First Smoke

[rvachewlover]

Just put a whole chicken (spatchcocked) and 8 legs in my MES 30, cranked up to 250 with Cherry Wood. Rubbed the whole chicken with a recipe I found online, from what I can tell its pretty similar to Jeff's. Then I rubbed two legs with some Slap Ya Mama and another two with Old Bay. I'd have pictures but I lost my phone up until now. QView to come.     

 

[rvachewlover]

Chicken turned out perfectly. Got the breasts up to 170 with the legs/thighs hanging around 150, threw it in the oven to broil for 5 min. Skin had a nice crisp to it. The meat was amazingly tender and juicy. Here's what I did:

Brined overnight in 1 cup salt, 3/4 brown sugar, 1 gallon water. Took it out of the brine and rinsed it off an hour before cooking. Rubbed the whole chicken and legs before I threw it in the smoker (breasts down) at 250 and loaded up the tray with cherry chips. Achieved my first TBS but mostly it was thin white. 4 hrs later I got the 170 and 150 readings. Then threw it in the broiler for 7 min until I hit temps everywhere. The chicken was juicy and FOTB tender. Excellent smoke flavor as well. Only thing I would've done differently is try to get the rub on the meat more and not just on the skin; but thats for another night. Going to go pass out from a food coma. 

 

[GaryHibbert]

Great first smoke.  But 150* is a little undercooked for chicken, unless the legs came up to temp while in the oven.  Glad you enjoyed.

Gary

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like a great smoke!

Al

 

[betaboy]

Sounds fantastic! Mouth watered a bit, even without pics!