- Sep 26, 2017
- 1
- 10
I am completely new to smokers -- well completely new to cooking tbh.
I recently bought a MES 30... really just because it was on sale for $45. So, hearing that chicken was a good starting place, I bought a 5.5 lbs whole chicken.
After reading some guides, I decided to Spatchcock it. I brined for about 6 hours (despite the fact that the chicken came already brined), rinsed, patted, and rubbed it.
After curing the smoker, I brought it up to 250 (the MES probe was reading 270) and threw in a bit of pecan and a bit of apple and waited to smell a bit of smoke. I guessed at where to stick the probes (Maverick ET-733) into the breast and thigh and put the bird in.
I didn't really keep track of time, I was mainly watching the thermometer; but I'd say it smoked for a good 1.5 - 2 hours or so (I added more wood twice). I saw that the internal temps were about 155 and then cranked it up to 275 to try to crispen the skin. About 15-20 minutes later, I saw that the internal temps went as high as 310 and then pulled it at 162. The thigh probe was showing 190, but I assumed that I put it in the wrong place (at the fat part of the drum, just shy of the bone -- it was barely in the meat).
I then probed a few times with my instant kitchen thermometer and saw that several parts of the breast were only at 156. This is probably where everything went wrong. I tried to put the chicken back into the smoker, but it had lost a lot of heat. Another 30 mins at 275 (MES showed 310 again) and the temps seemed stuck at 158. It was 2 AM, so I didn't want to start the grill. So, I took it back out and put the instant thermometer in again, wrapped the bird up in foil and didn't really notice the temperature increasing (perhaps I didn't give it long enough? It sat at 160 -- difference between the Maverick and the kitchen thermometer). I assumed that there wouldn't be any "carry-over" cooking -- maybe because I had messed with it much already.
In the back of my mind, I heard my wife making fun of me for trying to cook. I did NOT want to give her food poisoning. So, I threw the chicken into the oven and 375 roast. At this point, I was off script from any recipe and I had no idea how long to cook it. It was maybe all of 15 minutes, I pulled the chicken and my probe is now reading 165. A couple minutes later, 170. In the thigh, as high as 177. The appearance had changed as well, it went from looking relatively juicy to fairly dry. I cut into a bit of the thigh -- yep dry. I wasn't planning to eat it today (now, maybe not at all) so I let it sit for about 30 minutes and threw it into the fridge. Ah well, it was a trial run anyway.
I spent the last hour trying to look at safe cooking temps. Only now did I see that 165 is the "instant kill" temperature and that you can achieve the same at 150 if you hold the temperature for 72 seconds, or at 155 for 23 seconds. Given that the electric smoker + temp probes give us confidence in the temps (I did do a boiling water test on the probe),
So, next time around (this weekend), can you give me some ideas for (a) where to stick the probe, and (b) what temperatures I should pull at and what kind of carry-over cooking I can expect?
I recently bought a MES 30... really just because it was on sale for $45. So, hearing that chicken was a good starting place, I bought a 5.5 lbs whole chicken.
After reading some guides, I decided to Spatchcock it. I brined for about 6 hours (despite the fact that the chicken came already brined), rinsed, patted, and rubbed it.
After curing the smoker, I brought it up to 250 (the MES probe was reading 270) and threw in a bit of pecan and a bit of apple and waited to smell a bit of smoke. I guessed at where to stick the probes (Maverick ET-733) into the breast and thigh and put the bird in.
I didn't really keep track of time, I was mainly watching the thermometer; but I'd say it smoked for a good 1.5 - 2 hours or so (I added more wood twice). I saw that the internal temps were about 155 and then cranked it up to 275 to try to crispen the skin. About 15-20 minutes later, I saw that the internal temps went as high as 310 and then pulled it at 162. The thigh probe was showing 190, but I assumed that I put it in the wrong place (at the fat part of the drum, just shy of the bone -- it was barely in the meat).
I then probed a few times with my instant kitchen thermometer and saw that several parts of the breast were only at 156. This is probably where everything went wrong. I tried to put the chicken back into the smoker, but it had lost a lot of heat. Another 30 mins at 275 (MES showed 310 again) and the temps seemed stuck at 158. It was 2 AM, so I didn't want to start the grill. So, I took it back out and put the instant thermometer in again, wrapped the bird up in foil and didn't really notice the temperature increasing (perhaps I didn't give it long enough? It sat at 160 -- difference between the Maverick and the kitchen thermometer). I assumed that there wouldn't be any "carry-over" cooking -- maybe because I had messed with it much already.
In the back of my mind, I heard my wife making fun of me for trying to cook. I did NOT want to give her food poisoning. So, I threw the chicken into the oven and 375 roast. At this point, I was off script from any recipe and I had no idea how long to cook it. It was maybe all of 15 minutes, I pulled the chicken and my probe is now reading 165. A couple minutes later, 170. In the thigh, as high as 177. The appearance had changed as well, it went from looking relatively juicy to fairly dry. I cut into a bit of the thigh -- yep dry. I wasn't planning to eat it today (now, maybe not at all) so I let it sit for about 30 minutes and threw it into the fridge. Ah well, it was a trial run anyway.
I spent the last hour trying to look at safe cooking temps. Only now did I see that 165 is the "instant kill" temperature and that you can achieve the same at 150 if you hold the temperature for 72 seconds, or at 155 for 23 seconds. Given that the electric smoker + temp probes give us confidence in the temps (I did do a boiling water test on the probe),
So, next time around (this weekend), can you give me some ideas for (a) where to stick the probe, and (b) what temperatures I should pull at and what kind of carry-over cooking I can expect?