Whole chicken Cutting joint


 
J

John Furdyn

TVWBB Pro
I have seen people on tv cut the joint between the thigh and leg of pieces of chicken to make it cooke more evenly.

Does anyone do that when cooking a whole chicken on the WSM ? John
 
I've seen this too, but frankly never do it. Kevin - does it make a significant difference? Legs and thigh (dark meat) has a good bit better latitude in terms of cook time/temps so seems to me that this method also could prolong the cook time of the dark meat, which you really don't need to do. Since - in my small mind it's the white meat you would want to slow down. I.E., ice bag on the breast for 20 minutes or so before throwing on.

Overall assuming we are keeping things whole for presentation/preference.
 
Ray
it's my understanding and Kevin correct me if I'm wrong, the cracking or cutting into the joint speeds up the cooking of the dark meat, therefore it will get done closer to the white meat. john
 
I never have done it. I do my chickens in the kettle, and I find that when the breast hits 161, the dark meat is done to my liking. Maybe the kettle makes a difference. Besides, I never knew better. When I put the chicken on the grate, I have to remind myself to position the legs toward the fire side
 
Dave

you make a good point. Maybe on the WSM, instead of putting the chicken in the "middle" of the cooking grate. I should put the legs or large cavity end of the chicken, just a little closer to the edge of the cooking grate.
John
 
Cracking the joint seems to allow better heat penetration in that area. For that area I guess one could say cooking is 'faster', but it doesn't really seem to speed cooking elsewhere. It certainly isn't necessary, especially if whatever you're doing works for you. It does seem to eliminate or severely decrease the red-at-the-joint issue that occurs sometimes.
 
Kevin

When you cook one chicken on the WSM, do you place it in the center of the cooking rack ?

When cooking two chickens on the same rack, at what point would you rotate, them ?

John
 
I mostly cook chickens in the kettle but have done them in the WSM. Center of the rack, yes, and I rotate at what I believe will be around the 60% point (abit more than halfway into the cook). I use nothing in the pan.
 
The last two places a chicken gets to temp is the leg to thigh joint and the wing to body joint. Doing a "Tony Saprano" on the leg helps IME.
 
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