How much charcoal and wood for a quick chicken smoke on the 22.5?


 
Alyssa H

Alyssa H

TVWBB Member
I want to do some chicken parts and a beer can chicken but don't want to waste a ton of charcoal for a short smoke.

From what I have read, chicken takes less than two hrs. Is that correct?

What's everyone's preferred temp?

The 22.5 is so big for such a small job, so wondering how much charcoal and wood chunks I really need to put in there.

Thanks so much!
Alyssa
 
I would fill up the charcoal ring and when done close all the vents. You can re use for another smoke.
I do 300 for chicken foiled pan no water. Or no pan.

1 chunk of apple or cherry.
 
Ahhhhh... Reuse the charcoal! Now there is something that did not occur to me. :) And THAT is why I'm here. Thanks so much!!!
 
I say the same as Tony R..You can reuse the previous cooks charcoal for the next smoke and just add fresh on top. I will also use the previous ones in the chimney to start the new fresh charcoal. I also have a 18" ring I throw in the 22 once in awhile but even then you have some left from choking fire out and I do the same with it.
Some people mention they just throw out the old and start with fresh so its a personal choice and if you have charcoal stockpiled...LOL
 
Would the minion method still be appropriate in this situation? I guess I just close off all the vents when I'm finished cooking to stop the coals from burning. True?
 
Exactly right. If your WSM is relatively tight it will work great to stop the coals from burning.
 
I don't about everyone else but this past Sunday I put 2 5lb birds on the WSM, I have the 22.5, kept the temps between 295-320 and it took 2hrs 45minutes, now of course it took a little time to come up to temp, it hung around 260 for about 45 minutes then went up. I used the standard minion style but next time will use more than 1/3 large Weber chimney lit to start.
 
Don Reed said:
I don't about everyone else but this past Sunday I put 2 5lb birds on the WSM, I have the 22.5, kept the temps between 295-320 and it took 2hrs 45minutes, now of course it took a little time to come up to temp, it hung around 260 for about 45 minutes then went up. I used the standard minion style but next time will use more than 1/3 large Weber chimney lit to start.
Click to expand...

Don't forget bbq is done when its done... I have taken as much as 2 hours 30 min. Weather plays a big factor also. Cheers Don!!
 
Super windy again today. Sigh.. Going to put some plywood around the smoker and rig up some wind shield. I can just see the husband's face when he gets home and gets a look at this contraption. And then I will remind him, again, that I could trade my BBQ hobby for scrapbooking or something. :)
 
"Don't forget bbq is done when its done"
Yep that's for sure and I must apologize for not being clear but the point I was trying to make is I didn't want Alyssa to anticipate the bird being done in 2 hrs. or less, when I do chicken I usually do them whole and anticipate 2 1/2 hrs. I actually told the family it would be about 3 hrs. this last cook. I also use a smaller ring/basket inside my large 22.5 ring because I'm really bad about estimating charcoal use.
 
After wasting 1/2 hour waiting for smoker to get above 150, realized top vent was closed. Duh. Am aiming for 325 but with all vents open am stuck around 317. What's up?

FYI, I have some chicken wings in pans on top rack and bacon wrapped breasts in pan on bottom.

Plan is to smoke the wings in WSM then dip half the orange sriracha sauce and other half in bbq sauce and crisp up on WSM (or genesis if that fails).

Hoping breasts turn out without having to remove them. It's the recipe from Myron's book. We'll see...
Any thoughts?
 
My understanding of the Minion Method is a few lit charcoll briquettes on a large pile of unlit briquettes. This allows for a low steady burn that is ideal for long cooks. (Ie 250 degrees for 10+ hours)

For a shorter higher heat cook, I would just dump a chimney of lit briqettes over and equal amount of unlit briquetss (actually I sit the burning chimney on the pile of unlit briquettes to help ingnite them.) when the chimeny is ready, I mix all the briquetes togethor and assemble the cooker. For a high heat, I use an empty, foiled water pan and run the vents wide open.


Filling up the entire charcoal ring with briquettes seems like over kill to me for a 3 hour cook. No? why would one use the minion mehtod on a short high heat cook?
 
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