Smoking beer can chickens Monday - 2 questions


 
M

Mike E

New member
Hello smoking experts:

- without getting into measuring my WSM's surface area, can anybody share with me how many beer can chickens they've reasonably been able to put on top grate? i'm shooting for 3 or 4 but seems like that could be pushing it...

- i assume that with poultry up top, not good to have anything smoking below due to drippings? i have frequently smoked pork butts on top rack with brisket down below and it works great, but i suspect not a good idea with chicken?
 
I've put 3 chickens on the top rack and it was a little tight. Four might be pushing it if they're not quite small.

As to the bottom rack, I don't think I'd be worried about the chicken juices contaminating product below. Here are the assumptions I'm basing this on:

1. The food is all put on at the same time, ie you're not putting chickens on the top and taking food off the bottom a few minutes later.

2. You're cooking all food to "done" levels.

A drop of juice from a chicken, passing through an environment upwards of 225 degrees will be VERY hot when it hits the surface of the food below. Also, the drop will be hot before it leaves the surface of the food. As you know, you're going to cook your chickens to 160 degrees(ish) in the middle of the thickest piece. The surface is going to be much hotter, rendering all juice on the surface safe. After that, the juice lands on the surface of another piece of meat, where that surface temperature is going to well exceed 160 degrees. In this scenario, I can't see how any pathogens would survive.
 
People are probably tired of seeing this photo:
Beer%20Can%20Chix.jpg


but I have cooked 4 at once, on the bottom rack.
 
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