When smoking a whole chicken or turkey, is it better to stand the bird up vertically or lay it down on its back on the grill grate? Or does it matter at all?
I usually do spatchcock or piece it out. I'll assume you know what spatchcocking is, but if not it's cutting out the backbone of the bird and splaying it out flat. Cooks more evenly that way, you get better seasoning area and your smokey flavor will penetrate much better.
That being said, I also do rotisserie whole chickens and occasionally stand up a whole chicken on a vertical wire rack (dare I say beer can chicken without the useless beer and beer can !!).
So many ways, too little time. Try it several ways and discover for yourself!!!
I've done many more turkey breasts than I have whole chickens. I'm not a dark meat person so I usually stick to breasts and or wings. Turkey breasts I always lay bone side down on the smoker. I need to start doing some whole chickens this summer and I asked myself the same question about the best way to orient the whole bird.
Something makes me think that standing it up on a beer can holder without the beer and can as Troutman says.
Spatchcocked is also on my list of things to do.
FYI I did a Whole Turkey Breast for Thanksgiving and it rolled over from the indirect side to the direct side😂. It was an Involuntary Intermediate Sear Cook🤣
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
Thanks, guys, for all your comments. Yes, I do know what spatchcocking is & have done it many times. I've always thought that was the way to go but just wanted to hear comments from others. Spatchcocking wins hands down.
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