My first whole chicken on the WSM


 
Mark Brewer

Mark Brewer

New member
I have been cooking whole chickens for years on my Weber Kettle with no issues. I decided to try to slow smoke one yesterday afternoon and it turned out a little on the dry side. In the past, I would cook it beer butt style very hot and fast and had great results. I was also using my new Maverick ET-732 to keep an eye on the temps and I pulled it off right when the breast hit 165. Any suggestions?
 
I usually brine my chicken whether it's whole or not. Also do you know if your thermometer was calibrated? It's possible that it could be off and it actually went higher than 165°F.
 
Wont it rise from the 165 another 10 or so degrees when you pull it off? Maybe try pulling it at 155?
 
I brined and butterfly'd the chicken and cooked it for about 3.5 hours. The temps stayed pretty constant between 250-275. It may have just been a swing and a miss!
 
My very first cook was chicken (2 hours at 225-250) and came out perfect. Didn't have a Maverick, just a meat thermometer I checked in a few places.
 
Mark, I cook whole chickens all the time. Normally 6-8 at a time and I always brine them in an apple juice solution. Sit them directly on the grates and measure thigh temp to 175 degrees on the bottom. No water in the pan and and it'll go from 275-325 degrees. Always turns out perfect, usually whole chicken will dry out when you have one that does not have all the skin attached. I've found that "Brine is key" with chickens.
 
Mark Brewer said:
I brined and butterfly'd the chicken and cooked it for about 3.5 hours. The temps stayed pretty constant between 250-275. It may have just been a swing and a miss!
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While it's not a bad idea, brining isn't necessary for good chicken, and as you found out it's not necessarily gonna save the day, either. It just makes the cook more forgiving if you overcook or cook too slow. You can leave the vents open and use lots of lit charcoal and a simmering water pan, but if I'm only cooking one grate's worth I'm going dry and cooking at 350* if I can. Leaving the pan out and/or adding additional ventilation to the cooker (door cracked or extra vent mod) will help with higher temps. Another thing is that the breast should be close to the middle of the cooker with the legs much closer to the outside of the cooker to cook faster if using a pan, since the breast doesn't need to get any hotter than 160*. Hope that helps, but if only cooking one bird I'm gonna use my kettle and cook indirect.
 
D Brazil said:
Mark, I cook whole chickens all the time. Normally 6-8 at a time and I always brine them in an apple juice solution. Sit them directly on the grates and measure thigh temp to 175 degrees on the bottom. No water in the pan and and it'll go from 275-325 degrees. Always turns out perfect, usually whole chicken will dry out when you have one that does not have all the skin attached. I've found that "Brine is key" with chickens.
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What is your apple brine solution made up of?
 
simple - apple juice/water & salt. No sugar the apple juice has enough. I'd have to look for the amount of salt ratio but the juice to water is a bout 50/50.
 
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