Grilled Chicken on WSM


 
C

C. Moore

TVWBB Member
Last night I butterflied a chicken and grilled it on the bottom rack of my 18" WSM. It was fantastic.

It was a 3.8 pound chicken. I cut the backbone out and butterflied it. For seasoning, I simply gave a light rub of Dr. BBQ Spicey Big Time BBQ Rub. I used 2/3 of a Weber chimney of Royal Oak briquettes (not lump). With all vents opened, the smoker quickly jumped to 350 degrees. It stayed there for an hour and a half. I grilled for 25 minutes with the boney interior side down, then turned it and grilled for another thirty minutes with the skin side down. During the last ten minutes, I gave a shake of a vineger finishing sauce on both sides. It was as tender as could be, and the skin was almost as crispy as I would have said was perfect.

A few thoughts and questions:

1. I used the WSM instead of the kettle grill because I can get three of these chickens on if I need to. The kettle will only allow one at a time. I thought the distance from the coals on the bottom rack of the WSM is a nice mimic of an indirect fire in the kettle with coals set up on only one side. You also get the flavor of the drippings hitting the coals and smoking back up into the cooker.
2. Some people use a brick or a heavy skillet when doing a butterflied chicken. Is it really that useful? Would my results have been significantly different?
3. If I did chickens on the top rack and bottom rack, and shifted them around during the cook for even cooking, should I anticipate the bottom chickens getting the rub washed off by the drippings from the top birds?

Any and all input will be appreciated. Thanks.

Charlie
 
Sounds like a great way to do Chicken.
Never done this myself,but Noe on this forum does it all the time. Have to try it.

1. To me that is the NOE-Way
icon_smile.gif

2. I never do that myself and i cant se any benifit from it.
3.I think the rub will get to the stage that it is infused with the skin before the top chickens have the time to start rendering to mutch. I se no issue with this.
 
I have heard it's not a good idea for the drippings to hit the fire. It turns to toxic smoke and then goes back on the food. I read this somewhere here a while back. I use a drip pan. I also think you could fit at least five whole chickens on a 22 inch kettle if the setup is right.
 
Regarding the drippings hitting the fire and becoming toxic, I had never heard that before. Is this not the case with all direct low heat grilling?
 
I've had "bricked chicken" on many a menu in my restaurants. It helps sear the outside to hold in moisture and also when you put it on the fat side of the breast, it evens out the cooking time. Make sure to heat the brick first so it's not taking away heat. Also oil it a few times until it gets shiny. Otherwise it sticks to the meat. Once it's shiny, it will stay that way for future cooking.
 
The bricks, heavy pan, or whatever you use are supposed to put more of the chicken in contact with the hot grate. Jamie P, on his Weber video, foils two bricks (makes sense) and puts them on a sheet pan to balance
 
I've done a pan out hi temp large volume multi rack cook of chicken on the WSM many times. Even with a third rack added with a stacker

Check out the roadside chicken recipe in the recipe section. I think I have photos of a few cooks there.

IMHO you can use the WSM just like a grill high temp for chicken or anything else. To me it behaves like a Carolina style drum (or UDS) smoker in that configuration. Leave the door out if you really want to jack above 350 deg consistently else turn it upside down and prop it open.

You're right that this configuration keeps things a good distance from flame/flares and you can use the lid to control that. I've done many cooks this way where I've simply just placed the lid on/off if the flames got too high. Much easier than a simple grill for chicken cooking direct. The natural "smoke" is a plus and I don't usually add ANY smoke wood when I do this.

With a fully engaged ring of lump high temps are easy to obtain for this method. For large quantity cooks I'll set a chimney of unlit first then a chimney of lit. If I am really trying to crank it up both chimney fulls go on lit.

Good move!

I will also use the Performer at the same time for a quick direct fire to crisp a little more as the chicken comes off the WSM, but often really isn't required. But handy for finishing with sauce, etc. If I'm using a traditional style sauce this is often easier for the finish, especially if you are mixing sauce and glaze types/styles.

Heavy sugar glaze is fine right in the WSM in this config but apply it late after the chicken is pretty much done. You won't need to worry about drippings diluting, etc. It will cling nicely and crisp a littel depending on the heat you've been able to maintain. I've been able to maintain 350 and up readily. I've also used a tempo controller to keep a steady 350 then jack at the end while I am glazing, etc.

Swapping from one level to the other as you say can be necessary if doing the whole cook in the WSM depending on the sauce/glaze you are using. But not always required, you can judge this as you watch the cook.

Just did 3 x 3.5 pound parted out chickens last week this way. Had rave reviews. A very simple marinade is just straight up buttermilk for 24 hours. If you follow this by a citrus anything you will be happy. I then mix different sauces/glazes depending. I like to follow the buttermilk by rinse/pat dry then Wolf Rub Citrus with additional dried lemon zest flakes. Sauces and glaze is secondary to that.

You're on to something, keep experimenting. The WSM isn't just for smoking
wsmsmile8gm.gif
Think of it as an oven and you will understand it better.

I'm not one to worry about the fat dripping on the fire killing me, but I'm not a doctor.

I've done brick chicken. It does great for crispy skin and would need to be done on a skillet IMHO or flat surface as the heat with the fat is what helps create the texture. The bricks also flatten things out against the pan to create even cooking.

Note: made some edits just to update and clarify.
 
And its FUN!! I've updated just a little on my post. Using the WSM creatively this way is a great method that isn't often talked about.
 
Last night, I moved my charcoal grates & ring up to where the water pan usually is to grill pork chops. Had nice grill marks from half a chimney of Kroger brand lump & K blue about half and half. I started the fire too early, and it died down to a bare covering of the grate, which was just about perfect for grilling the 8 chops I had.

Glazed half of them with modified No.5 sauce, and the fam loved them.

The versatility of a WSM cannot be underestimated!
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
Hey that was a good idea Charlie, using the full WSM for indirect grilling. I've used the WSM as a grill by moving the charcoal grate up to the mid level and cooked indirect the standard way. Gotta try it this way, especially when cooking more than one bird at a time, while my performer is occupied with the cows.... :-D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top