First ever cook on a WSM with 2 recipes on the site... one quick question


 
D

David Chapman

New member
Hi all,

This weekend I'm planing to do the Basic Barbecue Chicken and Gourmet Sausages recipes from this great website as my first ever smoke!

My question is, neither of these recipes give any indication what temperature the WSM should be at. I know it isn't important according to the recipes but I'd like to have some idea what to aim for to ensure I'm not too low/high

The recipe says the sausages can take anywhere from 30mins-2hrs and the chicken takes about an hour.... does anyone have any guidance for the temperature I should aim for and when I should put the sausages and chicken on?

Thanks in advance!
 
Basic barbecue chicken being.....a whole chicken? Chicken legs? Boneless breast? I looked at the website and didn't see that so I'm not sure....
 
Basic Barbecued Chicken recipe

Hi David,

The point of that beginner chicken recipe is to help you get some initial success under your belt without considering temperature or the complications of trying to cook two meats at once. It's about lighting a hot fire, opening all vents fully, and cooking anywhere in the range of 225 to as high as 375 until the meat is done.

Having said that, if you do the chicken recipe and want to throw in some sausage, I would give the chicken a 30 minute head start, then add the sausage and watch carefully, as they will cook quickly. If they get done before the chicken, remove and wrap in aluminum foil to hold until the chicken is done.
 
Thanks Chris.

I suppose what I'm trying to do is a slight variation on those recipes to give myself a first experience of true smoking at around 250F.

This being the case, how long do you think I should cook both the half chickens and the sausages for?
 
David,
It's hard to throw out cooking times because every piece of meat is different.
Chicken should be cooked until the breasts are 160-165 and the thighs are 170-175. My wife doesn't do dark meat, so I never cook whole chickens and when I do cook chicken, it's always to temp and not time. I can tell you breasts will be done in 45 min to an hour.
Sausage, being a ground meat, needs to be cooked to 165 to be sure any food borne pathogens are destroyed.
 
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