dinner. I brined the huge breast for 4 hours and it could have handled 6 hours and I used the Slap Yo Daddy all purpose rub. I followed Chris's directions but I assembled the cooker before the extra coals lit. That turned out good because the grate temp was reading 450 after 3 minutes and the lid thermometer was pegged. I used my Maverick to monitor temps. I worked the temp down to 350 and the dark meat was ready in 35 minutes. The breast took 75 minutes. When I served dinner I told my wife to critique the meat and don't be nice.

Dark meat was very tasty with bite through skin. White meat was dry at the edge but moist inside. My wife liked the taste and the bite through skin.

I have never cooked high heat so I have to learn how the WSM reacts to vent opening changes but I think it's worth learning. Thanks Chris for another good way to cook chicken and thanks to the folks who chipped in on this thread.
 
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Lew,
Didn't see any response to your Slap Yo Daddy part of the question.
Here is my SYD based rub slightly modified for poultry. (less salt due to possible brining, less sugar)

Poultry Rub

2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Brown sugar
2 Tbsp California Mild Chili Powder
2 Tbsp Paprika
1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
1 Tbsp Ground Coriander
1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
1 Tbsp Black pepper
½ tsp Cayenne pepper (use sparingly or not at all!)
 
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Before I got the Vortex for my Performer (all I use for chicken parts these days) I used my WSM's for High Heat Chicken as per Chris' High Heat Chicken method. It was successful and the chicken was fine.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I used the basic SYD AP rub recipe without Cayenne and it was good. Even though I brined the breast my wife still salted it so too much salt wasn't an issue. Thanks for the feedback.

I've been off the forum for a couple of years and had no idea what the Vortex was that folks were talking about. You nudged me to find out what it is. It does look interesting as an option with my Performer. I may get one but I've never used the WSM hot and fast so I'm enjoying the learning experience. I had read about the Pit Barrel Cooker and wondered how a WSM would work without the water pan in place. I found the answer. It works. Thanks for the feedback - and the nudge.
 
Sorry to revive an old thread, but it's urgent :) Is this method doable on the 14" as well? I'm slightly worried because the fire would be much closer here than using the 22"... and I start to cook in an hour or so :) Any advices?
 
Here's one I did on the 14" but it looks like I didn't give the total cook time.
https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?66...ast-Chicken-on-the-WSM&highlight=fast+chicken

Thanks a lot Bob for your support, the host & fast method worked out just fine :)

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I do H&F chicken often with spatchcocked halves. At one time, Chris had a chicken cook on the Cooking Topics page, that at the end of the cook he took the barrel off the WSM , put the grill directly over the coals to char the chicken. I can't find it now ? Is it still there ?

I tried that with chicken pieces once and it worked very well, just a bit of trouble .

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Thanks for bringing this post back to life. I need to try this, everyone's chicken looks amazing!
 

 

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