rdstoll
is one Smokin' Farker
Did three whole chickens on the UDS
Brined one of the chickens overnight using a brine of:
1 gallon water
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
Heated the brine up to dissolve the ingredients, let it cool then refrigerated the bird in the brine overnight.
For the cook:
1 - whole chicken (brined) with Simply Marvelous Sweet Seduction on the skin
1 - whole chicken (not brined) with Simply Marvelous Spicy Cherry Rub on the skin
1 - spatchcocked chicken with Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy Rub, rubbing as much rub as I could UNDER the skin then on top
Decided to run this cook hot so got the UDS to over 300 degrees and put all three birds on the top rack. I used a foil pan on the bottom rack to catch dripping and this seemed to also cut down on the temp that was reaching the top rack as a thermometer was closer to 275 degrees, but this may be due to a faulty thermometer. With the birds around 150 degrees I squeezed some butter on top of all three chickens as the skin was starting to look crisp. I think this helped keep the skin crisp but not overdone.
Overall consensus was:
Whole chicken (brined): nice and juicy. Was the second-most favorite of the group. I thought it could have used a bit more flavor - I didn't notice much of the brine so some rub under the skin probably would have been good.
Whole chicken (not brined): I thought the rub was great but was dryer than the brined chicken and flavor didn't seem to penetrate the meat as much. Was #3 out of 3.
Spatchcocked Chicken: Was voted the best and I thought it was the best as well. Very good flavor and good moisture as well. I was surprised it was able to hold moisture so well, frankly. Rub was great as well.
This was a total experiment - in the future will definitely make sure to rub the birds down underneath the skin. Will probably look into basting/spritzing as well but I'm not at that level yet.
Brined one of the chickens overnight using a brine of:
1 gallon water
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
Heated the brine up to dissolve the ingredients, let it cool then refrigerated the bird in the brine overnight.
For the cook:
1 - whole chicken (brined) with Simply Marvelous Sweet Seduction on the skin
1 - whole chicken (not brined) with Simply Marvelous Spicy Cherry Rub on the skin
1 - spatchcocked chicken with Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy Rub, rubbing as much rub as I could UNDER the skin then on top
Decided to run this cook hot so got the UDS to over 300 degrees and put all three birds on the top rack. I used a foil pan on the bottom rack to catch dripping and this seemed to also cut down on the temp that was reaching the top rack as a thermometer was closer to 275 degrees, but this may be due to a faulty thermometer. With the birds around 150 degrees I squeezed some butter on top of all three chickens as the skin was starting to look crisp. I think this helped keep the skin crisp but not overdone.
Overall consensus was:
Whole chicken (brined): nice and juicy. Was the second-most favorite of the group. I thought it could have used a bit more flavor - I didn't notice much of the brine so some rub under the skin probably would have been good.
Whole chicken (not brined): I thought the rub was great but was dryer than the brined chicken and flavor didn't seem to penetrate the meat as much. Was #3 out of 3.
Spatchcocked Chicken: Was voted the best and I thought it was the best as well. Very good flavor and good moisture as well. I was surprised it was able to hold moisture so well, frankly. Rub was great as well.
This was a total experiment - in the future will definitely make sure to rub the birds down underneath the skin. Will probably look into basting/spritzing as well but I'm not at that level yet.
