First cook was a flop

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rico334
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First cook was a flop

Postby rico334 » Sat May 29, 2021 9:16 pm

Just bought a Pit Boss 820 that Lowes had on sale which is my first pellet smoker. I've got 2 Masterbuilt electric smokers and have used them for years but the draw back is the temp maxing out at 275. So I'm not a rookie at smoking but I sure turned some chicken breasts into rubber bumper pads today and can't figure out why. Watched a ton of YouTube videos. First thing that could have played a factor is I didn't brine my breasts. Seasoned the grill and wiped everything down, put a rub on the chicken and brought the pit up to 250 degrees. Put the chicken on and watched the internal temp to 145, then bumped the heat up to 350 until the internal temp was 165..... They were dry and like cutting into a rubber boot..... What happened ?
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Re: First cook was a flop

Postby Papa Tom » Sat May 29, 2021 10:39 pm

Welcome aboard Rico
Congrats on the new pit good choice.
BTW I have one of those among others.

I don't regularly do chicken on the pit so maybe someone else will be able to jump on the issue with better advice.

Here is what I would do and I'll bet you will get much better results.
1 Brine the bird.
2 smoke the thing for an hour (or more) Smoke setting.
3 Wrap the bird in foil (depending on size or pieces put in disposable aluminum pan tightly cover with foil) add small amount of liquid* with temp probe in raise temp to 250°.
4 when desired IT temp is reached jack temp up and finish the bird naked to crisp.

*liquid I use white wine but could be chicken broth or water, I avoid beer because the bitter of the hops seems to stand out.
Let us know.
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Re: First cook was a flop

Postby 1MoreFord » Sat May 29, 2021 11:08 pm

While I know a bunch of folks don't like pumped birds I know of an ole comp cook who preferred pumped birds so he didn't have to brine or inject. I feel he was a better cook than me. He would just season and cook hot and fast.
Joe

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Re: First cook was a flop

Postby astrohip » Sun May 30, 2021 8:21 am

I cook chicken all the time. Some random thoughts...

* I'm assuming they were bone-in chicken breasts. Boneless is tough to smoke, cooks too quickly to get any flavor. Often too dry, also. Easier to grill boneless.

* When I do breasts (again, bone-in only), I cook low, around 225-250. And never raise it beyond that. Takes about an hour or so, depending on the breasts. I usually brine, chicken dries out quickly. I usually grill when I'm just doing breasts, put the heat on one side, chicken on the other. More flavor than in the smoker (IMHO). Don't need to brine when I grill them. Slightly quicker also.

* My favorite by far is spatchcock chicken, whole chicken split in half. No brining needed. Season well, including under the skin (then put skin back in place). Smoke low, 225-250. Can take 3-4-5 hours. The chicken tells you when it's done, I shoot for 165 degrees. The chicken comes out incredibly flavorful, moist, with crispy skin. I give each person their own half, so whether they like breast/thigh/drumstick/wing, they get one. And there's always plenty to take home with them.

Good luck. Report back whatever you try next time.
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rico334
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Re: First cook was a flop

Postby rico334 » Sun May 30, 2021 5:11 pm

Thanks for the replies guys........
Astrohip - Yes, the breasts I cooked were boneless. My 2 girls refuse to eat any chicken that has a bone it, that is one reason and the other, I just have a hard time finding anything but those in the stores unless you buy a 10lb bag of frozen breasts with bone in but I don't like the quality of those.
I just now brined a whole bird, spatchcocked it, seasoned it and am putting it on for my second experiment right now, so I'll post the outcome when it's finished.
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Re: First cook was a flop

Postby astrohip » Sun May 30, 2021 6:57 pm

rico334 wrote:Thanks for the replies guys........
Astrohip - Yes, the breasts I cooked were boneless. My 2 girls refuse to eat any chicken that has a bone it, that is one reason and the other, I just have a hard time finding anything but those in the stores unless you buy a 10lb bag of frozen breasts with bone in but I don't like the quality of those.
I just now brined a whole bird, spatchcocked it, seasoned it and am putting it on for my second experiment right now, so I'll post the outcome when it's finished.

Great. Look forward to hearing back on this. :chef:

It seems the boneless was the problem on your first cook. They're just not a great smoking candidate.
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Re: First cook was a flop

Postby OldUsedParts » Mon May 31, 2021 12:01 pm

They only eat Boneless :?: :dont: :deadhorse: :whiteflag:
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Re: First cook was a flop

Postby thelar » Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:44 pm

I know this topic is months old, but this might help. I've had a PB820 for a while. When you were setting and tracking the pit temp, were you using the display or another thermometer? When I first got mine, temp swings and hotspots were a problem. I would suggest you get a good thermometer with several probes and place them at the grill surface to measure the true temp. Not sure if PB has fixed this or not, but did this mod to stabilize the temp swings and difference between pit temp display and the thermometer probes on the grill surface.

https://smokeslikeaboss.com/products/heat-deflector-mod?variant=29692552249423

I didn't buy the mod. I got a piece of sheet metal from my local hardware store and made one. I also attached it with RTV sealant instead of drilling holes. It really helps to keep the heat from the burn pot being directed right at the temp prob.

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