Author Topic: First Cook... Two six pound chickens on a 3#D  (Read 1853 times)

Caca_Dau

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First Cook... Two six pound chickens on a 3#D
« on: July 23, 2017, 08:20:49 PM »
BLUF -- Chickens tasted awesome and juicy...  By the way we didn't use BLUF 40 years ago in SAC!
1.  Two six pound chickens (no spatchcock) for six people...  Perdue Chickens
2.  24 hour brine with two gallons of water and 1.5 cups of kosher salt in a Homer bucket with a food safe liner in a refrigerator
3.  4.75 ounces of peach wood for smoking.  I think peach wood smoke smells like toasted marshmallows.  I stripped the bark from the peach wood as an extra step
4.  Rub used lightly...  Lots of sugar, paprika and various spices.  I don't believe it really matters
5.  I started four hours before the party but really only needed 2.75
6.  Cooker setup...  235F with internal temp of 165F
7.  I measured the temp in two places.  3D temp probe was in the thigh.  Other probe was in the breast.  It was interesting to see how the temps tracked.  Both probe temps aligned on themselves at the end of the cook.  I find it hard to find the right spot to stick the probe in the thigh
8.  It was hard to determine how long to smoke.  So I started four hours before the party.  The chickens cooked in approximately 2.75 hours.  These were six pound chickens which started at an internal temp of 38F  -- 235F smoker with internal temp of 165F
9.  I'm not recommending any timing for the cook; you just have to smoke and collect your data.  The hardest part of smoking anything is getting the end lit...  Just kidding...
10.  I had to hold the chickens for about two hours prior to serving at about 160F.  I thought I would dry out the meat but the meat was juicy both white and dark.  Holding the chicken at temp does not seem to matter
11.  Skin was tight and favorable but not crisp...  Comments were that skin was tasty and excellent...  If you want crispy skin toss it in the broiler at the end of the smoke...  I don't believe crispy skin would add anything

I'm really picky about food safety so the SI smoker/temp probe did an excellent job holding temp as verified by another temp probe... 

Cheers...  You gotta be tough to fly the heavies...