Divulge Them Secrets!

[trillo15]

Whole Chickens. There was a whole bunch of them on sale at the local grocery store for 50% off what they usually are. So I bought 27 of them lol. They are in the freezer and I have been experimenting with a few of them. I want to know what everyone does to make delicious chicken! Spachcock or leave it whole? Brine or not to brine? Inject or not inject? Low and slow or higher temp? Sauce?

What I have been doing is injecting with a butter, chicken stock and bbq rub. On the skin, spraying a little bit of cooking spray and covering it in home made bbq rub. Smoking it on higher heat (300F) until internal temp is 165F. I have been using Apple wood and spritzing with Apple Juice.

 

[motocrash]

A something

 

[PerazziMx14]

Please delete

 

[chopsaw]

Look into Pop's brine , and Daveomak injection . I just did 1 of each . I posted results if you want to look them up .

When I buy whole chickens on sale . I will take leg , thighs and wings from 2 birds and grill . Then brine and smoke the breast meat from 1 for sandwiches . Cut the outher breast off the bone and use for boneless / skinless meals .

 

[motocrash]

Looking through my faves I see a pattern.Most all are brined in citrus for a day or have lemon,lime or both.I more often than not skin whole birds that I brine.I did a skin on by loosening the skin and using SPOG,paprika,rosemary,thyme and thin lemon slices under it that turned out excellent.
Apple and pecan are my go to woods.Pear is great when I can get it.

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

IMO, keep it simple whether ya wanna brine or not! If lookin for a non cure brine, I've used Tips Slaughterhouse brine & we really enjoy it. If a curing brine, Pop's brine is awesome. The main thing most folks complain about with chicken IMO is the skin is tough, not edible. Through experience, here's what works for me & my fam... but you'll have to figure out what works the best for yours. Maybe this can get you a baseline & you can adjust according to your fam & how they prefer it. Just remember, as long as your chicken is prepped/cooked safely, there are no wrong way to prep/cook it. It's what you & your fam like.

Whole chicken we like to cook spatchcock... gives a great smokey flavor & even cooking throughout IMO, if we are in the mood to brine... we do it the a couple days before the cook. If not in the mood, we prep it a day ahead. If brining, brine overnight.. take out, spatchcock, rub down with EVOO or peanut oil & season with preferred spices. We usually just do SPOG to keep it simple. Put it in the fridge overnight for the skin to dry out a bit, so ya don't get that tough skin. I cook spatch chicken usually round 375*, poultry takes on good smoke even at high temps. Cooking at the higher temp also makes the skin edible IMO. Smoke til IT of 165*, pull off smoker, let rest 20 min or so for juices to redistribute & dig in!

This all is just my opinion, there's numerous way to go about it... Hope this helps ya!

 

[dls1]

It's a bit late now, but when I buy several whole chickens on sale, the first thing I do is spatchcock them, then individually bag them and freeze them. Save a whole lot of freezer space over freezing them whole.

Obviously, I cook them spatchcocked which is the only way I've been cooking chickens for many years.

 

[bluewhisper]

Another vote for spatchcock. With that many birds you could try many things but they all could begin with that. Wow you have a lot to play with, throw a dart at a spinning globe and look up chicken recipes from whatever part of the world you've hit.

 

[trillo15]

What is the advantage to spatch cock over whole? and not many people touched on injecting?

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

What is the advantage to spatch cock over whole? and not many people touched on injecting?

Your still cooking the bird whole with the spatchcock method! The advantage to the method is a more even cook on your bird! With injecting, I've not done that with chicken so cannot speak to that approach. I do brine occasionally as specified in my reply above!

 

[myownidaho]

Typically, I just do a dry rub inside, outside and under the skin and then throw it on the grill on the rotisserie. Making sure you have enough seasoning and cooking it at the right temperature and not drying it out are the keys.

 

[PerazziMx14]

Please delete