Doing two whole chickens this afternoon (Q-view? Of course!)

1:30pm--Cracked the lid just a hair to show a friend. On the plus side, I got a good picture out of it. Look at all that gorgeous smoke! On the minus side, this means I'll need to leave the birds on a few minutes longer. Oh, well...worth it.


2:15pm--Added some more hickory chunks. I like the way this smoke is shaping up so far. Temp check coming next time I open the lid to add wood--probably 3:15:-3:30 or so.


3:30pm--We've hit the 3 hour mark! Just added more wood. Running about 140 in the thickest part of each bird, which is a little cooler than I expected. Last time I did chicken, I was done in about 4.5 hours. At this rate, I'd expect today's cook to take 5 to 5.5. I'm shooting for the 170 range when I take it off the heat. That'll put it at 175-180 when you factor in carry-over cooking, which IMO is ideal for pulling. Never had a problem with dryness due to brining--always turns out juicy! (EDIT: KNOCK ON WOOD)


4:25pm--Getting about 150 in both chickens now. Smoker has started running a little cooler than I'd like (220-230), and I'm not quite sure why. I haven't changed the amount of wood I add or the frequency with which I open the lid. After I threw on this batch of wood, I opened my vent pretty much all the way. I'd been running it about halfway open, so maybe a little bit more airflow will wake up my coals.

5:35pm--5+ hours in and I'm stalling in the 150-155 area. Frustrating, but at least I seem to have fixed my smoker temp problem--she's holding steady in the 235-250 sweet spot. I anticipate these birds will be done at around 7-7:30, which works out just fine. A little longer than I'd planned, for sure, but I've got nowhere to be and a fridge full of brew . Next time I add wood, I'm going to baste the chickens with sweet, vinegar-y BBQ sauce. I do a rib sauce with honey, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar that I might modify a bit. Maybe cut back on the vinegar to make it thicker, add some butter, and up the brown sugar content. We shall see...


6:45pm--Added my glaze/finishing sauce and threw some more wood on. Sauce is 2:2:1:1 apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, white vinegar, and honey with a little ketchup and butter, some black pepper, cayenne, mustard powder, and garlic powder. Temperature is about 158 in the breast and 160 in the thigh. The meat on one of the legs in the front bird is pulling back a bit, so I double-checked my  electronic thermometer in boiling water to make sure I wasn't off by a few degrees. Checked out at 211.5, so it's good. Gonna add some more glaze at 7:15 or so, then aim to take the birds out of the smoker at 7:45-8.


7:30pm--Final glaze application. I got a little flame going to try and crisp the skin up during the last 30 minutes of cook time. Thermometer is still giving me 160 in both the breast and the thigh, but the look of the birds and the feel when I put the thermometer in tells me it's close to being done.

8:00pm--Right before I took them out of the smoker. Temperature still reads low, but the birds are definitely done.


I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then pulled it. It came out AWESOME. Great smoke ring, juicy, tender, and both the rub and glaze did their jobs. My only regret is that I didn't get the skin crispy enough for my liking and ended up pitching most of it. I've probably done 7-8 chickens over 5 or so smokes now, but still haven't nailed the skin. Maybe next time. Hope ya'll enjoyed the pictures--time for me to go get seconds!