Chicken leg quarters low-n-slow times/temps?


 
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Dave Russell

TVWBB Honor Circle
Am I the only one around here that likes to smoke whole chicken legs with water in the pan?

I've kind of arrived at what works for me, and it's really easy. I'm just left scratching my head because I'm having a hard time predicting cooking times. Last time, it was probably almost 20 lbs, and it took almost three hours. Well, today, I already had three slabs of spares smoked and foiled in the oven, so I only put 10lbs. on. I rescued both racks at about the 2.5hr mark, but I bet the top rack chicken would've been done half an hour sooner.

The bottom rack chicken was some of the best smoked chicken I've ever had, and the recipe is so simple, you won't believe it. This is for a 10 lb. bag. You'll need three racks for a 20lb. bag.

-Remove loose fat, disjoint, and marinate overnight in an Italian dressing. (I used a combo of Walmart brand and Wishbone.)

-Pull back skin and season lightly with Weber "Beercan Chicken" seasoning, then season the bone side lightly as well.

-Put a couple of thin pads of butter under the skin on the top of the thigh.

-Seperate lefties from righties, and wrap skin around the leg and lightly season with Plowboys Yardbird. You'll put your smallest group of legs on the bottom rack, whether it's righties or lefties.

-After lighting charcoal, putting on wood, and filling the water pan about half way (if it's a Brinkman pan or '09+ Weber), let the cooker come up to 250*, at the same time giving the smoke a chance to clean up. I prefer apple, cherry, or sassafrass.

-Spray the bottom grate and make a spoked wheel with the smallest group of leg quarters all going the same way, skin side up, ends of the drum sticks touching at the center of the pan. The larger ones will naturally end up with the thighs closer to the outside of the cooker and this will cause all the legs to cook very evenly. Spray the legs with Canola oil, and then do the same with the larger group of legs on the top rack.

I really feel that I'm getting better, moister chicken like this. Contrary to popular opinion, I think the water in the pan seems to help, and all I can say is don't knock it till you've tried it. I'm done cooking chicken at 300-325* in my wsm. The skin still isn't crisp, and I end up with dryer poultry than what I'm getting low-n-slow. Regarding the skin though, if I want to try for crisp chicken skin, I'm cooking directly over the coals in the wsm, or in my kettles. I didn't find the skin rubbery at all tonight. I snagged a leg before supper while saucing the ribs, and it was incredible.

Back to topic though, anybody find some pretty reliable times for cooking whole legs around 250* with water?
 
Hi Dave!
I'm a HH kinda guy when it comes to chicken, but couldn't resist saying "Howdy" to another Volunteer.
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Back at ya, Charles.

I WAS a HH guy when it came to chicken. Heck, I don't even think that I tried cooking chicken with water in the pan til this Spring.

What I'm noticing is that I can cook the chicken longer so it's starting to let loose of the bone, but not be dried out. The water from the pan steams the bone side where the meat gets exposed, so I guess that and the lower temps help deter drying.

Even if you don't want to do the low-n-slow thing with the bird, try the two different rubs like I mentioned. The beercan is heavy on garlic, like Lawry's I guess, and the Plowboys Yardbird not only helps with spice, but color, along with the Canola oil and smoke. Sorry I don't take pix, but other than the top rack legs I overcooked, these legs were not only some of the tastiest ever, but BEAUTIFUL! ...Reddish mahogany, and I used apple, not cherry for smoke. I think the water pan also lightens the smoke flavor, which is certainly a good thing for yardbird.
 
" all I can say is don't knock it till you've tried it"

Ok Dave. I'm tryin some today, did you sauce at all?

Tim
 
Tim, no sauce til leftover as pulled chicken sammies. It'll be the farthest thing from your mind if you smoke 'em right.
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I'll still brine or dry brine for white meat, but I think I'll stick to this simple method for leg quarters from now on. It's a really easy way to cook up a bunch of CHEAP yardbird, and I just need to work on my temps and times so I keep the Missus happy. "It ain't done til it's done" doesn't fly 'round here, unfortunately.
 
You got a winner here Dave!
I did breasts & thighs, just rubbed and sprayed with the canola oil.
Top rack, skin up for the first hour, than flipped skin down for about another hour. Wonderful golden color, and the skin was bite through perfect.
I will do this again.
Big thanks!

Tim
 
Dave,

I do chicken low and slow with water in the pan too, and I think it makes the meat moister (compared to using the clay saucer). The skin isn't "crisp" but more like rotisserie.
 
Usually I use high-heat with no water pan at all (directly over the coals). I have always had problems crisping the skin unless its roasted at 400+ degrees. So why even try for great skin when you can make great juicy flavorfull meat? I'll try low-slow with water in pan this tonight with a whole chicken.
 
