Ribs and chicken

Bone-in thighs will take quite a bit less than breasts...around 1.75 hours. 2.75 hrs for bone-in breasts is pretty close...assuming these are not from a roasting hen, which are large, mature birds...then plan for about 20-25% longer. 165* minimum internal, but for bone-in, I prefer closer to 170* in breasts and a bit over that for thighs to avoid pink near the bone.

If you're leaving the skin on, the are a few things you can do crisp the skin better, as lower temp smokes don't do birds justice. If you smear a little canola, olive or veggie oil on before rubbing helps...butter is nice, too. One of the best way to go is toss 'em onto a hot grill when they're about 10-15* below desired finished temp (depending on grill temp, hotter won't take as long to sear so needs to be closer on finished temp)...the sear will crisp the skin up better and give 'em a push through finished temp.

Have a great smoke and a fine weekend of fun with your friends and family!!!

Eric

I am by no means an expert, but I have smoked chicken quarters 5 times now. 4 of those smokes has been nothing less then spectacular. First fail was smoking at 225. The meat was tasty but the skin was like rubber and too smokey. Now I cook them at 300-320. The skin doesn't get quite crispy, but it works out the same as any roasted chicken you'd do in your oven. I cook to 173 degrees to make sure there aren't any raw spots by the bones and they are still juicy and have taken on plenty of smoke. It takes around 2 hours to do quarters this way.

Maby an option would be to put the chicken on 90mins before the ribs are done. Pull the ribs when done and crank up the heat for another hour to finish the chicken. I've never tried it, but people here talk about wrapping meat in foil and putting it in a cooler wrapped in towels to stay warm.

Asymetric said:

I am by no means an expert, but I have smoked chicken quarters 5 times now. 4 of those smokes has been nothing less then spectacular. First fail was smoking at 225. The meat was tasty but the skin was like rubber and too smokey. Now I cook them at 300-320. The skin doesn't get quite crispy, but it works out the same as any roasted chicken you'd do in your oven. I cook to 173 degrees to make sure there aren't any raw spots by the bones and they are still juicy and have taken on plenty of smoke. It takes around 2 hours to do quarters this way.

Maby an option would be to put the chicken on 90mins before the ribs are done. Pull the ribs when done and crank up the heat for another hour to finish the chicken. I've never tried it, but people here talk about wrapping meat in foil and putting it in a cooler wrapped in towels to stay warm.

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 Just make sure if you have a vertical, you put the chicken BELOW the ribs. Chicken will not take near the time the ribs will. 2 1/2 hours tops usually. Skin will be rubbery unless you bring temps up to the 300º area.


Take them to a hot grill if you cannot achieve the higher temps in your smoker.


Crisp them up pretty good, not that you should eat the skin any way.

I always smoke my chicken at 225º. Since chicken takes so little time, this allows for more time in the smoke. You will have to stagger your time with the ribs and add them in so that everything comes close to being finished at the same time.