Brian and Randy;
Welcome to the forum. It is always nice to see someone else from SW Ohio (I live in Hamilton, Ohio).
If you want to continued your grilling and smoking education, THIS is the place. These good people have helped me to raise my BBQ standards VERY high.
Regarding chicken, I have often spatch cocked chicken so that it'll cook quicker and more evenly. I do them, whether spatch cocked, half chickens, or chicken parts as follows:
We brine all poultry. We perforate the skin with a "meat tenderizer" (that renders the fat earlier in the process leading to crisper skin). We apply a light coat of pure virgin olive oil, apply the rub of our choice, then, when the WSM is up to heat, start cooking. We generally just use the top grate. Whether using the 14.5" or 18.5" WSM, we remove the heat deflector, open all vents and run the smoker wide open with the lid closed. Temps run about 350 degrees. I flip the chicken at about thirty minutes, and after ten minutes more, I start applying the sauce of my choice. I like to sauce twice, bake the sauce in and pull the chicken when it's done (use an digital instant thermometer).
If you want to crisp a bit more, you can remove the barrel and place the top grate on the base and finish direct. If you elect to do this, you MUST watch carefully. It only takes a minute or so a side to crisp up the skin and get a bit of char.
Here is Chris' take on chicken done with this method:
http://virtualweberbullet.com/chicken4.html
Dale53
