Gonna' smoke a Perdue Chicken and...

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masterofmymeat

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
May 30, 2011
393
20
Athens, Georgia
Hi All,

I just joined the forum a couple of days ago and thank you

all for your warm welcome to me.

I'm starting out my Saturday with smoking a 6.5 lb chicken

and would like your advice and techniques for a beautifully

smoked bird.

I have a Brinkman upright charcoal smoker and I absolutely

love it.

I plan on getting up early, (8:30-9:00 am) and getting it going.

I'm not sure of time to smoke...advice?

Love this place,

James
 
Whole or spatchcocked? Your answer will affect cook times. Whole takes a bit longer, but that's how I smoke them. Always smoke to internal temp (165* for poultry) rather than time, but you're looking at a minimum of 2.5 hours. Keep your smoker at a steady 225* through the smoke.

You want a pan to catch drippings for gravy -- do not skip this! Smoke flavored gravy is phenomenal! You can use water or not. Cook the bird breast side down for 2 hours, then flip until finished to keep the breast meat nice and moist.

If inclined, soak the wood chips in a 50/50 mix of water and white wine for an extra dimension. Use a light wood -- fruit or nut for poultry. Keep the smoke thin and blue (TBS); if you can smell smoke, you're smoking.

Check your thermos for accuracy before beginning ( in boiling water).

And don't forget to post Qview (pix)!

Cheers!
 
For whole chickens I like to run at 225* just so I get a good amount of smoke into the bird. Sometimes I lay them on there belly, and sometimes I beer can them. For crisp skin just rub the skin with butter and crank the heat towards the end. 
 
What James said ^^^^. That's some good info. 
icon14.gif
 
Hard to say.  If you are pulling the chix, it doesn't matter about the skin if you reach the correct internal temp.  If you want to carve or cut up the chix to serve for dinner, you would normally smoke at a higher temp or use other methods to crisp up the skin.  With practice, you will learn what you and your family will like.  Stick with it.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
You can smoke hot and fast (325º) for crisp skin and a nice color,

Or you can go low and slow (225º) for a smokey flavored meat.

There are many ways to do chicken, it just depends on what you're looking for in the finished product.

Like James said, Go by temp not time and you'll be fine.

Good luck and don't forget the Qview.
 
Wow... thank you all for GREAT advice. I will be doing this later

on this afternoon since it looks like its going to be at 2 1/2 - 3

hours tops.

I definitely will take pictures and "Qview" them. I've been looking at

some of your Qviews on briskets and I learned what mine was

supposed to look like...sadly it didn't.
icon_redface.gif


I want to thank you all again for your help and am excited to get

smokin'.

Chat with you later...James
 
Hey All,

All I can say is... Slap me man I need to get a reality check!!!

The chicken turned out FABULOUS. Thank you all who gave me

you great advice and tips. now to Qview, ( I hope I do this right).

The beginning:

de2969eb_chixsmoker005.jpg


The Rub:

fc1bec24_chixsmoker006.jpg


On the smoker:

109720bb_chixsmoker012.jpg


Is that smoke I see and smell:

9e646c57_chixsmoker013.jpg


Gettin' there:

2d4ec1c7_chixsmoker016.jpg


Of course my compadres, first, Miss Daisy:

1a54bd48_chixsmoker008.jpg


and Mr. Watson:

22dbf0e0_chixsmoker011.jpg


Done and ready to eat:

c37373ef_chixsmoker009.jpg


And finally a reality check:



Again, thank you all for your great advice and I'll see you again next week for another

lip smackin' smoker adventure...James
 
Thanks Guys, appreciate it. I smoked it right at 3 hours at 225-240 degrees. I had

to watch it closely as my smoker doesn't have a degree thermometer it just says

"cool" just Right" and "too hot", so I kept it right in the middle of "Just Right". I'm

going to buy an oven thermometer and lay it inside next time.

The taste was just fantastic and it literally was fall off the bone tender and juicy.

I must confess though, I did inject the birds breasts, thighs and legs with melted

butter....is that cheating?

Thanks again and chat with you soon...James
 
Thank you Ahron, it was a blast smoking it up and this weekend

I will be going on another Brisket adventure. I'm arming myself

with much more knowledge this time, mainly from this forum.

I'll provide Qview and videos if nobody minds seeing my uber normal

face and funny sounding voice :)

I'm gonna go stalk the Brisket threads now
unsure.gif
because I

have absolutely no clue what to do with a brisket.

Chat Soon,

James
 
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