way to hot, what was I thinking
- Thread starter Jeff R
- Start date
Robert McGee
TVWBB Gold Member
I've been known to "fumble the ball" a time or two, myself...
Dale53
Dale53
ScottE
Closed Account
I have had more three alarm blazes when it comes to poultry!! I now lay a single layer of coals out and wait for them to get past the heat curve. I back the bottom damper down and I can actually grill the chicken. I start with fat side up and 30 minutes later I quickly flip em. They cook nice and slow because I don't let enough air in the kettle to support a fire......
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Hats off to the folks that can grill split or spatchcocked birds directly over the coals. For some reason I always have unevenness issues, but split breasts are a cinch if I keep the coals under control. I find I'm better off removing my Slide-Aside lid holder and my tool hanger, shutting the damper completely when the lid is off.
Robert McGee
TVWBB Gold Member
I have come to the realization that cooking chicken indirect (takes 45 minutes to an hour) is the key to delicious, juicy, chicken with great taste and appearance. I have NONE of the problems with trying to grill direct.
I am not slamming anyone who successfully grills chicken direct, but just state that is not what I am doing or what I will be doing. I cook indirect on my Weber Kettles and then may finish direct for very short times (1/2 minute to one minute before flipping to avoid burning the sauce, etc).
Cooking indirect is a relaxed method with little of the drama I have seen when trying to grill chicken direct. The end product is only WONDERFUL (which, of course, is the whole idea)...
Dale53
I am not slamming anyone who successfully grills chicken direct, but just state that is not what I am doing or what I will be doing. I cook indirect on my Weber Kettles and then may finish direct for very short times (1/2 minute to one minute before flipping to avoid burning the sauce, etc).
Cooking indirect is a relaxed method with little of the drama I have seen when trying to grill chicken direct. The end product is only WONDERFUL (which, of course, is the whole idea)...
Dale53
Tom (Gunner)
TVWBB Super Fan
^^
Ditto ditto
I cook chicken 100% of the time indirect..400-450 indirect for 30 mins to an hour depending on the piece. I usually pull it at 160 degrees then cook direct for a few minutes to firm up the meat a bit. Works great!
Ditto ditto
I cook chicken 100% of the time indirect..400-450 indirect for 30 mins to an hour depending on the piece. I usually pull it at 160 degrees then cook direct for a few minutes to firm up the meat a bit. Works great!
Yep. Indirect for me-self also.
I guess I originally misread your post this AM. I thought you meant that the indirect side caught on fire after you decided to drop a heaping chimney of lit on that side during a RS cook.Been thar done that also. Once or twice a year I like to do a empty burn off on the indirect side, just to avoid any grease fires..
Tim
I guess I originally misread your post this AM. I thought you meant that the indirect side caught on fire after you decided to drop a heaping chimney of lit on that side during a RS cook.Been thar done that also. Once or twice a year I like to do a empty burn off on the indirect side, just to avoid any grease fires..
Tim
Brian Trommater
TVWBB Super Fan
One thing I love about using my Smokey Joe for chicken. Can do direct with no flame ups.
ScottE
Closed Account
Gotta agree with the indirect method. I only grill chix when I am rowdy and the suds have been flowing!!
The kettle can get up to high heat cooking indirectly and you get that nice crispy skin!!
Sometimes after I smoke whole chickens, I move them into a very hot kettle indirectly and tighten that rubbery skin up!!
The kettle can get up to high heat cooking indirectly and you get that nice crispy skin!!
Sometimes after I smoke whole chickens, I move them into a very hot kettle indirectly and tighten that rubbery skin up!!
An ultimate challenge for sure. Chicken IMHO is the bane of the backyard chef. It takes great skill not only to cook direct but dedication in terms of totally understanding the challenge and have a "suite of tools or experience" in the box to adjust and move through the cook.
Cooking direct means you really need to be standing there pretty much the whole time.
Flipping, turning watching, putting the lid on to cut the flares, spraying with water at times to help slow things down, etc, etc. Making sure you have brined/marinated so that in the end the flesh won't be dried out. Lots of discussion on how to do this.
Cooking chicken direct IMHO is not a "lazy cook" you need to be engaged full time ad you have to have a battery of moves available as things change or surprise you.
I can do it - but don't want to anymore frankly. Only if I'm at someones house and I see a chicken disaster about to happen. Then I'll step up and see if I can take over an help the person save face if you will.
No reason to cook chicken direct IMHO except for show. And if it's for show I'll cook steaks instead.
The skin, fat, mixed types of flesh with chicken/poultry make it especially challenging for a high heat/direct cook if you are not able to spend the face time with it. You will be embarrassed if you don't have your "stuff" together.
If you have a system that provides the ability to level adjust the fuel grate and/or/as well as allow you to level or adjust the food grate then you are possibly home free. Weber non gas/propane systems do not offer that unfortunately.
Cooking indirect then direct for crisping will slow things down and make things manageable.
For direct chciken using the WSM as a "Carolina Smoker" will rebuild your confidence.
