Hot and fast chicken tonight

[thahemp]

Our oldest is back off to college on Sunday, so I figured I'd fire up the smoker and cook some chickens as a parting meal. I'm trying a rub that Bludawg posted up a while back. I have always just brined in salt and sugar then rubbed with salt and pepper. I'm actually trying a brine he posted as well. Brined in water, salt, sugar, garlic powder, and hot sauce. Rubbed with creole seasoning (all I had), paprika, sugar, lemon pepper, garlic powder, and a touch of cayenne. We're doing 350* until they hit 175/165 on a WSM 22". Spatchcocked the birds before brining. The wife is making cheese scalloped potatoes to go along with the chicken. It looked great going into the oven.

chickens_rubbed.jpg

[thahemp]

And forgot to mention. Cooking on oak and some lump coal for heat and a bit of hickory mixed in. The skin is DARK. I'm not sure that's what I was after as far as color, but the finger taste test says nothing was lost! Definitely not burnt. I wonder if the sugar in the rub turned the skin black?

[thahemp]

It tastes friggin great, but this skin is just not at all what I had in mind as far as color. What do you supposed turned it black? The sugar in the rub? The hickory? Temp was right at 350 the whole 1.5 hour cook.

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[NPayne1]

Might check the creole seasoning, did it have blackening seasoning in it? I use sugar in my rubs but never had a bird turn black. Still looks tasty to me!

[All_Grilla_No_Filla]

Just out of curiosity, you're certain it was 350, I presume? It looks like it was a hotter cook is the only reason I ask, especially after only an hour and a half cook time...

[Okie Sawbones]

I'm curious as well. I spatchcock and cook chicken at 350* as well, but it is usually done in an hour.

[thahemp]

It might have gotten a little hotter when I wasn't watching. It was raining on me, so I didn't really watch the temp very close after adding wood. Getting that WSM to 350* can take some effort. I just have a long analog thermometer that I move back and forth between the top vent and the grommet on the side of the WSM that puts it just below the grate. I have to agree with you though. I think the birds got too hot and/or cooked too long. They were closer to 200* when I took them off after probably an hour and 15 minutes. Still quite tasty! I just barely dodged a bullet.

My theory that I came up with over coffee this morning is that one of the times I cracked the door open the wood chunks lit and I probably had a big temperature spike from the open flame while I was inside, out of the rain. It didn't occur to me last night because every time I looked at the thermometer is was in the exact same spot around 350*. I guess that's where assuming gets you!

[thahemp]

And as far as the Creole seasoning goes... it's hard to say. It lists all the normal stuff like salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika... then "seasoning" haha. Who knows! I have to think it was a heat problem though. The rub was good enough that I'll try it again. We'll see what happens when I do better with temp control.

[BigDave]

Split skins say lots about cooking technique. Assuming there was not any meat tenderizer, papain, bromelain, etc in your rub, then dem yardbirds definitely got too hot. Plain sugar begins to burn at around 300 degrees, brown sugar higher & sugar when blended with other spices burns between 350 to 400 usually. Carmelization begins just before burning.Just got too hot. Only carmelized and not burnt. Carmelized is tasty but may not be purdy,,,,but burnt sugar is in no way good eats!

[thahemp]

Split skins say lots about cooking technique. Assuming there was not any meat tenderizer, papain, bromelain, etc in your rub, then dem yardbirds definitely got too hot. Plain sugar begins to burn at around 300 degrees, brown sugar higher & sugar when blended with other spices burns between 350 to 400 usually. Carmelization begins just before burning.Just got too hot. Only carmelized and not burnt. Carmelized is tasty but may not be purdy,,,,but burnt sugar is in no way good eats!

Nope no weirdness in the rub. Thanks for sharing. I don't think there was enough sugar used in the rub to explain the darkness. That's good info for me though should I ever cook something with a lot of brown sugar. I'll keep practicing. I finally broke down and ordered a Maverick thermometer so I can catch stuff like this before it hurts. It seems like the last few cooks have gotten a little hotter internal than I meant to happen. Hopefully a good thermometer I can keep a better eye on will help me beat my temp problems.

Thanks for the insight everyone.

[B n B's BBQ]

remember slow and low is what bbq is all about. hot and fast is grilling and the results are not the same. I myself would butterfly a whole bird, rub some herbed butter under the skins n let them slow roast around 3-4 hours....then just rip that skin off n toss it...for grilling I cook em over hot coals right on the grate but with the skins seasoned...flipped a few times maby takes an hour and produces good results...but really doesn't compare to pit roasted in a proper way

[Scott P]

remember slow and low is what bbq is all about. hot and fast is grilling and the results are not the same. I myself would butterfly a whole bird, rub some herbed butter under the skins n let them slow roast around 3-4 hours....then just rip that skin off n toss it...for grilling I cook em over hot coals right on the grate but with the skins seasoned...flipped a few times maby takes an hour and produces good results...but really doesn't compare to pit roasted in a proper way

I actually prefer hot and fast for chicken. The skin gets nice and crispy. I like chicken skin. It has the fat, the flavor and all of that rub.

[Sailor Kenshin]

remember slow and low is what bbq is all about. hot and fast is grilling and the results are not the same. I myself would butterfly a whole bird, rub some herbed butter under the skins n let them slow roast around 3-4 hours....then just rip that skin off n toss it...for grilling I cook em over hot coals right on the grate but with the skins seasoned...flipped a few times maby takes an hour and produces good results...but really doesn't compare to pit roasted in a proper way

I actually prefer hot and fast for chicken. The skin gets nice and crispy. I like chicken skin. It has the fat, the flavor and all of that rub.

Amen!

[All_Grilla_No_Filla]

Me too, I'm not a fan of low-n-slow chicken. There's no reason, there's no significant fat or connective tissue to render out. That having been said, I don't like super hot, either. 290-300 works awesome for me. This way it takes just long enough for the joints, etc, to become soft and for the chicken to become succulent.

[thahemp]

I wasn't terribly impressed with slow and low because we love the skin! I'm sure with a little more practice this won't happen again. I know it's cooking hot for a smoker, but I still cook them on the top rack in indirect heat with smoke. I'm not sure I'd call it grilling.