Cornell Chicken via Chud's BBQ...Thoughts?

[jitsntricks]

Watched the latest video and it seems really interesting to me. It's a halved chicken that is marinated in a quick white sauce for about 4-6 hours and then cooked hot and fast/direct heat. It's mopped about half way through the cook as well.

What are your thoughts on this method? My preferred method is hot and fast chicken and I'm wondering how this method will effect the skin. In the video he says it's nice and bite through due to the mopping but I was under the impression you don't want much moisture around if you want crispy skin. Possibly due to the vinegar content of the sauce?

The quick white sauce isn't an Alabama white (in my opinion) but just a similar, tangy type white sauce. Not made with mayo but an egg, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, ACV, and some vegetable oil in a blender (essentially making sort of a mayo). Maybe just a basic variation of a white sauce?

All in all it was intriguing and looked delicious. It made me want to try this method. Anyone else follow this method?

[JoeSousa]

I tried the Cornell Chicken recipe on the free side: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...hicken-recipe/ and really didn't care for it. The vinegar made for a weird flavor for me. I know a lot of people really like it but it just wasn't for me.

I do think I need to give it another try sometime though. I hate to dismiss a recipe after one go unless it is truly horrible. That Chuds video did make me want to try it again.

[ssandy_561]

I have modified the original recipe to use 1/2 cider vinegar and 1/2 white vinegar. It does mellow down the vinegar taste in my opinion.

[ssandy_561]

I grew up in Western New York. I was raised on Cornell Chicken. To this day, its my favorite chicken on the grill. I have no problems getting a crispy skin on the Cornell Chicken. In my opinion its nothing like an Alabama White Sauce. The key to Cornell Chicken is to have a hot grill but not too hot and to flip frequently. I will fill my Weber Chimney completely with KBB and wait until they are ashed over. I will then dump the full chimney into my 22" Weber with the SnS in it into the large side. This gives me a complete single layer coverage of coals the perfect distance from the cooking grate.

I do not mop my chicken as I am cooking it. On two separate occasions while cooking it I will actually re-dip the chicken back in the marinade. I will not do this during the last 15 minutes though so all rawness can be cooked out of the marinade.

I have made Alabama White Sauce Chicken multiple times but can never get the skin correct. Its tasty but the skin never gets crispy for me.

[ssandy_561]

It takes mine 30 to 40 minutes to cook. My chicken is closer to the coals than it would be in the PBC. I have a PBC but have never done Cornell Chicken in it. I’ll flip about every 4 minutes or so so the skin doesn’t burn. Not sure if the Alabama White Sauce would remove the crisp from the skin or not.

[Grillin Dad]

ssandy_561, to clarify, you put the SNS in the kettle, but dump the coals on the non-SNS side and cook directly over the coals? As an alternative, could you also use a vortex?

[ssandy_561]

Grillin Dad Yes that is correct. I cook it directly over the coals. It just works out perfectly that on the larger side a full chimney forms a single layer of coals and I have found that a single layer of coals that distance from the top grate does a wonderful job at cooking chicken. If you look in the picture below you can see what I am talking about. (In the left side of the SnS are spent coals from a previous cook)

[ssandy_561]

Few pictures of a few Cornell Chicken cooks

Last week mid cook



From a couple months ago



Look at that skin!

[efincoop]

Cornell Chicken, salt potatoes & Speedies are not nearly as popular closer to Albany, but damn they sure are delicious!

[ssandy_561]

Salt Potatoes are the best, I did a write up on them a year or so ago.

[bbqLuv]

Chud's BBQ, watched the video on Cornell Chicken. He still seems to be over the top.
The chicken looks good, may have to adapt to a pellet pooper, if possible.

[ssandy_561]

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/potatoes/931417-syracuse-salt-potatoes

jitsntricks try these potatoes to go with the Cornell Chicken. Syracuse Salt Potatoes. For the total Central NY experience.

[jitsntricks]

Oh yeah I'm definitely going to try that! I'm an Idaho boy, I love my spuds!

[jitsntricks]

So I did some Cornell chicken this past weekend. Here's my conclusion on it:

I think the main benefit I saw from this method is bite through skin. I actually enjoyed the skin when I pretty much only prefer crispy skin. It was easy to bite through, not chewy or rubbery. It was enjoyable.

I don't think I prefer this over a classic dry brine in the fridge and then hot and fast starting skin side down to crisp it up. Of course, the Alabama white sauce to accompany the meat! Can't forget that stuff!

All in all, it's a worthy way to smoke chicken. If I'm putting effort in prep for chicken I think dry brine has better results in flavor. I think this method focuses more on the skin (probably the amount of vinegar in the marinade) and makes it bite through. I'm curious to compare this and Tootsie's mop.

Just my 2 cents.

[efincoop]

Did you use a fork to perforate the skin to aid the fat in escaping? I made Cornell chicken last night following Meathead's recipe on the free side and while it was not deep fried crispy, it was the most crispy chicken I have got off my Weber Kettle to date. I used a Vortex knock off and had a grate temperature of 411 - 429. I cooked 6 leg & thigh quarters in 40 minutes.

[jitsntricks]

efincoop I did NOT do that. BUT, I did notice some perforations in the skin on these particular birds, I think from the processing plant.

The skin wasn't bad at all. I enjoyed it. I think the meat itself wasn't as flavorful as I get with an overnight dry brine. I probably didn't marinate long enough, about 4 hours.