For the famous roadside chicken posted in the recipe section and for that style I use the WSM opened up loaded with coals and extra hot. The height that the WSM provides makes a direct heat chicken cook so much more manageable. I've posted previous about those kinds of cooks in the past.
If I'm going to cook high heat direct with something as "volatile" as skin on chicken, especially in quantity - the WSM used fully opened up for heat is the way to go. In fact I will be doing just that this Thursday. The Performer will be silent for this cook unless I just want a secondary to help with the crisping.
Sorry for the run on post.
Cooking direct means you really need to be standing there pretty much the whole time.
Flipping, turning watching, putting the lid on to cut the flares, spraying with water at times to help slow things down, etc, etc. Making sure you have brined/marinated so that in the end the flesh won't be dried out. Lots of discussion on how to do this.
Cooking chicken direct IMHO is not a "lazy cook" you need to be engaged full time ad you have to have a battery of moves available as things change or surprise you.
I can do it - but don't want to anymore frankly. Only if I'm at someones house and I see a chicken disaster about to happen. Then I'll step up and see if I can take over an help the person save face if you will.
No reason to cook chicken direct IMHO except for show. And if it's for show I'll cook steaks instead.
The skin, fat, mixed types of flesh with chicken/poultry make it especially challenging for a high heat/direct cook if you are not able to spend the face time with it. You will be embarrassed if you don't have your "stuff" together.
If you have a system that provides the ability to level adjust the fuel grate and/or/as well as allow you to level or adjust the food grate then you are possibly home free. Weber non gas/propane systems do not offer that unfortunately.
Cooking indirect then direct for crisping will slow things down and make things manageable.
For direct chciken using the WSM as a "Carolina Smoker" will rebuild your confidence.
For the famous roadside chicken posted in the recipe section and for that style I use the WSM opened up loaded with coals and extra hot. The height that the WSM provides makes a direct heat chicken cook so much more manageable. I've posted previous about those kinds of cooks in the past.
If I'm going to cook high heat direct with something as "volatile" as skin on chicken, especially in quantity - the WSM used fully opened up for heat is the way to go. In fact I will be doing just that this Thursday. The Performer will be silent for this cook unless I just want a secondary to help with the crisping.
Sorry for the run on post.
Chris E
TVWBB Pro
For direct chicken I see two key nuggets of info so far.
1. use a single coal depth fire
2. you have to watch it just in case.
I like direct for some chicken recipes and have to be careful with the temp especially if the marinades have sugar, tomatoe or yogurt.
for a couple chickens worth of pieces I setup a 3 zone fire with about 3/4 chimney lit. I pour the entire lit chimney in the back of the grill. Then rake a layer 1 coal deep on the middle half of the grill. The coals in that single layer aren't touching-a little spacing makes the fire a bit cooler. Leave a little less than 1/3 the grill as safe zone with no coals.
with the low fire under the chicken you get direct heat but not too hot and the coals piled in the back keep the kettle temp up around 375-400 for crispy skin. Safe zone for..well you know.
Lid on and low vents adjusted to maintain that 400degrees max temp. Works every time.
It's also good practice for avoiding the picnic/camping 3-alarm blaze and making you the hero with beer in those situations too!
1. use a single coal depth fire
2. you have to watch it just in case.
I like direct for some chicken recipes and have to be careful with the temp especially if the marinades have sugar, tomatoe or yogurt.
for a couple chickens worth of pieces I setup a 3 zone fire with about 3/4 chimney lit. I pour the entire lit chimney in the back of the grill. Then rake a layer 1 coal deep on the middle half of the grill. The coals in that single layer aren't touching-a little spacing makes the fire a bit cooler. Leave a little less than 1/3 the grill as safe zone with no coals.
with the low fire under the chicken you get direct heat but not too hot and the coals piled in the back keep the kettle temp up around 375-400 for crispy skin. Safe zone for..well you know.
Lid on and low vents adjusted to maintain that 400degrees max temp. Works every time.
It's also good practice for avoiding the picnic/camping 3-alarm blaze and making you the hero with beer in those situations too!
Trying to keep my response in perspective and not get all "windy" as I know folks are probably getting tired of with my posts
For the roadside chicken and the like, for me my major successes with this is that I personally don't do it on the Performer. I do it on the WSM
I jack the fuel and get the heat up high as possible.
I use lump, it lights fast and you can dump more fuel on during a cook. So with K your MMMV
Loading up the fuel into the WSM, NO WATER PAN. This is a direct cook and we are using the distance from the fire that the WSM provides.
Load the ring high. FULL load of lit, you want HOT. The distance to the top grate is giving you the flexibility to turn, dip in the marinade and place back on the grate.
So keep the chicken on the top grate as you are working this.
The smoke from the drippings is the key. And with the WSM set up this way it acts like a UDS (Carlina style smoker).
Now since you have well over a couple feet between the chicken and the direct fire you can relax a bit. Put the lid on if there is too much fire in the pan and let it burn out.
Take pieces off the grate and roll in the marindade and back on the grill
Bottom line by keeping the overall temp high and the distance between the fire and the chicken high you have just opened up a "luxury" of time to adjust.
