First Smoke on new Rig - Leg Quarters

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petehalsted

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jun 28, 2015
483
296
Been playing with fire all week and finally felt I had things dialed in enough for my first smoke. You can see info on the new rig here

I originally planned on doing 2 meatloaves, one stuffed, one normal. But they felt a little loose after I mixed them, so I decided to leave them in the fridge over night to tighten up some, and went for plan B, some Leg Quarters.

Rubbed with some olive oil, Seasoned with SLPOG (Same as SPOG except I do 50/50 CBP and Lemon Pepper), then a little Italian seasoning. Royal Oak Briquettes a few chunks of pecan at the begging and a chunk of apple around the 1 hour mark.

Kept smoker between 225-240, until they reached 150 IT. Which took about 1:15 minutes. Then I let it crank up to 325 until they hit 170.

Can't set it and forget it, but I got a decent feel for managing it now. The design is different, with the full width fire box and damper between firebox and smoke box. What has worked best for me so far is getting a decent clean fire then using the damper between the firebox and smoke box to control the temp.

Before I put the chicken on, I did a biscuit test, wasn't too bad, as expected, the back of the bottom shelf is the hot spot, Strangely the front center of the bottom shelve is the coolest spot. Top shelf nice and even all the way across, middle shelf just a little warmer at the back.

Couldn't bring myself to waste smoked biscuits, so biscuits and chicken for supper. Got to find some sausage and make gravy in the AM!! Chicken flavor was perfect, very juicy, but skin was a touch rubbery. Was hoping the 325 at the end would be enough, but guess next time I will have to try hot and fast the whole way.

chicken1.jpg
chicken2.jpg
 
Looks mighty tasty to me, and congratulations on the maiden voyage.

Point for sure.

Chris
 
Thanks everyone. The full width baffle makes for much easier temp management. Last time I played with fire, was quite a few years ago with an cheap offset, that was like being a 1 legged man in a butt kicking contest. Adjustments took so long to take hold, you kind to be a fortune teller, to avoid wild swings. With the baffle, I can avoid any big spikes when adding fuel, opening the door etc.

Chicken gravy sounds pretty good, never done a rue with chicken before.

We are staying at MIL right now, so are 2 of our sons, 1 of their girlfriends, and 1 granddaughter. All keep different hours and are in and out, so you never know who your are feeding. Two of the quarters made it into the fridge last night, but I know I saw the kitchen lights and heard the microwave around 2AM, so not sure if there is any chicken in there or not LOL
 
Chile you nailed it with the Chicken gravy suggestion. Thank goodness I don't live on the coast anymore. You are a bad enough influence just on me as is!

As I suspected one of the Leg Quarters didn't survive the night, but there was 1 lonely quarter left this AM. Pulled the chicken, ate the skin while doing it (chef's prerogative!), saulted with some butter, then made a rue and then gravy.

Put over some of my smoked biscuits from the biscuit test.

That's what makes smoking such a great hobby, when this is the by-product of your testing, who can complain! Smokey Chicken gravy and biscuits, Waffle house got nothing on this!

chickenandbiscuits.jpg
 
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