As some of you may know, my chicken is about the only thing that's keeping me from trying my hand at KCBS competition. I may have turned that corner, though. In a mad rush to get some dinner done tonight, and being determined to use the WSM to do it, I got home at a little after 5, brined my chicken, smoke/grilled it on the WSM, and dinner was on the table by 6:45. I don't know if I smoked it or grilled it, so you can help me decide what method this actually qualifies as.



(Ignore Robert's hand - he was hungry...)

The players - a "pick of the chick" package - 3 breasts, 3 thighs, 3 drumsticks. Got home a few minutes after 5, immediately mixed up a brine of 1 quart water, 1 quart apple juice, 1/2 cup non-iodized table salt (a double-strength brine), and 3/4 cup white sugar. I pryed the skin up off of each piece without removing it completely, and dumped the chicken into the brine. Out to the smoker, dumped prior ashes, and fired 1 full chimney Kingsford and 1/2 chimney lump on the turkey burner, in two separate chimneys. (Yeah, normally that would be overkill, but I wanted HEAT.) Dumped all well-burning charcoal into the WSM charcoal ring at 5:45, left the lid off, and let it burn, baby, burn while I finished chicken prep. Back in the house, I rinsed the chicken thoroughly in running water, laid it all out on a doubled towel, and gently rubbed it dry best I could. (NOTE - this would have been the time to let it sit in the fridge uncovered for a few hours to improve the skin, or in front of the fan for a while, but I didn't have the time.) Removed from the towel, picked up the skin, and massaged some secret seasoning up under the skin - just a low-salt roast chicken seasoning. Replaced the skin just so, and sprinkled a little seasoning on top just the make the skin prettier.

Meat met the heat by 6:00 pm, with no waterpan whatsoever, all vents open, apple pellets for smoke, and all chicken on the top rack skin side up for the entire cook. (Note to self - skin side down for the first little while would probably help the skin.) WSM was over 400 at the time - not sure how much over because I took the smoker probe of the WSM out for a while to avoid frying it. Put it back in at 6:15, when temp was showing about 398. I shut vents to about 1/2 at that time, and the temp gradually dropped from 398 to 375 about 6:30, where it stablized. The breasts reached 170 at 6:45 (yeah, I know that's overdone, but that's how Robert likes them). Did not glaze, did not spritz, did not sauce.

Appearance was nice, skin was perfectly edible and tender though not crisp (a drying session before cooking would have helped here). Even overcooked breasts were juicy and tender, and nicely seasoned to the bone thanks to Cooks Illustrated's double-strength fast-brining suggestion. No trace of red around thigh, leg, or breast bones even after only 45 minutes on the smoker. Skin was a bit salty due to my heavy-handed sprinkling onto it for cosmetic's sake, but the flavor of the meat was very good.

All in all, I'll probably be doing my chicken pieces like this from here on out, except for adding a bit more drying time to help work on the skin.

That's all for this evening's report.

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
(on the new WSM Turbo Model)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Keri C,

Keri - Thanks for posting this. Got my mind a churning on some alternative chicken techiques. Did you get enough smoke flavor on it in such a short cook? Haven't ever tried a quick brine. Is that the reason for the extra salt?

Yes, the extra salt is what bumps up the brine. When I first read about this 1-hour quick brine at Cooks Illustrated, I was a bit skeptical, but I like it. They leave out the sugar completely. I chose to keep it in. Just be sure and rinse the chicken WELL. And, yes indeed, I did get good smoke. I had wondered if I would, no longer than it was on the fire, but I opened the bag of leftovers this evening while I was cooking dinner, and the smoke smell slapped me in the face.

On suggestion of one who is wiser in the ways of smoke than I, next time I do this I plan to flip the chicken to skin-side-down about 3/4 of the way through cooking.

Keri,
With the speed you cooked/smoked that meal I think you're about ready start a 30 minute meal show for BBQ! Who said it has to be "low and slow" to be good. One question...how would you compare brining to marinading chicken as far as keeping the chicken moist, flavor, etc...if you have an opinion on that?

It's just my own personal preference, but I prefer brining. Not that I don't do a marinade of some kind occasionally instead of brining, but I just find myself doing the brine more often. I think I have better luck with brining because (a) I get in a hurry cooking during the week, and a quick brine while I'm getting everything else ready to cook causes the meat to cook a bit more quickly because of the water content in the meat, and (b) I detest finding red around the bone in the chicken, and brining helps pull out a lot more of the blood than marinading will, along the same principal of koshering.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time

Just wondering if you have changed up you technique any since this was posted. Leg quarters were on sale $2.80 per 10# bag. I tried my version of a 4 hour brine this weekend along with a 1-1/2 hour drying period in the fridge. Used 1 full chimney lit briquets in the wide open mode. I left the water pan in and empty. Chicken meat was great and very moist except for the skin. Also noticed the small pockets of fat under the skin hadn't rendered like I would have liked. Next weekend I'll try without the waterpan and see if I can get the skin to crisp up. Any thoughts?

What temp did you cook at? If you cooked low and slow you'll have to sear em on something else like a gasser. The fat rendering beneath the skin is what makes the skin crispy.

I try to get my wsm to 325-350.....sometimes I have to prop the door open to do this. Some people cook skin side down for 20 min....but I don't. Usually this works.

quote:

Any thoughts?

Double your fuel.

I like the no-pan approach as the heat gets high and stays there for a while. I am one for the skin-down at the outset approach as well (seen here) but that's up to you. Some people do not like the flavor imparted by the fat dripping on the coals. I have no issue with that (I find the meat is far enough away) but you'll need to see what you think. Craig's suggestion of propping the door open a bit is a good one if you're not seeing the heat you're after.

Don't really know what the temp was. I didn't want to fry my probe. I'm guessing around 400 to start. I think taking out the water pan will help bump up the temp and help crisp up the skin.

Still searching. Tried again last night without the water pan and a little more charcoal. Skin side down for first 20 min. Chicken skin came out better but had a black oily film on it. I'm pretty sure that's from the fat hitting the fire. Looks like the water pan is gonna have to go back in.

Make sure the chicken is dry before putting the chicken on and that all fuel is fully lit.

If you decide to keep the pan in then I'd recommend switching to a quality lump.

Been using Royal oak lump. I've also been keeping the chicken on a rack in the fridge for a couple hours. I'm real close but trying to tweek it for upcoming Kcbs events.