Looking for true help


 
T

T Bounds

TVWBB Super Fan
Ok friends,

I will be trying something new in a couple of weeks and need some real help. I am leading a class at my church on Jesus as a Jew and want to prepare a meal worthy of a 1st century feast when the class finishes. I have a hand full of ideas, but for a meat I plan to use an herb roasted chicken since many, if not most, of my people wouldn't touch lamb. I want to smoke my chicken to give it more of the 1st century taste but I've never smoked a whole chicken and the only breasts I tried were horrible. So, any suggestions on how to smoke a whole chicken with herbs to season it? Thanks for any and all ideas. I'm excited!
 
Well, the good thing is that chicken is cheap so I'd just give it some practice til you get it down pat. Chicken picks up a good bit of smoke so don't go overboard with the amount of wood you use and what ever herbs you use spread them on and under the skin when prepping the bird.
 
I would also consider using no smoke at all. Just let the minor amount of smoke emitted from your burning charcoal provide the flavor to the food. It will give it a more primitive taste.

And if you're on a "first century" kick, how about grilling up some fish fillets and baking some bread? As in loaves and fishes? That may go over pretty well (though fish isn't cheap, so that's one consideration).
 
T,

Sounds like a fun event. I'm not a historian, but I'd be willing to guess that 1st century cooks roasted their poultry as opposed to smoking it. It's faster and produces a crispy skin for better product. Another very popular protein was fish and goats. You might consider that as well. I'm sure you've considered; bread (pita style), lentils, olives, fig/honey (a great combo for something sweet), Greek style yogurt...

Paul
 
I agree with most of the above. Also, anytime people discuss smoking chicken on here I'm always wondering whether they're aware that the beautiful skin colour they get will result in rubbery and pretty much inedible skin to most. Others have also correctly noted that chicken can easily get oversmoked for most tastes.

As Paul posted, maybe this is a cook better suited to a roast/rotisserie method for the chicken. Perhaps you follow with a quick fish grill (if you choose to add fish).

Just as a quick note, and I'm by no means a food historian either but, back in the 1st century, food was cooked over a wood fire (no K Comp at the Inn). I'm sure the smoke flavour back then was terribly overwhelming to our modern tastes. I think you can get away with whatever latitude you need to do it to suit all attendees.

Good luck. I'd be very interested in knowing what you chose to do.

Also, great thinking question.
 
Friends,

Thanks all for the insights. I plan to do the whole chickens, some sun-dried tomato hummus (to make it easy on my local taste buds) with pita bread, basic salads, fruits, and honey soaked figs. My big problem is how to prep the chickens.

To attempt authentic I want to use natural heat, and I'm game to use the wsm or the kettle. I plan to use simple butter and herbs for seasoning. And I plan to use no wood for smoke, only charcoal. The big problem I have is how best to cook the two birds to make them tasty, tender and remain juicy. Any suggestions on that outcome?

And it's possible, but only possible, I'll do one fish for people to sample, but fish isn't my forte at all.
 
Tender and juicy are a matter of cooking to done but not past it.

For tasty, make a compound butter out of your herbs of choice (I'd go with parsley, sage, thyme and marjoram), minced finely, and combined with 1.5 sticks softened unsalted butter. Add salt to the butter mixture to taste and a little white pepper.

Split the compound butter in half. Grab a lemon. Remove the zest from it and mince well. Mix the minced zest into one half of the compound butter. Halve the lemon. Squeeze the juice from one half of the lemon into the butter with the zest then squeeze the other half into the butter without the zest. Mix well then place both butter mixtures in the fridge for a few minutes to firm just a bit.

Very gently loosen the skin from the chicken breast of each bird, and down to the thigh and leg. Avoid tearing the skin. Using half of the butter without the zest in it, using a teaspoon, work this butter under the breast skin, atop the meat, then work a little under the skin of each thigh. Repeat with the other half of the zest-less butter with the other chicken.

Split another lemon in half. Lightly salt and pepper the interior of each chicken then stick a lemon half, several sprigs of parsley and 2-3 bay leaves in each chicken's cavity.

Using the butter with the zest, smear half all over the surface of each chicken.

Cook as desired. (My preference is >400 but I'd go at least 350 for serviceable skin.
 
