Chicken smoking for 4 hours and stuck on 150 degrees

[theleeb]

Hi folks, not sure what to do here....I have 12 half-chickens in a pit barrel for about 4 hours and the temp won't go past 152. I would say the temp has ranged between 147 and 152 for about 2 hours. I can wait and hope the temp will push but I am thinking the chicken might get dried out, if it hasn't already. What do you think?

[theleeb]

On the positive side, lol, it's 20 degrees outside and the smoker is still pumping after 4 hours.

[TripleB]

What's the temp in the PBC? I have had meat, and not the usual suspects like pork butt, brisket and chuck, stall before. Had a Tri-tip that would not get above 130d. Finally pulled it and it was fine.

But 12, separate half chickens...wow. Got to be the temp in the cooker.

[Jerod Broussard]

Chicken kills a PBC temp very easily.....especially when it is cold.

Crack the lid if you haven't already.

[theleeb]

Good question....yeah, just 200 degrees, I am sure that is a significant factor. The smoke billowing from the rebar holes fooled me into thinking it was holding temp. Good thing is - - - lots of smoke on the meat!

[theleeb]

Chicken kills a PBC temp very easily.....especially when it is cold.

Crack the lid if you haven't already.

Ok, just did that....let's see what happens. 16 degrees outside now.

[HawkerXP]

Set them birds free!

[HawkerXP]

I like to cook poultry in the PBC in the 300"s. Crack that lid!

[theleeb]

Wrap up - - with the lid cracked, temp got up to about 155 and stalled. I finished in the oven. Maybe I should have removed them, wrap em, and let them rest to push the temp. Outdoor temp dipped to about 15 degrees so there's that.

[Jerod Broussard]

With chicken I would crack the lid from the start in order to run 350-400.

[theleeb]

Gotcha...also had beef rib racks in the cooker so the default was to keep the temp down a bit.