Cooking on both grate levels

[scrap]

Whole roaster chicken went on sale today for 88 cents/Lb! I see a spatchy in my future 

 I was thinking about picking up two. It would be the first time I have cooked on both grates in the mini. I only have two probes (one food and one smoker temp) Any advice for cooking on both levels? Should I bag it and stick to one? 

 

[bdskelly]

 
Whole roaster chicken went on sale today for 88 cents/Lb! I see a spatchy in my future 

 I was thinking about picking up two. It would be the first time I have cooked on both grates in the mini. I only have two probes (one food and one smoker temp) Any advice for cooking on both levels? Should I bag it and stick to one? 

You can cook on both levels if your birds are not too large. Just make sure that there is enough open area on the grates for circulation.  I've never spatched  a chicken on the mini.  But have cut them in half and smoked on both grates with good success. b

 

[JckDanls 07]

I haven't spatchcocked on the mini.. but I have done 2 beer can chickens at once on the mini ... didn't have pictures of them actually down in the mini... but here's a couple after taking them out ...

S. FL. Gathering 2012 018.JPG

• JckDanls 07
• Feb 27, 2015

S. FL. Gathering 2012 020.JPG

• JckDanls 07
• Nov 28, 2012

 

[scrap]

Thanks for the advice! I have had them in the slaughterhouse brine overnight and just put them into the mini. One spatchy on each level with mostly apple and a chunk of hickory in with the charcoal. We shall see what comes out. The birds were a touch larger than I wanted. Each one weighed 8.4#. I guess I'll see how the mini handles almost 17# of chicken! 

Scrap

 

[iggythump]

I haven't spatchcocked on the mini.. but I have done 2 beer can chickens at once on the mini ... didn't have pictures of them actually down in the mini... but here's a couple after taking them out ...

S. FL. Gathering 2012 018.JPG

• JckDanls 07
• Feb 27, 2015

S. FL. Gathering 2012 020.JPG

• JckDanls 07
• Nov 28, 2012

I was wondering if this were possible today while I was smoking ribs on my mini.  Did you just have the birds back to back on the lowest cooking rack? (Rhyme not intended)

 

[JckDanls 07]

I haven't spatchcocked on the mini.. but I have done 2 beer can chickens at once on the mini ... didn't have pictures of them actually down in the mini... but here's a couple after taking them out ...

S. FL. Gathering 2012 018.JPG

• JckDanls 07
• Feb 27, 2015

S. FL. Gathering 2012 020.JPG

• JckDanls 07
• Nov 28, 2012

I was wondering if this were possible today while I was smoking ribs on my mini.  Did you just have the birds back to back on the lowest cooking rack? (Rhyme not intended)

I put em breast to breast... middle rack ... my heat comes up the sides so I put the backs in the main heat.. let me also say ... smaller chickens are better... 4-5 lbs ...

 

[iggythump]

I put em breast to breast... middle rack ... my heat comes up the sides so I put the backs in the main heat.. let me also say ... smaller chickens are better... 4-5 lbs ...

Excellent.  I scored 2 all natural, no additive birds last night for $7 total, roughly 4.5 each.  Perfect for trying this out.  Thanks JD

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I do Spatched birds all the time in the Mini. Your lower grate will be warmer so I would monitor the temp of the pit there. I'dorobably also monitor that bird. When it its 165, probe the upper bird. If it's not ready pull the lower bird and continue to monitor the upper one until it's done. This is one of the only times I'll use more than the steamer insert as a diffuser. A solid diffuser will help even out the heat in the smoker.

 

[iggythump]

I do Spatched birds all the time in the Mini. Your lower grate will be warmer so I would monitor the temp of the pit there. I'dorobably also monitor that bird. When it its 165, probe the upper bird. If it's not ready pull the lower bird and continue to monitor the upper one until it's done. This is one of the only times I'll use more than the steamer insert as a diffuser. A solid diffuser will help even out the heat in the smoker.

From my understanding, JD did both birds on the same rack so the temp monitoring should be easier.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

From my understanding, JD did both birds on the same rack so the temp monitoring should be easier.

He did two whole birds on the same rack. A spatched chicken takes up one whole rackin a mini, so you need to use two racks. The original poster asked about spatched birds.

 

[iggythump]

He did two whole birds on the same rack. A spatched chicken takes up one whole rackin a mini, so you need to use two racks. The original poster asked about spatched birds.

My apologies, I misunderstood the subject reference of the comment.