T. In my opinion, if you use the WSM, you need to do them at high heat (350 to 375F if you can get there, maybe eliminate water in the pan, no MM). The beer can, (or rootbeer can) method will give you even cooking and the offset of the smoker will eliminate flareups that can scorch the skin. You can use a single chunk of a lighter wood if you want for flavour as your cook time should be 60-90 minutes depending on the weight of the birds.
Also, if you want more authenticity, you can use real hardwood fuel and skip the wood.
For more simplicity, I'd just splay the birds offset on the kettle if you have room and keep a close eye.
Just be sure to measure your internal temps as close to the meat of the leg/thigh joint as possible to ensure doneness as the worst thing about birds is being underdone when carving. I've lost many a battle to the pink leg while guests are seated.

Good luck and enjoy !

Edit - My post crossed with Kevin's above. I don't believe my reference to IT for chicken is arguable but I may be wrong
icon_smile.gif
 
Pink legs don't mean undercooked necessarily - but I know what you mean. People get weird with chicken. A therm to make sure one has cooked to safe internals is a very good idea - this is not an arguable point. (Use a digital therm.)

I'm not into the beer can thing - too gimmicky for me - but one certainly can. I agree with no water in the pan. Even though I cook chickens over 400?, I still Minion the start. Not required however.
 
I agree with everythin Kruger said, and will offer one suggestion. My hands are large and it is sometimes hard to get my fingers under the skin. I have learned that I can gently use a wooden spoon to loosen the skin without tearing it. This also lets me get deeper into the chicken to the thighs.

Ray
 
Kevin, when you Minion the start, at what point do you put the chicken in the WSM? When the WSM reaches 400°? If you put the chicken in after spreading the hot coals, I'd think it would be almost done by the time the WSM reaches 400°.

Rita
 
T, for great skin, I'd cook the two birds at HH on the KETTLE at 375-400*, indirect set-up with legs pointed toward the charcoal. I'm not the expert at this, but I understand that 350* just isn't quite enough heat to consistantly get the skin crisp. For juicy birds, of course don't overcook, but at least salt ahead of time if not going to brine. Good luck with it. Been wanting to try Chris Lilly's smoked chicken leg quarters marinaded with fresh herbs and will eventually get around to it. In his book they look really great on the plate.
 
Originally posted by Rita Y:
Kevin, when you Minion the start, at what point do you put the chicken in the WSM? When the WSM reaches 400°? If you put the chicken in after spreading the hot coals, I'd think it would be almost done by the time the WSM reaches 400°.

Rita
Click to expand...

My queastion exactly, but if only cooking two birds, the kettle is the way to go IMHO. It's MUCH easier to maintain 375* on my kettle than my wsm.
 
Good point about positioning the dark meat/legs towards the fire on an offset cook. I only recently saw this in a Raichlen DVD that my wife bought me. It also works when positioning bone in chicken breasts (point the meat side of the breast to the fire, not the rib side).

Kevin - Agreed on the pink. I'm talking about the pink joint and juice not the chemical reaction of the surface meat.
 
Yes, cracking the joint helps with more even cooking at the joint.

I always load meat in immediately when doing a MM start (and do not understand at all why anyone wouldn't). Sometimes the chicken is at or near done when the temp gets up over 400 as I don't milk the time for the temp rise, if the chickens are small, vastly my preference. (My favorite chickens are air-cooled, < 3 lbs, preferably ~2.5 max.) The skin will be crisp and I serve immediately.

I am not at all concerned about 'maintaining 375' or maintaining any temp. If the temp is on the upswing, as it always is with a MM start (even in a kettle where I also use it, and do chickens often, coals on two sides, chicken(s) in the middle), it is not going to come down any time soon. If it continues rising I am quite fine with that (I do oven chickens at 450-500 as a matter of course.)
 
Friends,

Your ideas and insights are all instructive and inspiring! I can hardly wait to put the birds on the fire! But I have a question about the "split" leg: are you folks just saying to twist the bone as if I were going to cut it off at the joint, but not cut it off? And for my inquisitive brain, how does that move help the cooking at the joint? Thanks again for all the true help! I'll have pictures in a few weeks when I try, of the whole feast of course.
 
T, just grip the thigh and then twist the leg to bust the joint. It's like we're just twisting it out of joint, and there's nothing to it, really. No idea why it helps, but it does.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top