Chicken Quarters - recommendations?

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I'm trying my second smoke on my new WSM tomorrow with a large group of friends. I've picked up about 15 1bs of Chicken quarters (for about $2.50) and I'm wanting to find the best way to prepare and smoke them for a novice cooker like me.

Quick questions:
1) Am I going to be able to 15 lbs. in the WSM, or should I just think of using one package of about 8 lbs.

2) I'll be getting home from church around 1 and will have folks coming over around 6. Am I thinking right that I can put the chicken in the brine when I get home, fire up the grill shortly thereafter, start smoking in the 2:30-3 time frame, and be looking good for a 6 o'clock meal?

3) Any other advice/recipes that anyone recommends? I've looked at a few on the website, but haven't decided which to try. Remember, I'm a rookie!

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
I am going to assume you have read the posts about chicken on the WSM. There are pros and cons. Mostly, you have to go at a higher temp than for pork or beef. Keri C. has posted a nice summary of her successful cook... LINK TO KERI'S POST...

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

AR
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by B Prewitt:... Am I thinking right that I can put the chicken in the brine when I get home, fire up the grill shortly thereafter, start smoking in the 2:30-3 time frame, and be looking good for a 6 o'clock mea </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
With this time frame, I think you would be better off with a higher heat cook than the low/slow. You'll also get crisper skin which is preferred by most. I do a lot of low/slow with chix halves and usually go 4+ hrs.

Read up on the higher heat method from the tabs at the top of the page. I would use the standard for firing up but you can use MM. Key is to not overcook the chix. Temp should be 170 in the thigh when you pull it off.

The limitation on amount of chix is governed by how many quarters you can get on the grates and still allow some air movement between the pieces. With that many, you'll probably be using both grates. Thus, you'll have an empty foiled lined waterpan and some radiant heat on the bottom grate. You might want to consider rotating the top and bottom about 1/2 way. I would guess the 1/4s would cook in no more than 1 1/2 hours, maybe less.

Best of luck to you.

Paul
 
I had a very successful chicken cook a few days ago. 300*F at the grate.

You could save some time by brining and applying the rub the day before cooking.

I wasn't able to sheet-pan dry my chicken in the fridge, but it would be good if you could. I just piled my rubbed chicken back into the empty brining bucket and refrigerated it until it was time to cook. I have to say that the skin actually was somewhat crispy -- much more than I expected.

Rita
 
Well, here's the report. I thought it went extremely well for my first attempt at a large cook. I used a brine of 1 qt. water, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1/4 c. table salt. While my goal was to use about 1 qt. of brine per pound, honestly it was a little chaotic given the amount of chicken, and I wound up just using what I needed to make sure they were all covered. I let them soak from about 6:30 am until about 1 p.m. I pulled them off, trimmed the fat, dried with a towel, put on a rub, and refrigerated until I cooked them.

I used 12 lbs. (2 chimney starters) of charcoal using the BRITU method and about 8 small chunks of hickory. Against recommendations, I went with a full pan of water and sought to smoke them like I would ribs. By 2:30, the smoker was steady at 270 with the grates closed, so I went with it and put them all on. I'll say that 15 lbs. of quarters (15 or 16 actual pieces, can't remember which) is about the limit of what the Bullet can hold, but it held them. As expected the temperature dropped, and held at about 200 on the lid. I was fine with that, and let them cook on.

By 4, the temps for the thighs I tested were in the mid-140s to mid-150s (bottom was hotter). I flipped the quarters to bone up, just to see what that would do to the skin. I let them go until 5 at the same 200 temp, when the meat was running in the mid-150s. I opened the gates to 50% for 30 minutes, then opened them wide for another 15 (people were coming over at 6). By 5:45, the meat was running 165-175 with the exception of 5 pieces. I pulled everything except those, and put those on the top rack for about 30 minutes of finishing. Those made it to 165 or higher by 6:15. Finished everything with some sauce and served.

The meat came out with a great smoky flavor, a good pink color (the healthy kind, not the raw kidn), and was about the juiciest chicken I can remember having. It was a big hit. The skin certainly wasn't crispy, but neither was it the disgusting rubber mess some have described getting. I thought it was interesting that the juice coming off that much chicken was enough that it essentially eliminated the need to refill the water, as it stayed mostly full throughout from all the drippings.

All in all, a successful cook. While the quantity certainly has its drawbacks, I wouldn't hesitate to try it again with the same quantity.

Thanks for everyone's advice!
 
Glad it worked out for you. As I stated, low/slow with chic is one of my favorites for the reasons you stated. Very moist and nice added flavor for chic which is not always easy to achieve. A 3 hr timeframe for the quarters sounds good and is about 1 1/2 hours short of what I do with butterflied halves.

I'm sure you have many happy and succesful cooks ahead of you in that WSM
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Paul
 
Congratulations on a very successful cook! Feels good, doesn't it?

You're right about the 15-pound maximum that the WSM will hold with 2 grates. A few months ago I squeezed about 17 pounds onto the grates like a picture puzzle but wasn't pleased with those that were too close to the sides of the smoker. They were a little dry on the edges.

For my last chicken cook at 300, I took them off at 155 and 175 and they were quite juicy as well.

I felt that that setup was too much trouble to move the pieces around.

Eat more chikn!
Rita
 
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