Originally posted by Charles Howse:
Hi Dave!
I'm a HH kinda guy when it comes to chicken, but couldn't resist saying "Howdy" to another Volunteer.
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Click to expand...

Well said, Charles! Us Vols gotta stick together.

I've been having good results with leg quarters done HH, but indirect on my kettle. I use the same Weber Beer Can Chicken seasoning, a spray of PAM butter spray (I use Publix brand - it's cheaper), and I let the seasoning work in while I get the coals ready. Will have to try the two rub idea, as I like both of those rubs on chicken but I've never tried them together.
 
Originally posted by Darryl P:
Usually I use high-heat with no water pan at all (directly over the coals). I have always had problems crisping the skin unless its roasted at 400+ degrees. So why even try for great skin when you can make great juicy flavorfull meat?...
Click to expand...

Darryl, that's EXACTLY where I'm coming from, and if I wanted to do only one grates worth, I might smoke it directly over the coals at HH like I used to do in my drum, or just use the kettle. It's all good when you're only cooking one grates worth. HOWEVER, if I want to cook a BUNCH of chicken...

...Around here, the leg quarters will go on sale for about .59 lb if you get a ten pound bag. If I use my third rack, I can get two bags on, or roughly two dozen servings of tasty smoked yardbird with built-in handles!
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Now you might think the three racks of leg quarters wouldn't cook evenly, but I'm telling ya, they do just fine with no rotating or flipping, as long as you keep the temp down and water in the pan. If you disjoint the leg, any temp between 167-180* will be just fine. Lower IT's mean a little juicier, but higher IT's mean it's gonna be more tender. I know most of ya'll wouldn't have a reason to cook up so many chicken servings, but sometimes just for kicks, do one big bag low-n-slow with water, and use the leftovers for pulled chicken sammies. If you like it, you'll have another easy and cheap option for a party.
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Originally posted by Matt Sanders:
Dave,

I do chicken low and slow with water in the pan too, and I think it makes the meat moister (compared to using the clay saucer). The skin isn't "crisp" but more like rotisserie.
Click to expand...

Matt, if you've tried leg quarters, what have your time/temps been like?

I really gotta get better at predicting that. I know that my three rack cooks take longer, but I think it's because the cooker temp takes longer to recover.
 
Dave,

I honestly don't know the internal temps. As far as chicken, I usually do wings on the WSM, but have also done halves and Cornish hens. Whatever I'm doing seems to take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours at 225-250.

Tonight I'm going to experiment with a couple Cornish hens on my new Performer, offset, then finish direct. I may use a probe for that one.
 
Well, I found somewhere that they are supposed to take 3 hr. at 250*, and I found another source for time frames: 225 to 250* = 2.5hr; 250 to 275* = 2hr. I know...the cooker, starting chicken temp, etc., all are gonna make for different cook times. I was just looking for some popular timeframes.

After some thinking about it though, I believe the biggest difference has been that I've had problems getting up to 250* when I did the three rack cooks with 20 lb. Saturday though, I actually overshot it a little right off the bat, and my vent temp was about 260* for a good part of the time. I know that 20* can make a huge difference in the length of a brisket or butt cook, but I didn't know it could add up to so much for a chicken cook.
 
There's a great recipe on the naked whiz just called "the chicken" for cooking 1/4 chickens. Basically floured chicken quarters cooked indirect at 350 for 90 minutes then removed and dipped in a hot sauce and wrapped in HD aluminum foil and a towel and put in a cooler for a half hour. Simple and really good.
 
Mystery solved on why my leg quarters got done so fast the other day.

I've been using a cheap Rubbermaid candy therm for my short cooks, saving the Maverick Redicheck for longer ones. Anyway, I checked both, as well as my Thermapen in boiling water. The Tpen read 212* and the Maverick read 209*, but the cheap candy therm read only 191*! It's recalibrated by turning the stem, but evidently, since it wasn't tight enough it got accidently miscalibrated.
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I guess I did learn something though. I can honestly say that the chicken that (evidently) smoked at about 275* with water in the pan, is not much different than chicken smoked at around 250* using water....still noticeably moister than most of the chicken I've smoked at 300-ish* with a DRY foiled pan. Don't try to convince me otherwise. I'm sold. Like I probably already posted, if I want to cook yardbird in my wsm at temps higher than 275*, there'll be NO pan, and I'll be cooking fast as I can directly over the coals.

On this cook, I simply used my ECB pan dry with my clay pot base for three racks of spares, and after pulling them to finish in the oven, I swapped the "dry" pan for the Weber water pan and filled it halfway. It's an easy switch to get moister chicken and better rib bark, assuming you're foiling.
 
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