WSM + Chicken + Foil = Trouble? Help?


 
B

Brian Misko

TVWBB Member
Like many of you, I enjoy smoking chicken thighs. But one ongoing dilemna is drips from the chicken on the top rack onto the lower rack...

To help the bark set, especially for the pieces on the lower rack, I often place a loose sheet of foil on top of the chicken. This seems to allow air/smoke circulation etc but it stops the dripping from the upper rack onto the lower... However, the last round of cooking this weekend left us with rather different temperatures meaning the lower rack cooked much more quickly than the upper rack.

What have other cookers done to minimize bark "damage" from upper rack dripping?

Thanks
 
Am I the only one experiencing the drip?

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I have had the same problem and not really came up with a good solution yet. The best I have came up with is time everything to where I don't have to use both grates at the same time. I leave the middle grate empty and really pack the top grate. (almost touching each other).

The foil to catch the dripings doesn't work for me either. I ended up with that grate of chicken overdone, and still didn't like the skin color and texture.

Maybe someone else can help on this issue.

Randy
 
I don't use the lower grate if the chicken is dry-rubbed. If I'm doing lots of chicken I'll either flavor-brine or marinate and might rub a bit under the skin--then I'll use both grates. Mostly I do chicken on a kettle.
 
I have not run into this before, as I usually don't do chicken on two racks. But, I built expansion racks to increase the capacity of my WSM, using 4 6" lengths of 1/4" threaded rod, an assortment of washers, nuts, and wing nuts. I would think I could use one of these racks to support a layer of foil to act as an umbrella for the lower rack, without greatly affecting the cooking temperature. The added rack supplies enough spacing to allow for adequate air flow on the bottom.
 
I'm not sure I'm following the discussion... Brian, by "Bark damage" are you referring to the bark on a chicken? I've not heard of it referred to that way. I assume by that you mean you are worrying that the skin of the chicken isn't getting very crisp, due to the fat dripping from the chicken above it?

I use both grates all the time for chicken, as about every other month I do 6 whole chickens together. I've never, ever noticed any problem with the skin because of the dripping fat. Frankly, its sort of like basting it.

As for the rub running off or something, I haven't found that to be much of a problem either. If you let the rub sit on the chicken for 15 minutes or so before they go on, I don't find a little dripping fat to have any impact on it.

Anyhow, just my two cents.
 
I guess the issue is beyond just chicken however this past weekend it was exactly that - chicken. I've had the same issue with brisket, pork or anything that is on the lower grate.

The issue is drip marks or spots on the food on the lower grate. However, if you loosely cover the food on the lower grate with foil, you can change the temperature/circulation on the kettle overall.

What I'm hearing so far is that it is a common issue but no real solutions...

Brian
 
My solution is just what Kevin said. I like chicken on the bullet, but I go for the kettle 90% of the time when cooking it. Brine next time and see how you like it. Good luck.
 
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