J. E. Goode
New member
We got back from a vacation to New Mexico and Colorado Sunday night, and Monday I took off to get everything back in order before getting back to the grind. I figured doing a little smoking on my new OTG would be a good end to a great vacation. This is my 4th time to cook on the grill, so I'm still learning its moods. I'm a sucker for good smoked chicken, so it's been my goal to perfect this first before moving to pork and brisket.
I've used the snake method twice now, and still tweaking to my needs, but I was pretty pleased with my chicken. My first snake was a 2-row, then 1-row, and I was never able to get it up to the 275-300° I wanted. This time, I did 2-row, 2-row, 1-row, and once it got going, I was able to control it down, but it was overkill. I used the last bits of some hickory, as well as a split chunk of oak.
12 briquettes worked great for getting things up and running quickly.
I neglected to photo the cooking process, but I put a round cake pan underneath the bird with hot water. I had the chicken out on the grill for about 3 hours before foiling it up, and cranking down the temp to about 225° for another hour or so. Needless to say, it was fall-apart tender and delicious.
Lessons learned:
With a 5-briquette snake, I can easily maintain 350°, so I need less fuel for 275-300°
I need a shorter snake for 4 hours of cooking.
While tender and tasty, the bird was just this side of starting to dry out, so maybe foil sooner.
I need to buy a dual temp thermometer (on my list) to monitor the temps.
I've used the snake method twice now, and still tweaking to my needs, but I was pretty pleased with my chicken. My first snake was a 2-row, then 1-row, and I was never able to get it up to the 275-300° I wanted. This time, I did 2-row, 2-row, 1-row, and once it got going, I was able to control it down, but it was overkill. I used the last bits of some hickory, as well as a split chunk of oak.
12 briquettes worked great for getting things up and running quickly.
I neglected to photo the cooking process, but I put a round cake pan underneath the bird with hot water. I had the chicken out on the grill for about 3 hours before foiling it up, and cranking down the temp to about 225° for another hour or so. Needless to say, it was fall-apart tender and delicious.
Lessons learned:
With a 5-briquette snake, I can easily maintain 350°, so I need less fuel for 275-300°
I need a shorter snake for 4 hours of cooking.
While tender and tasty, the bird was just this side of starting to dry out, so maybe foil sooner.
I need to buy a dual temp thermometer (on my list) to monitor the temps.
