My first Basic barbecued Chicken .


 
Chuck Dugas

Chuck Dugas

TVWBB Pro
What a big disapointment.
I followed the recipe that they suggest for the first cook in a SMC.
I'll try to list it the way I recorded it.
I used 1 chicken instead of 2. and I cut the recipe on the rub in half.
Chicken wweight 3.98 lbs.
Weather: 5-10mph coming out of the West. I cooked facing the west.
I filled the chimney to the top(50 briquettes).
I waited for the coals to get hot, then I dumped them into the charcoal ring then added 25 more brequettes as the recipie calls for.
I left all vents open 100%.
2:13pm-started caals.
3:00pm-added 25more unlit.
3:15pm-put on chicken halfs.
3:20pm temp top 453 bottom 275.
3:30pm temp top 430 bottom 260.
3:45pm temp top 400 bottom 250.
3;57PM temp top 380 bottom 242.
4:00pm temp top 250 bottom 235.
4:15pm temp top 212 bottom 212.
took temp of chicken 120.
Being that I was upset and the temp was 90. I put the chicken in the oven for another 30 mins.
The chicken was very tuff. it was moist, and had a good flavor. I also put the chicken on the lowest rack tho crispy up the skin. Skin was like rubber..I know on my other weber When I put it on the rotisary for 1 1/2 hrs it fall off the bone.
I noticed after we were done with supper, the What you will need for this recipe it states 10 pounds of Briquettes. I filled my chimney with 50 coals then put on 25 unlit as the directions stated. Do I use 10 lbs or fill the chimney??
I used some Embers charcoal I had in the attic for over a year. Could that have been the problem? How many charcoals Briquettes does a Weber hold??
I used a empty water pan.
As I look at the picture their is more then a chimney full in the pan. The temp was going down the minute I put on the chicken.
Can anyone help me out?
 
Hi Michael,
I really don't think so, I just followed the recipe the way they said. ( the Minion idea). The recipe is on this web site.
Don't yell at me if I killed that name>!!!
 
Chuck,
You needed lots more fuel.A chimney here is a Weber chimney. 50 then adding 25 is way to little to get and maintain adequate heat. A Weber chimney or one of similar size holds about 6 pounds (look over the operating tips section here)or about 100 briquettes I believe. Forget the weather and the brand of coals for now. Next time start with more fuel and use the standard method, better for poultry IMO, as described here on this site. You'll get more heat faster which, IMO, is what you want to cook a chicken. 450 degrees with what you started with, to me, sounds impossible. A lot of people who post here have said they can't get their cooker to 350 with a full ring of fuel. I'd check how you measured the temp. What directions say to start with 50? I sense the dreaded owners manual, am I right? If so don't use it, but consult this site instead.
 
Hi Dave,
The recipe says to fill you chimney to the top.I just thought I would count them. I used two Weber therms one in the dome the other in the middle (top hole of leg).Thsnk you for your input I have a lot to learn...I calabrated them in ice cold water ad stated in this web site.
 
Chuck,
Chris says to use a full lit Weber chimney which is equal to 2 of yours. Then he calls for a half chimney which is equal to 1 full of yours. So you needed 3 full of yours. A lot of us have gone the counting the coals route I think. No big thing. You will break yourself of that habit soon enough.
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I'd recommend getting a Weber sized chimney. It'll make life lots easier for you. Then you'll have a 100 briquette chimney and a 50 briquette chimney which can be convenient.
 
Great idea, I think that was the whole problem.
As far as the meat falling off the bone like when I use the rotiserie,am I not going to get this when I smoke?? Sorry to ask so many questions.
 
You know something Chuck, I've had my cooker for 11 months and have yet to use it for a chicken. I cook chicken on my kettle. It's faster and the skin gets crispier. I suppose you can still get falling off the bone meat on the smoker, but skin worth eating is another matter going by posts by others. Take another look at the chicken section of the cooking topics here. It talks about finishing on a grate placed on top of the charcoal bowl. But watch it if you try this as you don't want to burn the chicken.
 
I think that the problem might also have been using the Minion Method. The Basic Barbecue Chicken recipe is meant for a high heat cook. I have done it many times with different chimneys and different amounts of chicken and always achieve the same results. For that recipe you fill up the chimney, when its lit dump it into the WSM. Then using the chimney as a measuring device, you fill the chimney again and dump a chimneys worth of unlit into the WSM on top of the lit. Before assembling the cooker you wait until all coals have ashed over. Then toss in your smoke wood and assemble. There is no need to monitor temps. Just don't even lift the lid for 45 minutes. I have had great success every time I've used that recipe, by just using the cooking method. I vary the rubs and sauces every time. Keep on trying but try the high heat method.
 
The Basic Barbecued Chicken recipe is definitely not a Minion Method cook. I think Chuck just misspoke when he said that. The recipe calls for getting all the charcoal hot before putting on the chicken, and that's not Minion.

The Weber Chimney holds about 6 pounds of Kingsford charcoal, so 1-1/2 chimneys is 9 pounds of Kingsford. I rounded that to 10 pounds in the "What you'll need for this recipe" section at the beginning of the article.

As others have said, sounds like you used 1/2 as much charcoal as required. Also, your mileage may vary when using charcoal other than Kingsford as described in the recipe.

Give it another go, it should turn out better next time.

Regards,
Chris
 
WHY go to the extra trouble doing it the way you tried to do it for one chicken (or even two) when you can get perfectly good chicken on a rotisserie as you said?
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I don't imagine you'd be able to get it any more tender than you described or more smoke flavor.

With my kettle I can cook one chicken with 3/4 chimney of coals divided between both sides. The recipe books say add extra coals every hour but I never do it for a cook that short and I maintain proper temps and get nice juicy tender chicken in 1.5 hours just like you described. If I was cooking 2 chickens I MIGHT find it necessary to add a few coals toward the end. But 10 LBs is half a bag of briqs!
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You might want to abandon that project and go back to the old way of doing things!
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Chris is right, I thought that putting unlit coals on top of lit coals was the Minion method. I followed the recepie to the tee.The problem was not enough charcoal,and I need to get a Weber chimney. I did put the chicken on the lowest setting to crispy up the skin.It still was rubber. Thanks everyone for all the comments. This sure is a great site,and I will try this recepie again.I will keep you posted.
 
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