Chicken & Maple wood?

Dlabrie · Jul 21, 2013

I am going to do my first cook on my UDS. I plan to cook a whole chicken at around 350°. I have a lot of 2 year old maple and have chunked some of it up. I plan to put a couple of pieces in with the charcoal. I will rub the chicken with some oil and sprinkle with some dry rub. It will sit vertically on a BCC stand with a drip pan underneath. How does this sound? Am I missing anything? Here is a pict of the maple chunks (you can see the size relative to the bricks)as well as the supply.

I also have some Oak in the wood pile. Can that be used for smoke?

lantern · Jul 21, 2013

Maple is my favorite wood for anything that flies. And yes you certainly can use oak to smoke with.

davefan360 · Jul 21, 2013

Never used maple. Going to try. And the size you have looks just right.

nucornhusker · Jul 21, 2013

Maple is good and oak is one of my favorites.

That's a serious woodpile. :jealous:

IamMadMan · Jul 21, 2013

Nice supply of wood. Maple will be fine with your chicken.

HeSmellsLikeSmoke · Jul 21, 2013

I use maple sparingly in lump charcoal with good results. Maple is pretty mild and chicken takes on smoke readily.

Dlabrie · Jul 21, 2013

Thanks everyone. This is the maiden voyage of my first UDS, actually of smoking anything. I figure I'll work my way up to a brisket.

Dlabrie · Jul 22, 2013

The chicken is in the UDS. I rubbed her with oil, sprinkled some seasoning on her, inserted 1/2 can of beer and stood her on the grill. Potatoes in oil and salt added as well. I started the coal in my home made chimney with a piece of birch bark. Sure did smoke:laugh:. It has been in for 10 minutes and the temp is only up to 217. I hope it climbs. I was hoping to cook at 350. I put about 10lbs of lump charcoal with 3 pieces of maple. If it doesn't go up, I may have to take it apart and put in a larger quanty of maple. I just looked again and it is up to 253 so maybe it won't be a problem. More to come....

Dlabrie · Jul 22, 2013

One hour into it and it looks like 298 is going to be the top temp. I wonder if I drill another hole in the cover If I could get it hotter.

Dlabrie · Jul 22, 2013

I opend her up, pulled everything out and the coals were only burning in a small section. So, I stirred them up, added 4 chunks of maple and put everything back together and the temp shot up to 375. Hope it stays there.

cliffcarter · Jul 22, 2013

Sounds like you're on your way to a successful cook.
That nasty smoke from your chimney is the reason I won't cook with birch.

Dlabrie · Jul 22, 2013

The meat of the chicken was great! The skin was tasty but not crispy. Probably because I couldn't keep the temp high enough. Any tips from the experts? The maple gave it a nice light to medium flavor. Next up.... a rack of ribs:-D

lantern · Jul 22, 2013

Only advice I can give is the temp needs to be at least 325 the whole cook to get crispy skin.

Looks good though!

tpope · Jul 22, 2013

I can't tell for sure... might need more intake air

Bigbrett · Jul 22, 2013

Can't tell from pic. Make another and I will come over and taste it for you. Lol.

el_matt · Jul 22, 2013

Good looking bird. Sounds like you need more intake. I have to shut mine down, almost completely, to maintain 270°F.

Matt

Chicken & Maple wood?

Dlabrie

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

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lantern

is One Chatty Farker

davefan360

Take a breath!

nucornhusker

Babbling Farker

IamMadMan

somebody shut me the fark up.

HeSmellsLikeSmoke

somebody shut me the fark up.

Dlabrie

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

Dlabrie

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

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Dlabrie

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

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Dlabrie

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

cliffcarter

is one Smokin' Farker

Dlabrie

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

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lantern

is One Chatty Farker

tpope

Full Fledged Farker

Bigbrett

Knows what a fatty is.

el_matt

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