- Dec 20, 2016
- 2
- 10
Hello all. My first post here, and I have a problem with getting a good smoke flavor on chicken. I'm hoping someone might be able to advise me on what I should do differently.
While I can taste the smoke flavor, it's not any stronger than what you'd expect to get from a grill.
Here's what I used.
-Weber Smokey Mountain
-Kingsford briquettes
-Chimney starter
-Apple wood chips
-2 whole chickens
So first, I lit the charcoal in the chimney, until the top briquettes started turning gray at the edges, and the lower briquettes were red hot. After dumping the coals in the smoker, I lowered a 3/4 full water pan in, closed the top, and waited until temp stabilized around 250 degrees. I then threw in two handfuls of apple wood chips, and gave them 5 minutes to start smoking. Finally, I placed the chicken in the smoker, with a wireless thermometer, and waited for the meat to get to 170 degrees, while maintaining the smoker between 250-275 degrees. After letting the chicken cool for 20 mins, I bit in, and was a little disappointed, in how weak the smoke flavor was. I'm not looking for overpowering smoke flavor, but it should be more than "just" noticeable.
I suspect part of my problem, may have been the smoker temp. It mostly hovered around 275, but I noticed the wireless thermometer was showing the meat temps rise much quicker than expected. Everything was sufficiently cooked at the end, but it took little more than half the time projected in the smoker cookbook recipe. I read that after meat reaches 140 degrees, it stops absorbing smokiness. So I'm thinking of trying with a lower internal smoker temp. Between 225-250. Does this sound like a good solution? Do you have any other advice? Please note the only lump charcoal I have access to, is Cowboy brand, which I read is a bad brand, with low-quality wood, and often questionable materials found in the mix. So briquettes are all I have to work with.
Thanks for any advice :)
While I can taste the smoke flavor, it's not any stronger than what you'd expect to get from a grill.
Here's what I used.
-Weber Smokey Mountain
-Kingsford briquettes
-Chimney starter
-Apple wood chips
-2 whole chickens
So first, I lit the charcoal in the chimney, until the top briquettes started turning gray at the edges, and the lower briquettes were red hot. After dumping the coals in the smoker, I lowered a 3/4 full water pan in, closed the top, and waited until temp stabilized around 250 degrees. I then threw in two handfuls of apple wood chips, and gave them 5 minutes to start smoking. Finally, I placed the chicken in the smoker, with a wireless thermometer, and waited for the meat to get to 170 degrees, while maintaining the smoker between 250-275 degrees. After letting the chicken cool for 20 mins, I bit in, and was a little disappointed, in how weak the smoke flavor was. I'm not looking for overpowering smoke flavor, but it should be more than "just" noticeable.
I suspect part of my problem, may have been the smoker temp. It mostly hovered around 275, but I noticed the wireless thermometer was showing the meat temps rise much quicker than expected. Everything was sufficiently cooked at the end, but it took little more than half the time projected in the smoker cookbook recipe. I read that after meat reaches 140 degrees, it stops absorbing smokiness. So I'm thinking of trying with a lower internal smoker temp. Between 225-250. Does this sound like a good solution? Do you have any other advice? Please note the only lump charcoal I have access to, is Cowboy brand, which I read is a bad brand, with low-quality wood, and often questionable materials found in the mix. So briquettes are all I have to work with.
Thanks for any advice :)
