Chicken on WSM


 
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lewjeff

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My first attempt at Chicken in the WSM had mixed results...

This is what I did:

- Brined two 4-5lb birds overnight.
- Rubbed the birds with olive-oil and sprinkled
with rub.
- Used the beer-can throne.
- Used maple-lump + peach chucks + apple chips.
- No water-pan/bottom grate.
- Chicken on top-grate.
- Got the WSM up to 250 degrees (at the top-
grate) and put the bird on.
- The temp was steady for 2 hours. The last hour
the temp was all over the place (250-325) due
to wind & rain.

- At the same time, I cooked the second brined
chicken on the rotissarie on the Weber gasser.
- I didn't baste either.

The gasser-bird was moist and you could taste the spices in the brine. The skin was kinda flubbery.
All of the meat was edible.

The WSM bird was questionable. The meat in the legs & wings was dried out and almost non-existent. However, the rest of the bird was smokey, *reasonably* moist, but no taste of the brine, rub, or beer-can contents.

I'm thinking I cooked the WSM too long and thus, dried it out.

Any other tips, ideas for chicken on the WSM?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lewjeff:
[qb]My first attempt at Chicken in the WSM had mixed results...

- No water-pan/bottom grate.

The WSM bird was questionable. The meat in the legs & wings was dried out and almost non-existent. However, the rest of the bird was smokey, *reasonably* moist, but no taste of the brine, rub, or beer-can contents.

I'm thinking I cooked the WSM too long and thus, dried it out.

Any other tips, ideas for chicken on the WSM?[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>lewjeff,

I'm not sure why you thought to omit the waterpan. My guess is that was the problem. The last brined butterflied chicken I did on the WSM was fine. Skin was edible but not great. Avg. dome temp of 240 for about 5 hrs.

George
 
No waterpan was the problem with the legs and thighs taking the full blast of the heat. A waterpan would have corrected that problem and you would have had less problems with the wind and rain.
Jim
 
Another suggestion - get a Polder style probe thermometer , and pull the chicken off when the temperature reading in the breast gets to 165*F. Moist, juicy chicken every time.

Now, if I could just think of a way for you to be able to use a probe thermometer with a rotisserie. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
I don't own a WSM, oh the shame of admitting that /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif I think you may have confused not putting water in the water pan to get a higher temp with not putting in the the water pan.
 
We don't cook our chicken on the WSM, even though that is what I really bought it for (to use in competition). We cook our chicken at pretty high temps, like to get it 300 or better. However after getting it that high the first time or two we used the WSM, we have not been able to get it there since. We would probably buy another WSM if we could get the temp up (cook our briskets on it now). We still continue to use our ECB(with mods) to get those high temps. Anybody ever run their Weber's that high?
 
Raine,

Are you using briquettes or lump charcoal ? I have only cooked poultry once on my WSM ( a thanksgiving turkey last fall ).

I used lump charcoal, and I did not have any problem keeping the temp above 300 for 3 to 4 hours.
 
Using charcoal & wood. Never seen any lump for sale around here. We wouldn't need it for 3 or 4 hours, only cook the chicken about 1 to 1/2 hours.
 
Try Wal-Mart....That's the only place that I've ever seen it. I think the "real flavor" brand is what they stock. 10 pound bag for around $6.00.
 
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