Chicken Drums on the New Vortex

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mneeley490

Master of the Pit
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Jun 23, 2011
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Everett, WA
Tried this out for the first time last night. Local grocery had drums on sale for $.89 lb, which I don't often see anymore. Dry brined earlier, then tossed some of Jeff's rub on them. Chunk of pecan ready there for the smoke.
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I am very impressed with the cooking time and crispness of the skin. I also glazed with a new (to me) BBQ sauce, Jim Quessenberry's Gold sauce. It's a nice, tangy Carolina-style mustard sauce. Went great on the chicken. Two drums are missing below, as the wife seems to think that a tiny amount of sauce is going to make her gain 5 pounds. Regardless, I plan to get a lot more use out of this thing.
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Those look almost sinful! My Vortex shipped today, and I can't wait. About how long did it take for the drums to cook? I'll have to learn a new set of approximate cooking times, and undoubtedly will pester you all for info on the subject.
 
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Those look almost sinful! My Vortex shipped today, and I can't wait. About how long did it take for the drums to cook? I'll have to learn a new set of approximate cooking times, and undoubtedly will pester you all for info on the subject.
I do bird legs for 35 minutes with a hunk of hickory or oak over the coals in the center, then toss the legs in SBR or teriyaki, back on for another five minutes. Happy every time! RAY

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Those look gorgeous. Very nice color on them. A lot of people are doing great things with the vortex and it looks like we have another in the mix :emoji_wink:

Robert
 
Those look almost sinful! My Vortex shipped today, and I can't wait. About how long did it take for the drums to cook? I'll have to learn a new set of approximate cooking times, and undoubtedly will pester you all for info on the subject.
I do bird legs for 35 minutes with a hunk of hickory or oak over the coals in the center, then toss the legs in SBR or teriyaki, back on for another five minutes. Happy every time! RAY

View attachment 645613
Yeah, that's about how long it took. Those look great, Ray!
 
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Nice work! I am still trying to get my chicken game on the vortex dialed in. Three tries at wings so far once the wings dried out the other two the skin wasn't crisped up despite being on just under an hour with a HOT vortex running. Had better luck with drums.
 
Nice work! I am still trying to get my chicken game on the vortex dialed in. Three tries at wings so far once the wings dried out the other two the skin wasn't crisped up despite being on just under an hour with a HOT vortex running. Had better luck with drums.
have you tried dusting the wings with baking powder first?
 
Nice! Thanks for the idea. The coal grate level on a Weber is perfect for a 4.5" high vortex to come to the cooking grate. My Akorn Kamado is much deeper and still would be 4.5" from the vortex top to the cooking grate. I have an upper level coal grate 3.5" from the cooking grate and need a 3" high x10" dia ring to contain a level pile of coal for searing inside the ring and outside for indirect like your chicken., putting a wood chunk inside the ring or just outside for smoke like you have I found a $8, 28 gauge steel starter vent ring 2.75"x10" dia that needs the galvanizing zinc burned off first. It'll rust but should last like my 5+ year old charcoal chimney. You may find a 10lb bag of fresh chxn leg quarters at $7.90 or so when nothing is under $1/lb. I just squeeze the leg to the thigh and hold it there and cut through the joint for legs and thighs. I really like the thighs the best but ringing the legs 1/3 the way up through all the thin white tendons turns legs into a lollipop and more juicy like a thigh.
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Nice job on the drums. The Votex is the bomb for chicken.

Point for sure
Chris
 
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