whole chicken

[Guest]

Hey Everyone:

The first time i used my WSM, i did 2 whole butterflied lemon pepper chicken per the receipe online. It was tastey. the meat did end up a bit dry though. I had trouble keeping my temperature on track. It ended up to be on average about 15-20+ degrees F higher than what i was suppose to keep it at. I was thinking it was because my temp was on the higher side? Can this be the cause?


Jerry

 

[Dale Perry]

Jerry, I prefer to cook chicken on the kettle, but you can still use the WSM. I dont mind chicken being a little dry, gives me a reason to drink more beer.
Dale

 

[Jim_W]

Jerry, did you brine the chicken? If not, try it next time. It always works for me. Never dry!

I use a basic brine of brown sugar/kosher salt and water. I've tried more elaborate brine recipes but couldn't detect alot of difference, so I've stuck with the basic one.

I also believe that cooking with the skin on produces a jucier piece of chicken.

Just my opinion, Jim.

 

[Paul G.]

Jerry

The dryness of the chicken could have meant you let the internal temp of the meat get too high. I'm sure brine is good but I only marinate in WB Italian for convenience. 160 in breast and 180 in thigh. A higher temp in breast is a guarantee of drier meat.

Paul

 

[George(moe) Higgins]

Jerry,

I agree with Jim on the brine. Keep it somewhat simple. Here is one I use now exclusively and is perfect to brine a 3 to 4 lb chicken in a 1 gallon freezer bag.

4 oz maple syrup
16 oz apple juice
16 oz water
1/4 cp kosher salt
1/4 cp brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated garlic or powder
2 tsp dried ginger
2 tsp black pepper

 

[Shawn W]

I did two butterflied chickens last week and they were oh so tender and incredibly juicy.

As Paul pointed out, I removed it at 180 F thigh. I kept my WSM hotter than recipe and they were done in 2.5 hours. I think cooking to the same temp over 6 hours would produce less juicy chicken.

As Jim pointed out I left the skin on. I sprayed with apple juice a couple of times. The spray and the hotter temp also gave me some tasty crispy skin.

The second cause of dry poultry IMHO is the freezer. For best results I try to use fresh chicken, not frozen or previously frozen chicken. Where I live, the grocers are required to label fresh (previously frozen) meat as such. I'm also fortunate to live close to a butcher who carries fresh free-range chicken and beef. It comes at a premium but worth every penny.

Good luck on your next attempt!

 

[Randy Lilleston]

I've had lots of luck with a 'beer can' chicken, substituting Goya mojo criollo for the beer and using any drink can that is available. I generally use free-range or kosher chickens(although the kosher chickens aren't always plucked as cleanly as you might like) as opposed to commercial chickens. I also look for approx. 4-pound chickens, so use 'fryer' chickens instead of 'roaster' chickens. Yum!

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone--

I'll keep all the sugguestions in mind when i give it another go next weekend. Im gonna get this down!. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif I used the Wishbone Italian Dressing last time as a marnade. I think i'll try one with a brine as well next time around just to experiment.

yah.. everything you guys mentioned made sense. The chicken i got i think may have been previously frozen. Target meat temp was a little higher than the suggested also because i was afraid of having undercooked chicken. (but alas i let it get overcooked.) Definately still learning.. but it'll be oh so much sweeter once i get it right. haha.

thanks again all.

Jerry

 

[Frank M]

I'm with Randy. My first couple attempts at chicken, I used the butterfly method and they always tended to come out on the dry side. I did not brine, however, and admit that doing so most likely would have helped in that area.

However, this past weekend I gave the beer can method a try for the first time. Needless to say, I doubt I'll ever bother butterflying a chicken again. I got superior results using the beer can recipe in Smoke and Spice (there's probably something very similar in the cooking section of this web site). I started my WSM using the Minion Method (as always) and just put the 2 chickens on and cranked the all vents wide open and let the temp gradually rise. I think after 3-1/2 - 4 hours it had gotten up to about 330. Resultant chicken was moist and tender, delicious smoke flavor, and nice and crispy skin. I didn't even use a knife to carve them up-- just put on my neoprene gloves and pulled them apart not unlike I would have with a pork butt.

I've also done rotisserie chicken on my Weber grill, which is also very good. I think I get a little better smoke flavor on the WSM, though.

 

[Curtis D. Fry]

A trick I use with Turkey at Thanksgiving is to add a moist towel or rag to the breast area for the first hour or so of cooking. It allows the thigh to get a head start on the breast and will be a lot less prone to dry white meat. Should work on chickens too I'd imagine.

 

[Brian L.]

That moist towel is a good idea, I'll have to try that next time I do a turkey.

On to the chicken, I always brine my chicken. Last time after I brined it I rinsed it real well and patted it dry with paper towels. I stuck in on a beer can, a nice cheap natural lite. I smoked it about 275 for approx 2 hours until 160 in the breast.. Skin came out golden brown and crispy, and the chicken was very moist and tasty.

 

[J.M. Chenery]

If you're doing a whole chicken, look back a few items for George Higgins's brine recipe. I used it on a 4lb beer can chicken I smoked yesterday and it was SENSATIONAL. I brined the bird overnite in the fridge, put chopped onions, lemon wedges and a bit of old butt rub in with the beer, cherry wood for the smoke and spritzed the bird every hour or so with apple juice. Cooked at 230-240 for four hours. It is hard to imagine chicken tasting better than this. Thanks George.