Hey gang, well we had our 2nd run on the PBC and another success!!! This time we picked up a locally produced free range chicken, split in half, removed the backbone, used peanut oil as a base, followed by PBC APR. I let it sit at room temp about 45 minutes while getting the PBC ready. Takes 20-25 minutes to get the top coals ashed over in the PBC chimney using the auxiliary burner on the gas grill, but I only have the gas on for about 10 minutes. Anyways, once I dumped the glowing coals on the waiting coals, they were ashed over pretty good in about 15 minutes. I then hung the yardbird halves with meat probe already in one (in the breast). Noah recommends 165f internal, but does'nt specify in the breast or the thigh? Anyways, I pulled it at 165 and let it rest bout 15 minutes while the rice was finishing up. The breasts were just a tiny bit dry, but everything else was very moist and succulent. We found it just a tad bit too salty, but I think I may have went a bit overboard with the APR. Nevertheless, it was very tasty, and has the potential for greatness with a couple of tweaks!!! If any of ya see anything in the pics we post were we might be able to improve on or whatnot, let us know ok? It is a learning curve, and we're all here to share and learn, yes? 
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That looks amazing. Great job! -
Incredible color on the skin. Nicely done.Comment
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Great lookin' chicken. I do have two suggestions though. First, I leave the chicken in the fridge until it's time to put it on the grill hoping for more smoke flavor. Second, I pull it off at 160* F in the breast because the temp will continue to rise a bit.Comment
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This. I can't emphasize this point enough. I keep all of my meat in the 'fridge until the last possible second (except when I'm cooking during winter, I might keep the meat outside with me out of convenience). In addition to the smoke flavor the skin will be even more done (a bit darker and crisper), although your skin looks awfully good.Originally posted by RonB View Post
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You're killing it! You must be the envy of the neighborhood!
A few suggestions in addition to what RonB gave, leave the chickens uncovered in the fridge for as long as you can, it will help dry out the skin and help get it crispy during cooking. Also, either very slightly crack the lid or remove one of the rebar to get the temp over 325, I don't care if it runs anywhere between 325 and 400. The chicken itself will taste the same (awesome) but again it helps crisp up the skin. Of course, this assumes you want crispy skin (you do).
​​​​​​​The breast temp will be lower than the thigh, so that's where you want to verify temps. I think Kenji says you can pull it when temps reach 155 for a whole chicken since it will have spent enough time at those temperatures to kill off all the bacteria. I usually pull at 160 and I'm happy with the results, but everyone has different tastes. The thigh temperature should be around 180, there is more muscle and it takes a higher temp to get it tasting right. But I've found if you go by the temperature in the breast, the thighs will reach the right temp at the same time, I think because magic.
I remember when I first got my PBC I would plan out my next cook as soon as the current one hit the plates, so I definitely share in your excitement. Keep it coming, and show off what that baby can do with what you have available over there!Comment
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That chicken looks GREAT! Nice work. I am doing the same thing this weekend for Mother's Day.Comment
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Spot on and beautiful looking. That is finger lickn' chickn'.Comment
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Beautiful!Comment
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slopoke76
Is that medium grain rice? Looks pretty sticky, course plenty water will do that to long grain. I know the overseas markets are more into the medium grain stuff.Comment
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Thanks for all the feedback guys, so now we know to pull at 160 (in the breast), and leave em in the fridge till the last moment before hanging. Oh and yes, already planning a cook for the weekend of the 20th-21st when we go pick up the kids at their grandparents home and other family members will be visiting. Wifey volunteered me to cook up some ribs and chicken halves and then bring it all with us!!! So we're planning to do 4 slabs of St. Louis style ribs, and 4 chicken halves. We bought a new Coleman cooler & found a soft side cooler that fits inside the Coleman cooler, so I think that is plenty of insulation for a 90 minute trip. I'm wondering if I should wrap it all in foil before putting it in (my version) of a faux cambro? Any suggestions would be helpful to the cook and/or transporting it all. Heres a couple pics of this cooler and insert to give you a better idea of what we're working with.
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If you cook your chicken at the same temperature as your ribs, then it will taste great, be nice and juicy, take longer to cook, and the skin will most likely be rubbery.
Meathead says that chicken is better cooked at higher temperatures (higher than 325°F), (as PBCDad mentioned as well), if you're looking for crispy skin. An added benefit is that the chicken usually cooks in about an hour or so. Pull one rebar out and feed the other one in at a diagonal and hang both halves on the same rebar. That way you can get nice high temps. You also have room to add something like a sausage basket, modified to fit the PBC, which adds flavor to the chicken (IMO).
FWIW, here's my step-by-step method for smoking crispy skin chicken on the PBC: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...668#post186668
It's so much fun to watch you use your PBC for these first cooks, slopoke76 . People used to tease me when I first got mine that I was looking for excuses to smoke on it. They were right. I still am, given that.
KathrynComment
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When I got my PBC my wife said it was my "grilfriend"!Comment
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Great pics 'n stories!
Glad yer gittin' acquainted with yer long awaited new cooker!
Keep up th' great work, an' please keep us posted!!!
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