1st smoke

[Whens Lunch]

Brined a couple of approx 6lb chickens this morning using Tony's recipe for poultry.  Put a reg rub on one and a spicy rub on the other.

About 3pm I set the 3D to 250 and the food probe at 165.  My wife got me a ThermoWorks "Smoke"  so thats also set up to monitor cook temp and the temp in the smaller of the two birds.  so I'm watching football on  the other side of the house from the patio.  Still have to check every so often to check on the 3D's controller,  but WOW this is easy.

BTW....the ThermoWorks "Smoke" is looking pretty good.  It does lose the signal every once in awhile but seems to reacquire it on the next cycle

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[SuperDave]

We expect pics Randy so don't get to anxious and eat the evidence first. 

[TexasSMK]

I love smokin some yard bird.

[DivotMaker]

Take any chicken pics, Randy?  We love pictures to drool over, around here!

[Whens Lunch]

Sorry for the delay...my Father- in Law passed away, so you can imagine what its been like around here.


So back to the first smoke..a couple of chickens.  They tasted great, although not particularly smokey.  The whole process did not go as smoothly as I'd hoped....and I'm to blame.

Chicken one was about 6.7lbs.  Chicken 2 was about 5.3lbs.  While both were in the vicinity of 6lbs,  there was a difference of almost  pound and a half.  That's not insignificant at this weight.

Chicken one got probed with the 3D's probe and I used the Thermoworks Smoke on #2.  All good so far.

The "Smoke" probe on the cooking grate was a within a couple of degrees of the 3D throughout the cook, however the the meat probe in Chicken #2 ("Thermoworks") read high throughout the cook and reached 165 when the 3D probe was still in the 130's.  I expected it to cook faster,being the smaller bird, but it was apparent during the cook that I had not placed the Thermoworks probe properly.

Anyway....at 165 on Chicken#2 I opened the smoker and checked the temps of both birds with a Thermopop.  the 3D probe was right on and the Thermoworks "Smoke" probe was off by 20 degrees. 

I adjusted the placement if that probe and it promptly read 146.

Closed the smoker and let it go.  The smaller chicken reached 165 about 10 mins before the larger one.

I took a picture of the smaller one and tented it while waiting for the second.  When the second was ready We were all consumed with the smell and appearance of the chickens and the larger chicken didn't hold still long enough for a photo.  Both were juicy and tasted great, just light on the smokey flavor.

They both looked like this:

[Whens Lunch]

Adding to the previous post:

I'd mentioned that the chickens were not particularly smokey.  So here's my experience with the wood and its placement.

When I seasoned the 3D, I used a couple of the pieces of hickory that came with the smoker.  One piece about the center of the box and the other about 1/4 of the way in.  Both pieces were mostly ash after the seasoning.

For the first smoke,  I tried the foil boat technique for both pieces of hickory (again wood that came with the 3D) and moved them both slightly closer to the front of the smoker from their previous positions.  Again after the smoked chickens, (almost 2 1/2 hours) both pieces of wood were mostly ash.  I suspect in both cases I got combustion, resulting in only a mild smokey flavor.

Next will be a couple of 12 1/2 lb turkeys for Thanksgiving....I'll foil the wood I got from SmokinLicious and try the ramp up method on temp.  190 for 30 mins then 250 until the turkey reaches 165.

[NDKoze]

I usually ramp-up at 150, but I can see how increasing the ramp-up time for poultry is a good idea since you need to make sure that both birds get to 140 within 4 hours (danger zone).

I think you have a good plan. The solid blast of the element from 0-250 is a long time with the element going full blast, so it is understandable that you had combustion.

I think you are on your way to having a pretty awesome Thanksgiving meal!

[DivotMaker]

Thanks for the update, Randy!  Yeah, those larger birds are wiley!  Hard to get them to sit still for pics!

Sounds like you're off to a great start, and are learning the ways of your smoker.  I'm with Gregg, on the ramp-up temp...150 for 30 min is great.  It gets the wood smoldering, and not burning.  That 3D element is big, and HOT!  You can also use the foil boat method; just figure out what works best for you!

[Whens Lunch]

Thanks again, I'll try 150 for the ramp up. Ideally, it's not necessary with the wood from SmokinLicious, but I'll take the conservative approach tomorrow.

[DivotMaker]

A slow approach doesn't hurt, when going to 250, Randy.  Even with good wood, that 1200w element is on full-blast for quite awhile to get to temp.  That's a lot of really high heat, really close to your wood chunks!