Chicken?


 
Mike F.

Mike F.

TVWBB Super Fan
I butterflied a 5lb. chicken and brined in 1cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 gal. of water for just over 4 hrs. It's air drying in the fridge now. My plan was to apply rub 'bout 1 hour before I cook. Fire up 1 full chimney of kingsford, water pan (without water). Cook at 300F to 350F for I'm thinking an hour and a half? This is the first time I'm cooking a whole butterflied chicken on the WSM and would welcome any comments, critisisms or suggestions.
 
Not sure about the time...seems ok but what I use is a thermometer in the thigh meat. When it cracks 160 it's done! I usually do it at 250 for 2.75 hours.

Aloha!
Greg Kemp
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Paul G.:
That would be 160 in the breast and 170 to 175 in the thigh ?

Paul </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds kind of high to me. I'm not one to pooh-pooh food safety issues but when it comes to chicken the USDA is (IMO) over the top on cooking temps. 160 in the breast is OK (155 is more OK) but over 165 in the thigh, to me, is overcooked. Remember that it keeps cooking after it comes off the heat and chicken breasts dry out FAST.
 
I agree with Karl. The USDA's temperatures to me are very high. I prefer my pork medium rare, my chicken just to the point of being cooked so it retains its juice, and my beef on the very rare side. I very rarely use a thermometer, I can tell by pushing on the meat if it's done or not when grilling, when Q'ing, I do use the thermometer to ensure that the meat has reached the optimum temperature for tenderness. Consider that your meat once pulled will increase in temperature by 10 more degrees.
 
Well, my son was 1/2 an hour late coming home to make his delicious BBQ sauce so when I pulled the chicken off the thigh was 175F. It was a little dry but still tasty. Thanks to all for the input!
 
You can get by with cooking thighs to 165 at home but if your feeding a crowd or doing a competition that's to low a finish temp. At 165 internal you can still have bloody chicken, if at 165 after the rest period the thigh juices run clear fine but you can run the chance that the juices will have too much color in it.

I have been competing with chicken thighs that get pulled at 170 but then they go into suace for 45 min to an hour. The finish on them is 175 to 180 and dry is not a problem.

Catering for a group you will get to many complaints if you pull at 165.
Jim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jane Cherry:
Consider that your meat once pulled will increase in temperature by 10 more degrees. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I don't think you can count on chicken temps to continue to raise once you take it off the grill or smoker. There just isn't enough residual heat in chicken like there is with a big pork or beef roast, to bump up the temperature. I pull chicken at the exact temperature I want it to be - not before. I find it may go up a degree or two, but no more.

Turkey, if cooked on high heat, is a different matter. I find it goes up 5 degrees. But only if it has been cooked at 350+. If it is cooked at 225, I don't find much bump in temp.

Even for beef or pork, while you get a good 5+ degree bump when you take it off, if you've been cooking at 300+ degrees, you don't see nearly that kind of bump if you've only been cooking at smoking temps (225 range). In fact, when I take brisket or pulled pork off that has been cooking around 240, I only see the temps raise another degree or two.

Anyhow, just something to keep in mind.
 
Thighs pulled off at 165? Not at my house, my Wife would send me and those thighs back out to the grill/kettle lol. Any red in the juice for her, they 'taint done. I'll have to agree with her on this one though, I would rather have the thighs a little over done than under done. Breast is fine at 160.
 
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