New WSM owner, looking for advice on chicken


 
C

Chris Dorman

New member
Hello all!

I have been scanning these forums for a while now and have gotten many great ideas. I have just recently gotten the "go ahead" from my wife to purchase the WSM 18.5 and I am truly excited for it! It is supposed to arrive this afternoon!

So time to get to the heart of the matter.. Like most of you (I'm sure), I want to use the smoker as soon as I get it. So last night I cut a whole chicken in half (butterfly) and put it in a brine. This is the first time I have brined. I used about a gallon of water and a cup of kosher salt. I then added celery salt, cajun seasoning, the chicken rub I will use, minced garlic, and rosemary. The chicken has been brining overnight and I will take it out tonight. The total brine will be a little over 24 hours. I hope that will be ok..

So now for my questions.. I have read that high heat for chicken is better than low heat. So I will give that a shot. Should I use the water pan? I want the skin to be crispy and not rubbery. Also, should I finish carving the chicken and separate the dark from the white meat? I have read that the white meat can sometimes get dry from the extra time the dark meat needs to cook. I figure if I separate the pieces I can pull the white meat off early. One more question.. When I take the chicken out of the brine tonight, I plan on letting it "dry" in the refrigerator overnight and for a good part of the day tomorrow. Total time drying would be like 18-20 hours.. is that ok? Should I put the rub on before the "drying" process, or right before I throw it on the WSM?

Thanks! Sorry for the massive wall of writing!

-Chris
 
Whew, where to start.

You should start here It is loaded with great information for beginners.

24 hours is a long time to brine. YOu will defiently taste it. Yes, chicken doesn't need low and slow, so high heat works fine. Two chimneys lit will work. You will get higher temps without water.

This page has great information on operating.

You should stop by the new member section and introduce yourself when you can.
 
Chris,
Here's the recipe I've followed on my past couple of chickens. I cooked at 325 temp at the grate, about 300 at lid. I don't remember exactly how long but somewhere around 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

I quartered the chickens (2) and cooked the breasts/wings on the top grate and the thighs/legs on the bottom. The breasts were cooked to somewhere around 170 and the thighs to around 180. They were done at about the same time.

I pulled the meat for sandwiches so the skin wasn't particularly important. It was somewhat rubbery but less so than when I did beer can chicken at 250. I have better luck cooking at 350-375 on my kettle when it comes to crispy skin.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/chicken4.html
 
I agree that 24 hours is to long to have the chicken in brine... I prefer the low and slow method personally. If your worried about crispy skin you can put the grate directly over the coals for a few minutes to make that happen.

Just keep experimenting and you will find what works for you! Good luck with the chicken, let us know how it turns out!
 
Just got done with the smoke. Chicken turned out ok. As I feared the skin was loose and chewy. Didn't crisp as I had hoped. The cook also took longer than expected. When I fired the WSM it was creaping close to 280 so I shut some vents down (wanted to do a low and slow cook) and got it down to about 235. Took about 3 hours to complete.

I also put some russet potatoes on the bottom rack as the chicken cooked. They cooked perfectly.
icon_smile.gif
 
Sorry to hear your first cook was just "ok". Low and slow is for tenderness and not all for flavor. Since chicken doesn't need low for tenderness, you can still get plenty of smoke flavor at higher heat. Next time let 'er rip high heat with smoke. Then if you need to crisp up the skin you can always finish with your grate over the coals for a final crisp.

But you did get a meal and it is a learning experiance. Now that you learned to run at 235, throw a nice big butt on.
 
I don't like low and slow chicken for the reason you just discovered, rubbery skin. I also find a 24hr brine can be a little long for chicken,it changes the texture of the meat, I usually don't go more than 12 hours.

You can get plenty of smoke flavour to chicken when you cook it at 325-350 for an hour or so.
 
I do legs and thighs at about 300-325F for about an hour and a half. Crispy skin, smokey and super moist!

Bert
 
There's no real right or wrong here. Other than tossing in my 2 cents, I'm fully on board with Bob etc... above.
If you want crisp skin, chicken needs to be cooked at high heat (or as high as you can get it). Low and slow doesn't do much for poultry.
Also, 24hrs is a long time to brine a chicken. So is anything over 4hrs to dry. Rub after drying. Add some oil if the rub doesn't stick. Reduce your rub salt if you brine.
I quarter chicken to even out cooking time. White finishes before dark so position the dark closer to the outside ring unless you have really thick breasts (assuming you're stuck on the smoker to cook it).
Finally, I just don't cook chicken on the WSM anymore. Toss it on your gasser with a smoke bag, get some colour, then finish it offset. Check out the Roadside Chicken recipe(s) here.
Anyway, take the above with a grain of salt. Everyone has an opinion and some work better by cook. Experience will dictate how you cook.

Good luck !
 
I do a lot of whole birds on my WSM. I love low-n-slow because the meat turns out crazy juicy and flavorful and I just skip the skin. So I cannot comment on higher heat . . .

But as for brine I've tried a few and find this receipe to be the best -- http://www.3men.com/competition%20chicken.htm

I'd not brine any longer than one hour per pound at most. I never let the chickens air dry. I even use this brine for oven roasted birds, and found that skipping the "air dry" does not keep the skin from crisping up nice (at least in the oven).

Everyone who has tasted my WSN birds have said they are he most flavorful hey have eaten, but skin lovers do say "yuck" to the slow-n-low skin.
 
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