Trash can chicken, first run ever!

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northerner78

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jul 8, 2017
50
20
Wisconsin
Just finished my electric trash can. I got it to hold temps up to 350°. Leg quarters prepped and seasoned. Gonna start them at 275°. Just fabricated a drip pan/water pan. Apple wood chips.

Questions.. I'm using a small cast iron skillet for chips. How much do I add? A hand full? And should I replenish throughout the whole time?
 
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A little handful for the first hour, 3 to 4 times maybe. Chicken cooks in 3 hours or so.. I would say 2 cups of chips total is a bunch.. so 4 x 1/2 cup. Maybe foil wrap chips with fork holes poked in it to see what happens once in the pan.
 
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Yup mods finished. Wrapped it in a water heater blanket, fiberglass batting type. I have a small cast iron skillet with a small hand full of chips with foil and a few holes. Waiting for it to come up to temp. Taking awhile with a load of meat. Waiting game...
 
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You can put a couple charcoal in that cast iron pan if you wanted to ever get a few more degrees. It wouldn't hurt at all. Light a couple and use tongs to put them in. That's neat!
 

So it only took a couple hours. It's awesome!!! Nice and juicy and perfect smoke flavor. I'm so happy I would do backflips if I could. Thank you Marc, thank you Rings! Got some tater salad and some salad salad to go with it. Can't wait to do it again. Pork or beef ribs next time.
 
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I don't know about cheaper but .59¢ a lb I buy chicken for . Except breast meat. $1.39 . Curious to hear how you managed the heat.. did it fluctuate a bunch with each adjustment ?
 
I had it loaded down. 5lbs of chicken, drip pan full of water, small cast iron skillet for chips with foil covered. I was getting high temps of 350 but with all everything in there I could only get it to 250°. Had the coil maxed and never needed to adjust. Kept a solid 250 the whole time.

Question... Even though I had a temp of 250° shouldn't it have taken longer than an hour and a half?
 
Chicken was done hey? Well, in an oven at 350 it would be over cooked in 90 minutes. I only cooked chicken in a smoker once and it was below 250.for a couple hours. .. so that's probably about right.
 
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