I did my first smoke tonight with my new 22.5". I went with some chicken breasts. I started out brushing them with a little cooking oil and sprinkling some Weber Beer Can Chicken Seasoning before wrapping with bacon.
I heated up one Weber Chimney full of coals and tossed on two chunks of applewood and one of hickory.
The goal was to cook 3 to 3 1/2 hours at 250 degrees.
When I put on the chicken, the smoker was at 310 and rising. So I shut down all bottom vents. In the meantime, the wind kicked up and we got a shower. After about 30 minutes, I got to 250 so opened up the front vent about 1/2 way.
The temp kept dropping so I opened up the front all the way and the right vent 1/2. I left the vent facing the wind closed. My temp continued to drop to 230 so I opened all vents but got no temp increase. I finally peeked in the door and things looked dead.
Needing to cook another hour or more, I decided to heat up another dozen coals and tossed them in once gray. I got everything back up to 250 where I finished.
The family said the chicken was the best they'd eaten. Lots of praise. I thought it turned out wonderfully but have a few questions.
Did I snuff out the coals when I shut down the vents? I'm assuming I over-compensated and probably should have only closed the vents half way. I left the top open so wonder if I didn't put enough coals on to start with.
I put the chicken on and never rotated or flipped. Do you recommend turning the rack or anything midway to insure even cooking?
Thanks for any tips. The end result was good and I had a great time doing it which is all that matters.
I heated up one Weber Chimney full of coals and tossed on two chunks of applewood and one of hickory.
The goal was to cook 3 to 3 1/2 hours at 250 degrees.
When I put on the chicken, the smoker was at 310 and rising. So I shut down all bottom vents. In the meantime, the wind kicked up and we got a shower. After about 30 minutes, I got to 250 so opened up the front vent about 1/2 way.
The temp kept dropping so I opened up the front all the way and the right vent 1/2. I left the vent facing the wind closed. My temp continued to drop to 230 so I opened all vents but got no temp increase. I finally peeked in the door and things looked dead.
Needing to cook another hour or more, I decided to heat up another dozen coals and tossed them in once gray. I got everything back up to 250 where I finished.
The family said the chicken was the best they'd eaten. Lots of praise. I thought it turned out wonderfully but have a few questions.
Did I snuff out the coals when I shut down the vents? I'm assuming I over-compensated and probably should have only closed the vents half way. I left the top open so wonder if I didn't put enough coals on to start with.
I put the chicken on and never rotated or flipped. Do you recommend turning the rack or anything midway to insure even cooking?
Thanks for any tips. The end result was good and I had a great time doing it which is all that matters.
