John Sampson
TVWBB Member
i am doing my first burn on sat. going to do a 6lb roasting chiken just cause its in the fridge should i do this on the top or bottom rack, also any recepies would help, i plan on useing cherry wood chunks
first burn
- Thread starter John Sampson
- Start date
adam clyde
TVWBB Pro
do you want to do it low and slow, or higher temps?
My personal preference is to do chicken on high heat, but you'll find folks that adhere to both camps. Just a preference thing.
If you go high heat route, leave the water pan empty (or remove it altogether. Do 2 fully lit chimneys of fuel, with all vents 100% open. You'll get temps that near 400 degrees originally. They'll drop back down to around 350.
I do mine on the top rack, with no water pan... kind of like distance grilling...
I do mine skin side down and it ends up taking about 20-30 minutes for halved chicken. For a whole chicken it will take longer.
I almost always brine my chicken (lots of recipes on these boards for brines). Then let the skin dry out in the fridge for a couple of hours.
As for a recipe... I usually do my chicken in one of two ways. Either a jalapeno/garlic/lime baste, or a hot chile rub.
For the former, chop up 2-3 jalapenos, 3- cloves of garlic and combine them with juice of 2 lime to make a paste or baste. Liberally brush it on the chicken. Salt and pepper, then grill/smoke/whatever.
For my chile version, I use a lot of dried chiles. It's essentially a mexican chile powder:
2 ancho chile
3 guajillo
5-6 chipotles (not canned)
2 tsp whole cumin
2 tsp whole coriander
1 TB dried mexican oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
Toast the chiles on a dry skillet for a few seconds until they release flavor, then set aside until they are dry. I seed them, then throw them into a spice grinder with all the other ingredients and grind to the fineness you desire.
This essentially becomes the base of any rub I make. Then, depending on what I'm cooking, I add varying levels of salt and sugar to it.
Good luck... I'm sure your chicken will turn out great.
- Adam
My personal preference is to do chicken on high heat, but you'll find folks that adhere to both camps. Just a preference thing.
If you go high heat route, leave the water pan empty (or remove it altogether. Do 2 fully lit chimneys of fuel, with all vents 100% open. You'll get temps that near 400 degrees originally. They'll drop back down to around 350.
I do mine on the top rack, with no water pan... kind of like distance grilling...
I do mine skin side down and it ends up taking about 20-30 minutes for halved chicken. For a whole chicken it will take longer.
I almost always brine my chicken (lots of recipes on these boards for brines). Then let the skin dry out in the fridge for a couple of hours.
As for a recipe... I usually do my chicken in one of two ways. Either a jalapeno/garlic/lime baste, or a hot chile rub.
For the former, chop up 2-3 jalapenos, 3- cloves of garlic and combine them with juice of 2 lime to make a paste or baste. Liberally brush it on the chicken. Salt and pepper, then grill/smoke/whatever.
For my chile version, I use a lot of dried chiles. It's essentially a mexican chile powder:
2 ancho chile
3 guajillo
5-6 chipotles (not canned)
2 tsp whole cumin
2 tsp whole coriander
1 TB dried mexican oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
Toast the chiles on a dry skillet for a few seconds until they release flavor, then set aside until they are dry. I seed them, then throw them into a spice grinder with all the other ingredients and grind to the fineness you desire.
This essentially becomes the base of any rub I make. Then, depending on what I'm cooking, I add varying levels of salt and sugar to it.
Good luck... I'm sure your chicken will turn out great.
- Adam
John Sampson
TVWBB Member
wont the chicken dry out with no water pan? i do my chickens on my weber kettle grill indirect method and they take about 2.5 to 3 hours but with the charcoal so hot my smoking woods burn up real fast so i dont get a lot of smoke flavor, i thought with ny mew smoker the cook time would be longer and slower with a lower heat, but mabye not with chicken, any way you guys know better than a rookie, thanks for any advice
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
john--
No, they shouldn't dry out--especially if brined and particularly if you pull at the right temp, the most important factor. But you can also do chicken low and slow with the water pan in--without water for a higher temp/slower cook (than without the pan) or with water for a true low/slow approach.
If wood is small and especially if it's very dry it can burn up quickly. Chips and small pieces can be put in a foil pouch with just a couple toothpick holes on one side. This will restrict the air to the wood and it will burn slowly.
No, they shouldn't dry out--especially if brined and particularly if you pull at the right temp, the most important factor. But you can also do chicken low and slow with the water pan in--without water for a higher temp/slower cook (than without the pan) or with water for a true low/slow approach.
If wood is small and especially if it's very dry it can burn up quickly. Chips and small pieces can be put in a foil pouch with just a couple toothpick holes on one side. This will restrict the air to the wood and it will burn slowly.
Matt Faery
TVWBB Member
I smoke chicken with a dry water pan for reasons explained above. I like somewhat higher temps until the last 20 minutes. Then I take the pan out and put it on the bottom rack to crisp up the skin. I also use apple wood and initially I inject the bird with apple juice after I apply my homemade rub and lemon pepper. When I crisp it I put on a maple syrup/mustard/bbq sauce glaze.
adam clyde
TVWBB Pro
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by john sampson:
i do my chickens on my weber kettle grill indirect method and they take about 2.5 to 3 hours... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi John -
Specifically regarding the times. My times (30 minutes or so) is based on halved chicken, on the highest heat I can get in my WSM, which is about 400 degrees for the first 5-10 minutes. If you are cooking whole chicken, which it sounds like you are, it will definitely take longer. But if you do it at a very high temp, it won't take 3 hours.
Oh... also, my chickens that I'm doing are usually no more than 4 pounds or so.
The time, of course, all depends on how hot you run the WSM. If you do low and slow, it can take a heap of time, which some people love.
Regardless of method, the most important (and maybe only important) thing to remember is to use a thermometer and just pull it when it just reaches the safe temperature for chicken.
Let us know how it turns out.
i do my chickens on my weber kettle grill indirect method and they take about 2.5 to 3 hours... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi John -
Specifically regarding the times. My times (30 minutes or so) is based on halved chicken, on the highest heat I can get in my WSM, which is about 400 degrees for the first 5-10 minutes. If you are cooking whole chicken, which it sounds like you are, it will definitely take longer. But if you do it at a very high temp, it won't take 3 hours.
Oh... also, my chickens that I'm doing are usually no more than 4 pounds or so.
The time, of course, all depends on how hot you run the WSM. If you do low and slow, it can take a heap of time, which some people love.
Regardless of method, the most important (and maybe only important) thing to remember is to use a thermometer and just pull it when it just reaches the safe temperature for chicken.
Let us know how it turns out.
John Sampson
TVWBB Member
just took the chicken off, its awesome, just used rub, foil in pan with no water, two full chimney starters, 3 fist size chunks of cherry wood, closed bottom vents about halfway, temp stayed at340 350 for 3 hours straight, this smoker is very easy to use ( so far ) will try a pork butt or shoulder this weekend, thanks for the advice