chicken over tray of potatoes and carrots


 
S

Shawn G

New member
Hey guys, would like an opinion. First time trying whole chickens on my wsm and am going to try three different ways to see what skin we prefer. I have a potatoe and carrot dish that the family devours and was thinking of putting it in an alluminum tray open on bottom rack, with the juices from the three birds dripping into the tray. On my gasser it usually takes 40 to 50 min but it is sealed above medium heat. Do you think I should put the dish in right from the start of the cook? Assuming the birds take 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour to cook is it to long? Going to use lump for the 1st time and was not going to use the water pan and try to get the temp up as close to 350 as possible. Thanks for any advice.
 
Start with your dish at the same time as your chickens. It's easier to have the dish ready half an hour early, than waiting for it to be finished. Foil if you need to after pulling it out. The WSM is a bit slower, the birds will take about two hours to get finished. Check the potatoes and carrots after one hour.

Are your really sure you want to go high heat without the water pan on your first run?
A bit risky..
You can crisp the skin on the chickens on a gasser or on the lower grate over the charcoal bowl of the wsm if you want to.
 
I have done half chickens with the pan empty and foiled but not happy with skin. Did some wings and seared them on charcoal grate when done smoking. Learned real quick that they don't take long to sear! That was my 1st cook and was pretty happy with the crispy skin. Just wanted to try and see if I can get the skin without removing the middle section, much like the bcc in the cooking topics.
 
Never had water in my pan. Can hold temps where I want w/o water. I'd do the potatoes & carrots like you would the gasser, foiled and on the top grate. They'll finish before the chickens; it'll be easier to check for them done. (I also like leaving the foil off the last 15mins or so to dry out and maybe char my root vegs ;-)

My family doesn't like roasted chicken enough for me to learn how to do chicken skin well
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If I put the chickens on the bottom rack should I put the empty water pan in to prevent flare ups or is it still far enough away from the coals?
 
I'd do empty water pan, foiled twice, with a gap between the two layers of foil. Make sure the top foil has indentation to capture juices. Cleanup is let the WSM cool, remove top foil and toss. Re-apply new layer of foil. This is easy insurance against flare ups.
 
Shawn, even with no water in the pan you may have a hard time getting the temp to 350 unless you get more air in. One way is to turn the door over and prop open an inch or so. Another option would be to take the water pan out completely and cook on the top grate only. More like grilling tho. If your not going to have the chicken drip into the veges (may be a good thing), cook them in an oven or another cooker. I generally cook my chicken about 275-300 and aim for bite thru skin, but to each his own. The grilling method, kinda like a Santa Maria cooker will give a crispy skin and some smoke flavor, provided you add smoke wood.
Let us know how it turns out, with pics of course.

Mark.
 
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