It is common during January, here in Alaska, to crave tropical treats in the depths of a sub arctic winter. You've done the holiday comfort food, and are ready for lighter and more "summer" stuff. Ergo, we decided to cook huli-huli chicken with some rice and sides. It is just above zero here, and was -25 just yesterday. So, perfect timing for some Hawaiian treats, right? So, I have started some huli-huli chicken. We marinated 2 chicken halves in: 1 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp chopped garlic, 1tbsp. fine chopped ginger, 3 cups water,and 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce.Marinate at least 3-4 hours.Prepare your kamado for 250-300 degree cooking. While your chicken is marinating, combine 1 cup pineapple juice, 2 tbsp each of ketchup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. Add a bit of garlic and chopped ginger and simmer till slightly thickened. Sesame oil can also be added. About 2 tsp should do. Also, add a bit of heat like a pinch of cayenne, 1tsp sriracha, etc.. Saute and reduce until slightly thickened, and use to baste chicken as it cooks, turning every 10 minutes.
Now, here's where it gets challenging(with a small kamado that is). To get proper carmelization of the skin, moderate heat is a must, unfortunately, in a small kamado, the meat is too close to the fire, regardless of most temps. This issue is the main flaw with very small kamados. In other words, you can burn the skin before the meat is cooked through.
Solution? Raise the grill grate height by at least 1-1/2 inches. Then, keep your heat level to about 250 degrees indicated. You'll crisp the skin at about the same time the chicken cooks through, as the meat is further to the flame. A diffuser works well, but the needed carmelization happens after the meat is cooked properly, leading to dry chicken.
The moral here is that small kamados need an adjustment of cooking technique to achieve the same results as larger kamados.
These issues never happened when I was cooking on a larger kamado, as the distance between food and flame was greater, and could be adjusted to suit the cook at hand. Smaller kamados have much less room for error.
So, a small kamado is fine, but larger ones are easier to do most cooks. Had I done this cook on my old Akorn, this would have been "fire and forget." Here, its fire and babysit.
Now, here's where it gets challenging(with a small kamado that is). To get proper carmelization of the skin, moderate heat is a must, unfortunately, in a small kamado, the meat is too close to the fire, regardless of most temps. This issue is the main flaw with very small kamados. In other words, you can burn the skin before the meat is cooked through.
Solution? Raise the grill grate height by at least 1-1/2 inches. Then, keep your heat level to about 250 degrees indicated. You'll crisp the skin at about the same time the chicken cooks through, as the meat is further to the flame. A diffuser works well, but the needed carmelization happens after the meat is cooked properly, leading to dry chicken.
The moral here is that small kamados need an adjustment of cooking technique to achieve the same results as larger kamados.
These issues never happened when I was cooking on a larger kamado, as the distance between food and flame was greater, and could be adjusted to suit the cook at hand. Smaller kamados have much less room for error.
So, a small kamado is fine, but larger ones are easier to do most cooks. Had I done this cook on my old Akorn, this would have been "fire and forget." Here, its fire and babysit.
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