You won't torch anything, the skin will crisp, you will have time to remove and dip. I.E., you won't scorch anything to a crisp in 30 seconds.
"High distance high heat direct" I guess is the buzz word.
No pan.
I've extended this to larger cooks. I get raves on my adjustment to boneless thighs with pinned skin and working the recipe towards heavy citrus notes.
Another story. But I've done both racks loaded where I take the top rack off, set aside and move things around same as the top.
You are still busy and you need to be there pretty much full time, but it slows things down but maintains high heat.
Sorry, ended up windy anyway
Bob Sample
TVWBB Diamond Member
One of the main taste components for RSC is the flame char you get from direct cooking, we're not talking black char here but a nice sear. I do mine on the performer with a 3 zone fire. This allows you to move the chicken around but I mainly cook over sparse coals. The cool zone allows you to go indirect after you've charred your knuckles enough.
Yep that's true. Thing is with this recipe on the Performer you are limited as far as the amount of chicken you can put on and then have to move across zones.
In my experience cooking on the Performer/kettle you can get in a situation where so much fat is dripping that the flames can still get out of control. You need to be present when that happens. You are also adding more fat as you are brushing/dipping which accelerates that.
Distance to the fire helps mitigate that a bit. I'm not smoking I'm high temp grilling over coals that are very hot and flaming a good bit of the time. Just that the flames won't get to the point typically where they are brushing against the chicken (or getting to where they are engulfing it) and layering on carbon or charring it. It improves the sear IMHO as it gets applied over time and not seconds and allows the meat to cook.
In the WSM as I'm talking about you still have the flames, etc and the dripping smoking going on but you can work with a good bit more contents. I've done 4 chickens at a time or two fully loaded racks of given parts. The added height limits the chance that you move to char and are able to adjust with more time to deal.
I am typically using gloves so that I can lift out a whole rack, move to a table and turn, etc. Or swap racks from one level to the next.
It works excellent when using just one rack too and you don't have to worry think about moving things so much and you still get the sear.
Being so close to the fire on a Performer/Kettle you are actually closer than on those roadside set ups. And they (roadside setup) usually have an area with no coals to toss things onto if the flames get out of control so they don't burn.
The lid goes on and off as you go to control flame as needed just as you would do on the Perfromer.
For smaller cooks the Performer is fine. In my case I'm doing at least 2-4 chickens cut up (necks, backs included) or two racks of a single part.
Wasn't trying to knock or eliminate the Performer as getting this done, have one and done it.
Roadside stands usually have a huge 6-8 foot rectangular fairly shallow grill. The guy is moving parts around constantly to keep them from charring, but the flavor that comes from letting the dripping fat burn is what make the flavor special.
RS chicken as we are discussing on the WSM/Kettle is about emulating that for sure.
Use the Performer/Kettle it's a great tool and I like mine. Open pit method on the WSM though works great for me for this recipe, especially for larger quantities. Pretty sure you can see photos, etc of previous posts I made on the topic if they are still able to be found by search.
In my experience cooking on the Performer/kettle you can get in a situation where so much fat is dripping that the flames can still get out of control. You need to be present when that happens. You are also adding more fat as you are brushing/dipping which accelerates that.
Distance to the fire helps mitigate that a bit. I'm not smoking I'm high temp grilling over coals that are very hot and flaming a good bit of the time. Just that the flames won't get to the point typically where they are brushing against the chicken (or getting to where they are engulfing it) and layering on carbon or charring it. It improves the sear IMHO as it gets applied over time and not seconds and allows the meat to cook.
In the WSM as I'm talking about you still have the flames, etc and the dripping smoking going on but you can work with a good bit more contents. I've done 4 chickens at a time or two fully loaded racks of given parts. The added height limits the chance that you move to char and are able to adjust with more time to deal.
I am typically using gloves so that I can lift out a whole rack, move to a table and turn, etc. Or swap racks from one level to the next.
It works excellent when using just one rack too and you don't have to worry think about moving things so much and you still get the sear.
Being so close to the fire on a Performer/Kettle you are actually closer than on those roadside set ups. And they (roadside setup) usually have an area with no coals to toss things onto if the flames get out of control so they don't burn.
The lid goes on and off as you go to control flame as needed just as you would do on the Perfromer.
For smaller cooks the Performer is fine. In my case I'm doing at least 2-4 chickens cut up (necks, backs included) or two racks of a single part.
Wasn't trying to knock or eliminate the Performer as getting this done, have one and done it.
Roadside stands usually have a huge 6-8 foot rectangular fairly shallow grill. The guy is moving parts around constantly to keep them from charring, but the flavor that comes from letting the dripping fat burn is what make the flavor special.
RS chicken as we are discussing on the WSM/Kettle is about emulating that for sure.
Use the Performer/Kettle it's a great tool and I like mine. Open pit method on the WSM though works great for me for this recipe, especially for larger quantities. Pretty sure you can see photos, etc of previous posts I made on the topic if they are still able to be found by search.