Frank C. in NY
TVWBB Member
This week I picked up my first smoker, a WSM 22.5. I posted about my experience buying it over in the "Introduction" forum, just in case you were interested in reading about it.
I decided to try something easy for my first cook. I picked the chicken recipe form the forum here.
I have been raving about this smoker and how bad I wanted it for weeks now. So when the time came to take it on it's maiden voyage my immediate family want to be a part of the experience. We always have Sunday meals together, usually Sunday sauce. This Sunday we decided on BBQ. It made me feel both good and nervous that my family wanted to support my new endeavor but nervous that I would blow it.
I picked up eight chicken haves from my local butcher. Turned out to be about thirteen pounds of chicken which turned out to bean average of 1.62 pounds per half. (keep this stat in mind for later when I get to my questions)
I marinated them for the day, about eight hours in a local sauce. I would say it is considered a vinegar based sauce, but not like Carolina sauce. It really is a favorite in our area. It's called Chiavettas Sauce. I always use it for all my chicken grilling needs.
I planned for food to be ready by 1800 for dinner. I thought the chicken would be ready in about 90 minutes give or take. My timing was off. We ended up eating at 1900. An hour is not a big deal. My dad likes to get in his jabs and complain his reservation was for 1800. I offered up fried crab cakes for a quick appetizer and it calmed him right down.
Timing was good in the beginning. I got everything on the grates and working at the time I figured I would. It was very hard not to peak in the hood to see how things looked, but I kept everyone's hands out of the cooker. I left the vents at %100 wide open and used four small chunks of cherry for the smoke.
After the first 60 minutes I took a look and figured they needed more time. I closed the vents back to %50 on the bottom like the recipe says here. Now, this is where things get kinda hairy. That first hour, the heat didn't get nearly as hot in there as I thought it would. It never got above 240* on the Mav 733 at the grate. At the 90 minute mark the smoker temp was down to 200* or so. I gave the grate a shake, got rid of the ash thinking that things would warm up. It really didn't. The chicken at the time was right around 150*. This is where I got nervous. I almost broke down and took the chicken off for the remaining time to be completed on the gasser. But I didn't. I kept reassuring my father, who I love dearly no matter how much he harasses me, that dinner will be ready when it's ready. No uncooked food will be served!
So, at the 105 minute mark I added about 12 - 15 more coals to the fire. At the 120 minute mark the smoker was back up to 250* and the chicken temp was around 165. I was happy now. I took the middle section out and moved forward with crisping them on the grate over the coals. This worked perfectly, no issues. But when I moving them around I noticed that some of the chickens didn't have that leg-pull-from-the-thigh thing going on. Once again, nerves got heightened. I didn't want to serve uncooked food. I put the 22.5 back together, rotated the chickens on both grates but this time I left the foiled water pan out. The temps went up to about 280* now on the Mav. Twenty minutes later we had 170* on all chickens and I was happy again. I pulled everything off and we sat down for dinner.
I asked everyone to give me there honest reviews, good and bad. I told them which wood I used so they can compare next time we they try the BBQ. I asked if they tasted the smoke, if it was to much or to little. I asked if the food was dry and what they would change for next time.
Every one loved it. They are my family and I knew they wouldn't hammer me, but they all said it was the moistest, juiciest chicken on the grill (I corrected them to smoker) they had ever had. Everyone smelled the smoke on the food, some said they could taste it, some said they could not. But no one said it was too much smoke. One commented that it was by far the juiciest but it was bland compared to grilling with the Chiavetts. They gave me nines and tens over all. I gave myself a seven, a low seven. So, now my questions.
Did the over all cook time increase because the chickens were so big? Are those size chicken haves considered big?
I think I needed more fuel. It was never as hot as what I expected. I expected in the low 300's for grate/dome temp. Was that over shooting?
The bland thing bugged me. Next time I think I'll let them marinate longer and completely submerge them in the sauce. It was kinda just on them, as you can see in the pic. (the blurry pic)
Sorry for the basic pictures of lighting etc. I'm posting them now in the beginning, if you see anything I did wrong please let me know!
We had mac and cheese with corn and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer bread to go with it. Dessert was "Sex in a pan" while we watched the monthly WWE PPV. over all a great night as usual with the family.
