WSM 14 Score


 
OliverLeveritt

OliverLeveritt

TVWBB Member
I found a WSM 14 on Fb Marketplace. She said that it had only been used once. From the looks of the inside, she was telling the truth.
I grabbed it at a decent price. Then, the cleanup. One of the nice things about the 14 is that it can be disassembled and cleaned right in the kitchen.
After taking it all apart, I did the ol' scrubadub and got it all spiffy. After spraying the cooking grates with EZ Off Pro, they rinsed totally clean. They only had a light film of smoke on them to start with.
I had an "Unknown" hinge for my 18, so I got that installed today. The 15' roll of Fireblack gasket was enough to do around the lids on both smokers and both doors.
I still have to get my steel plate diverter/diffuser in the 18, but I can cook on it now using the empty water bowl.
The little 14 is ready to go -- just waiting for the lid hinge and the Arbor Fab basket to arrive, but I'm ready to get a chicken on that li'l baby. That's gonna be my "small cook" smoker.
My wife is getting a bit antsy because I have three griddles, a grill, and now -- two WSM smokers on the patio. I'm getting rid of two 22" griddles and keeping the 36" with the porcelain coated griddle top. The 2-burner grill needs to be upgraded to a 3 burner with sear zone -- natural gas.
At any rate, the Christmas mash has been heinous and now I'm starting to breathe a bit easier and get other things done.
I want some CHIKKEN!!! I think we're going to Costco tomorrow so that I can lay in some stock -- chickens, small chuck roasts, etc. I'll get some smaller cooks on both smokers under my belt before I venture into any big, grand and glorious stuff.
 

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325 is absolutely low.

Look at any cook book recipe for roast chicken. Doubt you will find many/any that say 325.

You might find a few that say to start or end high (like 450) and cook low (325) for the rest.
 
@Jim C in Denver I have cooked a lot of chickens in a cast iron Dutch oven -- in the oven. 450 degrees for 30 minutes and turn the oven off. Let chicken sit in oven for 30 minutes and remove. Rest for 20. Pretend I'm a turkey -- Gobble, Gobble.
I have even done that on my grill. I can close the lid on my Weber 2 burner over a 6 qt CI Dutch.
When I roasted open chickens on a stand in the oven it was always 350 & crispy.
 
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Oliver -- you can cook chicken lots of ways. Any temperature at/above 160F will work. You can do good chicken on a WSM (see Chris' HnF chicken recipe on here). If using a WSM, it is hard to get it to or above 325F.

But you asked if 325F is considered a lower temp for chicken. These chefs say yes:

Thomas Keller -- 450F
Alton Brown -- 500F
Mark Bittman -- 450F
Bobby Flay -- 450F
Ina Garten -- 425F
Samin Nosrat -- 425F, then 400F
Kenji Lopez Alt -- 450-500F.
 
Jim C in Denver said:
Oliver -- you can cook chicken lots of ways. Any temperature at/above 160F will work. You can do good chicken on a WSM (see Chris' HnF chicken recipe on here). If using a WSM, it is hard to get it to or above 325F.

But you asked if 325F is considered a lower temp for chicken. These chefs say yes:

Thomas Keller -- 450F
Alton Brown -- 500F
Mark Bittman -- 450F
Bobby Flay -- 450F
Ina Garten -- 425F
Samin Nosrat -- 425F, then 400F
Kenji Lopez Alt -- 450-500F.
Click to expand...
The last couple of chickens I did on WSM were at 400° - 425°. Just start with more lit briqs. On a 14", it only takes 4 or 5 to hold 250, so a dozen heats it up real fine. :)
 
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