Hi Emery,
Rule #1. Relax!
Rule #2. Keeping it simple for your first couple of cooks is definitely the way to go.
Use these initial cooks as a learning opportunity. You’ve already got enough to learn right out of the chute about temperature and smoke control, rubs and sauces, and timing without the additional stress of doing anything elaborate to wow a crowd. Talk about performance anxiety!
A small hot fire with a thin blue wisp of smoke out the exhaust stack is what you're aiming for.
Use a Polder to map the temperatures across the cooking chamber before you load it up with food. Chances are the difference may be 50 degrees or more from one end to the other. This will help you determine the sweet spot for whatever your cooking.
As you probably already know, many box-stock offsets have a hot spot on the firebox end that you can use to your advantage. Chicken (especially its skin) can benefit from the higher temperature there. At the least, it’s a good place finish it off.
A butterflied bird will cook more quickly since it’s exposed to heat on all sides. To butterfly the bird, cut the backbone out with a pair of kitchen shears. Study the chicken’s anatomy by cutting up a couple of birds. Don’t worry if your first attempts end up looking like road kill. The chicken won’t feel a thing.
You can also experiment with brining the bird. For fun, cook one bird that's been brined beside one that hasn't and see if you can notice any difference between them.
Another possibility since you’ve got the space and your smoker is already fired up is to do a beer butt chicken or two. Experiment with different liquid and spice combinations. You should be able to find more info about this in the archives.
I know a lot of people do it but I’m not a big fan of marinating with Italian dressing. Italian seasonings and smoke aren’t compatible flavors in my book, but everybody’s tastes are different so give it a try.
A pile of pork is something you should work up to once you get a handle what it takes to maintain steady temperatures. For long cooks, think of your offset as a colicky baby that’s going to need frequent attention for the better part of a day. Save the pork for a leisurely day of fire tending down the road.
I’m sure others will chime in with answers to your questions, but here’s my $.02 worth of opinion ($2.79 pre-NASDAQ crash).
Ken
PS – I think it’s pretty cool that you’ve come to Chris’ site with questions about your offset. To me, that speaks volumes about the quality of the community he has created here.
