Over the summer my friend Jeff and his wife stopped by as Trish and I were out on the deck eating a whole chicken I made in the smoker that day. They had already eaten but Jeff tried it and loved it. Months later they were coming over to our house for a New Years eve night of fun and I though what a great idea it would be to make him a smoked whole chicken, seal it up in a heavy clear vacuum packed bag and gift wrap it and hand him this odd shape "warm" wrapped gift. Turned out to be a great "gift".
Started off with a whole 6lb fresh chicken, got it on sale for $1/lb. Overnight I let it soak in basic salt & water brine. Next day I put on some basic rub on the outside (SPOG) and on the inside I stuffed the cavity with some left-over shallots and thyme I had from a prime rib roast I was making for dinner. Put it in the MES w/ Pecan wood at 240. Added the Maverick temp probe later and waited till it got to 165. Did it on the rack, above a pan, flipped it once. A few hours later took the hot bird out, let it cool down for a few minutes and put it in the FoodSaver and vacuum sealed it and gift wrapped it.
"What the heck is this, it's, it's warm?" ......... "IT'S A SMOKE CHICKEN !!!" :)
Started off with a whole 6lb fresh chicken, got it on sale for $1/lb. Overnight I let it soak in basic salt & water brine. Next day I put on some basic rub on the outside (SPOG) and on the inside I stuffed the cavity with some left-over shallots and thyme I had from a prime rib roast I was making for dinner. Put it in the MES w/ Pecan wood at 240. Added the Maverick temp probe later and waited till it got to 165. Did it on the rack, above a pan, flipped it once. A few hours later took the hot bird out, let it cool down for a few minutes and put it in the FoodSaver and vacuum sealed it and gift wrapped it.
"What the heck is this, it's, it's warm?" ......... "IT'S A SMOKE CHICKEN !!!" :)
