Smoked chicken at high temps - Pron inside

Saiko

is One Chatty Farker
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Location
Kennesaw...
The Mission: Smoked chicken flavor, but with a crispy skin and a char like grilled chicken. Some firsts for me:
1) First time using high temps, going to hold at around 300 degrees.
2) Using WSM sand mod for first time. Makes for stable temps, but man it took a long time to get up there, guess it takes a lot of energy to heat up all that sand. Hit 225 pretty quick, but 300 took a while. For low and slow cooks, I think I am really going to like it.
3) First time saucing on the grates. I usually just hit everything with a glaze after I pull it, but this time I am going to try to get a little char on the sauce.


The Rub: Used my "kitchen sink" rub: 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup seasoned salt, 1/4 cup garlic salt, 1/4 cup celery salt, 1/4 cup onion salt, 1/2 cup paprika, 1/4 cup chili powder, 2 TBSP black pepper, 1 TBSP lemon pepper, 2 tsp rubbed sage, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp cayenne.
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WSM Fuel: RO lump and apple chunks.
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My Fuel: Avery 15 Anniversary Ale.
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The Sauce: I don't think I've ever made the same sauce twice. Don't know what I call this, but it tastes pretty good. Added the honey as an after-thought when I thought it was missing something: 2 cups plus 2 TBSP ketchup, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3 TBSP yellow mustard, 1 TBSP onion powder, 1 TBSP garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 1 TBSP chili powder, 1 TBSP paprika, 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 TBSP honey.
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Bottom Rack:
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The Final Bounty: Little more char than I wanted, but that happens some times. I THOUGHT I sauced em on the grates when the thigh temp hit 175, that way the sugar and the honey in the sauce wouldn't have time to burn. However, after I sauced I check a couple of other thighs and they were only 160. Lesson learned: Next time check a few more thighs for temp before saucing. Would have been perfect if I had.
Tastes damn good though. Mission accomplished though, got the skin and char I wanted, along with a nice smokey chicken flavor. Thanks go to SoEzzy and a few other Brethren for the tips on high temp smoking.
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Bonus shots - Spring time in Georgia means goldfinches and hummingbirds at the feeders:
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Nice job, Saiko. I did chicken drummies for lunch. I started at around 250° and kicked the temp up when they hit around 160°. Didn't get the skin that I wanted. I'll try it this way next time.
 
Nice job, Saiko. I did chicken drummies for lunch. I started at around 250° and kicked the temp up when they hit around 160°. Didn't get the skin that I wanted. I'll try it this way next time.

Yeah, without a doubt I think 300 is the way to go with chicken. You still get plenty of smoke, but you get the crispy skin also. Had a dagger in the heart moment with the wifey though, she said.."I like it but...I like your grilled chicken better". Keep in mind, my quickey grilled chicken is on a gasser, with a little rub, some soaked mesquite chips and store bought sauce. This smoked chicken had so much more flavor, but everybody has different tastes.
 
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Nice! Let's not see that hummingbird on the smoker anytime soon...
I was wondering who was gonna mention something like that...

I actually tried that. Here is a couple of hummingbird drummies I smoked for about 30 min at 225 on hickory. I think I should have dropped the cooking time though, they came out a little dry with too much bark.

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I actually tried that. Here is a couple of hummingbird drummies I smoked for about 30 min at 225 on hickory. I think I should have dropped the cooking time though, they came out a little dry with too much bark.

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That looks like the dinner I got at the fancy restaurant I took my wife to on our last anniversary. It was tasty, but at $100 per plate, I thought it was a bit on the high side.
 
2) Using WSM sand mod for first time. Makes for stable temps, but man it took a long time to get up there, guess it takes a lot of energy to heat up all that sand. Hit 225 pretty quick, but 300 took a while. For low and slow cooks, I think I am really going to like it.

For a quick higher-temp cook, I'd skip the sand and just foil up the pan. Or if I used it, I'd use only maybe a quart.
Personally, I use ceramic briquettes, and I use only a few for high-temp cooks, more for low long cooks.

There are some who advocate going pan-less for chicken parts like this, though I haven't tried it. If I did, I'd start with cooking on the top grate only to play it safe. Pan-less seems to work well for those UDS-er's.
 
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