Question on Beer Can chicken smoke


 
D

Darren H

TVWBB Member
Hello Folks,,

I'm new to the WSM forum and smokin techniques and this is my second time firing up the WSM. First time was with Ribs which turned out great..this time with Beer Can chicken.
Question I have is this....
What should the Lid temp be when cookin a beer can chicken and what should the rack temp be?.
Reason is, my lid temp was reading 250F and upper grate temp at 150F. It took me 6hrs to complete the cook and that's because I crank the heat up to 310F Lid temp with 250 Grate temp and it turned out great at 165°F in the breast. Should I be using the rack temp as my guideline as the lid temp is off by 100°F?.

Thanks,

DH
 
I have always done beer can chicken indirect with a bit hotter temp. I cannot see how the smoker could get the beer to boil and steam from the inside.

I would also think that the skin would not get as crisp as it would with higher heat.
 
Hye Darren

I would be suspicious of a bad therm at this point. Boil some water and see if they read about the same. Should be somewhere around 212. Ipersonally do my beer can chickens at 325-350 so the skin gets nice and crisp instead of rubbery.

Seeyyaaa
Jeff
 
I cook them at 240-250. With a 100F difference between lid and grate, I would think you need to check the calibration of your thermometers. Normally it shouldn't be much more than a 20F difference between lid and grate
 
I just did a beer-can chicken and cooked with out the center ring (middle-belly) of the WSM. Before I dumped my coals, I used an upside down (empty) terracotta pot so that the coals would be around the edge for nice indirect heat. Then I removed the pot, put the grate, and chicken on.
Anyhow, I cooked ~ 275 and it was done very quickly. I am thinking 1 ½ hours. I only had a 4+ lb bird, however.
 
Hey folks..

Thanks for the advice on the calibration of thermometer's. I checked three thermometer's in boling water to determine if there was any variance between them. What I found was this :
The digital one provided a readout of 212F
The Deep Fryer provided a readout of ~220F
The Lid thermometer provided a readout of 325F.

Looks like the lid thermometer is out to lunch, but atleast I know the difference in temps and can make my adjustments as required. This could explain why my cooks were taking so long using the lid themometer. Heck , I was smoking ribs at 150F and didn't know it. SOn of a...

DH
 
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