Memorial Day chicken help for someone still green behind the ears.


 
A

Andy-CaliCowboy

New member
So I got sort of volunteered for a Memorial Day Smoke. Or rather buzzed me volunteered myself for it a couple months ago. I was planning on doing chicken for a group of 11. I have a WSM 18" and a cheap offset. But I really wanted to use the WSM since all I've done on it so far is a tri-tip.

However I was wondering if I could fit 4 whole chickens (split into halves) onto the 18? Also how should I go about cooking, I've done some searching and have hit a few different answers ranging from 225-275 for 3 hours to 350-400 for 1 to 2 hours. And I'm really not sure how to go about it.
 
I like to cook chicken hotter at 375 to 400.

Have you considered cooking the chickens whole, beer can style?

My BGE has an 18 Inch grate and I've often cooked two beer can chickens sitting on it. I think the WSM 18 has enough height to do 2 on the lower rack and 2 on the upper. Maybe even 3 on each rack.

for beer can chicken I use room temp beer and have the cans half full.

The trick to doing this is get a six pack, drink three and save the cans then pour half a warm can into each empty.

Cheers
 
Truth be known, the best way is to just use the stand without a can. All the can does is insulate the inside of the bird and add to the cook time. Beyond that, virtually none of the liquid in the can evaporates, so there isn't anything happening to enhance the flavor or tenderness. Pure gimmick. Putting the bird on a stand with the cavity open not only speeds up the cook but also helps the thighs cook faster than the breasts, so both parts are done at the same time.
 
www.virtualweberbullet.com

Basic Barbecued Chicken - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Two whole chickens split into halves, seasoned with all-purpose rub, grilled on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, and finished over direct heat. An easy recipe for new WSM owners.
www.virtualweberbullet.com www.virtualweberbullet.com
OR.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Hot & Fast Chicken - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Hot & Fast Chicken: Tender, well-rendered chicken skin worth eating is achieved using a high-temp smoke-roasting method in the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.
www.virtualweberbullet.com www.virtualweberbullet.com
Use both racks. You might want to rotate top to bottom halfway during cook.
 
timothy said:
www.virtualweberbullet.com

Basic Barbecued Chicken - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Two whole chickens split into halves, seasoned with all-purpose rub, grilled on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, and finished over direct heat. An easy recipe for new WSM owners.
www.virtualweberbullet.com www.virtualweberbullet.com
OR.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Hot & Fast Chicken - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Hot & Fast Chicken: Tender, well-rendered chicken skin worth eating is achieved using a high-temp smoke-roasting method in the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.
www.virtualweberbullet.com www.virtualweberbullet.com
Use both racks. You might want to rotate top to bottom halfway during cook.
Click to expand...
Andy,
I strongly agree with Tim's suggestions and I highly recommend following Chris's Hot and Fast recipe, no water pan, just watch the lower rack getting done earlier and I would flip the top and bottom birds through out the cook.
 
I kind of disagree with the 165 internal easy to end up with dry chicken usually cook them myself and I would add I only do spatchcock pull them at 155 let them rest for 10 minutes usually covered with some foil they will cook a bit longer while resting.
 
Chris A's hot n fast recipe is the way to go.

There's two right answers on poultry IT. 155-160F for the breast and 175-180F for the leg thigh. Spatch-cocking is a pretty good method to attempt to hit both targets.

Of course the best way to hit the targets is to just separate your poultry into white/dark pieces and cook each as long as needed. That is a super pro tip for cooking turkey.

Dark meat gets better when cooked to a higher temp. Which is easy to do when it is no longer attached to the white meat.
 
I have never smoked chicken before (wife does not like the smoke on chicken) but have done a ton of them Spatchcock on my Kettle. If you want crispy skin the bird needs to be really dry and heat has to be close to 400 . If I were cooking for a group of 11 I would go with individual chicken pieces as Jim C. recommended . Thighs and legs are pretty hard to goof up but the breasts can dry out if you overcook them. Chicken also does not need that much smoke. Go with a light fruit wood.
 
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Jim C in Denver said:
Chris A's hot n fast recipe is the way to go.

There's two right answers on poultry IT. 155-160F for the breast and 175-180F for the leg thigh. Spatch-cocking is a pretty good method to attempt to hit both targets.

Of course the best way to hit the targets is to just separate your poultry into white/dark pieces and cook each as long as needed. That is a super pro tip for cooking turkey.

Dark meat gets better when cooked to a higher temp. Which is easy to do when it is no longer attached to the white meat.
Click to expand...
Doing a spatch chicken not had much of a problem on the dark meat having to cook it much longer only doing 6 pounders but on the Turkey I totally agree did a 14 pounder on my UDS for Thanksgiving took at 350 2 hours and 45 minutes pulled that Turkey at about 158. I cut the drumsticks off before I pulled them and cooked those for another 15 minutes and they were perfect.
 
Ryan Burke said:
I have never smoked chicken before (wife does not like the smoke on chicken) but have done a ton of them Spatchcock on my Kettle. If you want crispy skin the bird needs to be really dry and heat has to be close to 400 . If I were cooking for a group of 11 I would go with individual chicken pieces as Jim C. recommended . Thighs and legs are pretty hard to goof up but the breasts can dry out if you overcook them. Chicken also does not need that much smoke. Go with a light fruit wood.
Click to expand...
Definitely going with individual pieces now, especially after polling the group on white meat vs dark meat.

Thanks for the advice
 
Andy-CaliCowboy said:
So I got sort of volunteered for a Memorial Day Smoke. Or rather buzzed me volunteered myself for it a couple months ago. I was planning on doing chicken for a group of 11. I have a WSM 18" and a cheap offset. But I really wanted to use the WSM since all I've done on it so far is a tri-tip.

However I was wondering if I could fit 4 whole chickens (split into halves) onto the 18? Also how should I go about cooking, I've done some searching and have hit a few different answers ranging from 225-275 for 3 hours to 350-400 for 1 to 2 hours. And I'm really not sure how to go about it.
Click to expand...
On my WSM 18""Classic" that I bought new in the year 2008 I am Only able to fit three(3) Whole Chickens via the "Beer Can Stand" method using only top grate. Since you have the "offset" I recommend cutting-up the fourth chicken in pieces via the grilling method.
 
Richard Garcia said:
On my WSM 18""Classic" that I bought new in the year 2008 I am Only able to fit three(3) Whole Chickens via the "Beer Can Stand" method using only top grate. Since you have the "offset" I recommend cutting-up the fourth chicken in pieces via the grilling method.
Click to expand...
I actually wound up going pieces based on some recommendations on here as well as the white to dark meat ratio that was requested by my guests.

Thanks for the heads up for future cooks though.
 
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