Labor Day Birds

[mmorris_56]

Doing some chickens today for Labor Day. Started with 4 birds ~5lb average. Bribed for 9 hrs, drained for 4 hours then dried. Rubbed with EVOO and seasoned with garlic/herb seasoning. Started around 5:30. Going to keep temps around 270-280. Will post pics as the birds come along. Any further details just ask!

 

[kruizer]

Was your bribe money or something else?

 

[illini40]

Watching. How are they? Cook time?

 

[gmc2003]

They should be done by now - how'd they turn out?

Chris

 

[mmorris_56]

Yep. About 1-1 1/2 hours per pound. Turned out great!!!

 

[illini40]

Yep. About 1-1 1/2 hours per pound. Turned out great!!!

So they were on for 5+ hours? Just trying to clarify. I'm curious on how you did them.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

That certainly looks tasty to me.

George

 

[mmorris_56]

Tl;dr version: pull birds off smoker at temp, cook birds at different location.

Full disclosure:
I would say 1-1 1/2 hours per pound is generous; but it ultimately depends on your smoker and the birds. I smoke to temperatures and color so times are always a bit hazy for me. The rougher part is battling poultry paranoid folks, especially when they’re your parents. If I had my way, I would’ve had them off much earlier when temps were 165. I let dad finish the cook and took a nap. At the end of the day, the chicken tasted great. It would have been amazing if the cook was stopped once the birds reached temp. It was a bit dry for my taste. The skin was OK but had just barely started to turn rubbery.