Kinda a smoke ring? lol
I decided to try something easy for my first cook. I picked the chicken recipe form the forum here.
I have been raving about this smoker and how bad I wanted it for weeks now. So when the time came to take it on it's maiden voyage my immediate family want to be a part of the experience. We always have Sunday meals together, usually Sunday sauce. This Sunday we decided on BBQ. It made me feel both good and nervous that my family wanted to support my new endeavor but nervous that I would blow it.
I picked up eight chicken haves from my local butcher. Turned out to be about thirteen pounds of chicken which turned out to bean average of 1.62 pounds per half. (keep this stat in mind for later when I get to my questions)
I marinated them for the day, about eight hours in a local sauce. I would say it is considered a vinegar based sauce, but not like Carolina sauce. It really is a favorite in our area. It's called Chiavettas Sauce. I always use it for all my chicken grilling needs.
I planned for food to be ready by 1800 for dinner. I thought the chicken would be ready in about 90 minutes give or take. My timing was off. We ended up eating at 1900. An hour is not a big deal. My dad likes to get in his jabs and complain his reservation was for 1800. I offered up fried crab cakes for a quick appetizer and it calmed him right down.
Timing was good in the beginning. I got everything on the grates and working at the time I figured I would. It was very hard not to peak in the hood to see how things looked, but I kept everyone's hands out of the cooker. I left the vents at %100 wide open and used four small chunks of cherry for the smoke.
After the first 60 minutes I took a look and figured they needed more time. I closed the vents back to %50 on the bottom like the recipe says here. Now, this is where things get kinda hairy. That first hour, the heat didn't get nearly as hot in there as I thought it would. It never got above 240* on the Mav 733 at the grate. At the 90 minute mark the smoker temp was down to 200* or so. I gave the grate a shake, got rid of the ash thinking that things would warm up. It really didn't. The chicken at the time was right around 150*. This is where I got nervous. I almost broke down and took the chicken off for the remaining time to be completed on the gasser. But I didn't. I kept reassuring my father, who I love dearly no matter how much he harasses me, that dinner will be ready when it's ready. No uncooked food will be served!
So, at the 105 minute mark I added about 12 - 15 more coals to the fire. At the 120 minute mark the smoker was back up to 250* and the chicken temp was around 165. I was happy now. I took the middle section out and moved forward with crisping them on the grate over the coals. This worked perfectly, no issues. But when I moving them around I noticed that some of the chickens didn't have that leg-pull-from-the-thigh thing going on. Once again, nerves got heightened. I didn't want to serve uncooked food. I put the 22.5 back together, rotated the chickens on both grates but this time I left the foiled water pan out. The temps went up to about 280* now on the Mav. Twenty minutes later we had 170* on all chickens and I was happy again. I pulled everything off and we sat down for dinner.
I asked everyone to give me there honest reviews, good and bad. I told them which wood I used so they can compare next time we they try the BBQ. I asked if they tasted the smoke, if it was to much or to little. I asked if the food was dry and what they would change for next time.
Every one loved it. They are my family and I knew they wouldn't hammer me, but they all said it was the moistest, juiciest chicken on the grill (I corrected them to smoker) they had ever had. Everyone smelled the smoke on the food, some said they could taste it, some said they could not. But no one said it was too much smoke. One commented that it was by far the juiciest but it was bland compared to grilling with the Chiavetts. They gave me nines and tens over all. I gave myself a seven, a low seven. So, now my questions.
Did the over all cook time increase because the chickens were so big? Are those size chicken haves considered big?
I think I needed more fuel. It was never as hot as what I expected. I expected in the low 300's for grate/dome temp. Was that over shooting?
The bland thing bugged me. Next time I think I'll let them marinate longer and completely submerge them in the sauce. It was kinda just on them, as you can see in the pic. (the blurry pic)
Sorry for the basic pictures of lighting etc. I'm posting them now in the beginning, if you see anything I did wrong please let me know!
We had mac and cheese with corn and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer bread to go with it. Dessert was "Sex in a pan" while we watched the monthly WWE PPV. over all a great night as usual with the family.
Kinda a smoke ring? lol
look. Fixed it up the proper way and can't wait for cook number two!
