My first 8 cooks on the PBC have been pork (ribs, pork loin, pork butt, and last week, a ham). This week I decided to branch out into chicken. For the past year, I've been cooking whole chickens on my Weber Genesis with the rotisserie accessory, and have had really great results. I use a smoke box with some apple wood chips, and I end up with great crispy skin and very juicy meat. I have been a little hesitant to try chicken on the PBC, fearing that if the chicken came out better than on the Weber, then I'd feel like the rotisserie accessory was a waste (especially at $100 or so).
Today I decided to try whole chickens on the PBC. I went with two 5 pounders, seasoned with my go-to seasonings of Tony Cachere's cajun seasoning, some garlic powder, and italian seasonings. The chicken was incredible - even juicier than on the Weber, and with a more intense smoke flavor. They were so juicy in fact that a couple of pieces even exploded with a ton of juice after barely touching them. My in-laws were over and they raved about it.
I followed Noah's approach of cutting the chickens in half and hanging them, but made a few adjustments. My PBC has been running on the lower end lately at around 230 (maybe because of the high humidity here). I wanted to get to Meathead's recommended cooking temp of 325 for crispier skin, so I decided to try going with 100% Kingsford competition charcoal. Because I didn't need a long cook, I added enough briquettes to barely cover the charcoal basket bottom, and used 40 in the chimney starter. So, I was probably using a basket that was around half to two-thirds full when all was said and done. I also lit the PBC according to Kathryn's technique in the sticky links.
Interestingly, the Kingsford competition helped keep my temps up and around 325 for the cook. A few times I had to crack the lid a bit, but it was fairly stable around that temperature. Reducing the basket size also worked out well, as I had enough heat for what ended up being a 1.5 hour cook (the briquettes were out when I checked them 3.5 hours after I had put the chickens on). The skin was nice, but a little less crispy than what I have been getting on the Weber. I probably need to cook at a slightly higher temp for that.
One other observation: people have said to go light on using wood with the chicken, and I would agree with that. I added two very small pieces of apple and a very small piece of cherry. The flavor was intense. I also noticed that the smoke seemed to heightened the seasonings i used. I had gone lighter on the Tony Cachere's than I normally do on chickens, and I probably could have gone a touch lighter. Good stuff though.
I'm very encouraged by my chicken results and so I'm going to try turkey next weekend (if I can find one - most stores around here only start selling them in the fall). Tomorrow though is another pork butt - I found a nice 10 pounder that I plan to cut in half for a nice slow smoke all day
Today I decided to try whole chickens on the PBC. I went with two 5 pounders, seasoned with my go-to seasonings of Tony Cachere's cajun seasoning, some garlic powder, and italian seasonings. The chicken was incredible - even juicier than on the Weber, and with a more intense smoke flavor. They were so juicy in fact that a couple of pieces even exploded with a ton of juice after barely touching them. My in-laws were over and they raved about it.
I followed Noah's approach of cutting the chickens in half and hanging them, but made a few adjustments. My PBC has been running on the lower end lately at around 230 (maybe because of the high humidity here). I wanted to get to Meathead's recommended cooking temp of 325 for crispier skin, so I decided to try going with 100% Kingsford competition charcoal. Because I didn't need a long cook, I added enough briquettes to barely cover the charcoal basket bottom, and used 40 in the chimney starter. So, I was probably using a basket that was around half to two-thirds full when all was said and done. I also lit the PBC according to Kathryn's technique in the sticky links.
Interestingly, the Kingsford competition helped keep my temps up and around 325 for the cook. A few times I had to crack the lid a bit, but it was fairly stable around that temperature. Reducing the basket size also worked out well, as I had enough heat for what ended up being a 1.5 hour cook (the briquettes were out when I checked them 3.5 hours after I had put the chickens on). The skin was nice, but a little less crispy than what I have been getting on the Weber. I probably need to cook at a slightly higher temp for that.
One other observation: people have said to go light on using wood with the chicken, and I would agree with that. I added two very small pieces of apple and a very small piece of cherry. The flavor was intense. I also noticed that the smoke seemed to heightened the seasonings i used. I had gone lighter on the Tony Cachere's than I normally do on chickens, and I probably could have gone a touch lighter. Good stuff though.
I'm very encouraged by my chicken results and so I'm going to try turkey next weekend (if I can find one - most stores around here only start selling them in the fall). Tomorrow though is another pork butt - I found a nice 10 pounder that I plan to cut in half for a nice slow smoke all day
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