Maiden voyage of the 26.75 OTG, chicken quarters...

Little back story here... A couple weeks ago I purchased a Weber 26.75" OTG with the hopes of making a nice grill/smoker in one, I chose the big one because it should easily fit a brisket or two pork butts, which is my normal amount of food when I cook. I have plenty of other grills and smokers, I was just looking to experiment some more. But some modifications were in order because I can't leave anything alone. First I wanted a good way to indirect cook and smoke, so I took some aluminum expanded metal, trimmed it and bent it to make a little basket, then bolted an aluminum plate to it for a heat deflector. I left the top open for ease of adding more fuel or wood. I planned on putting a meatloaf pan with water on the grate above it while cooking. This grill is so big I ended up bolting my homemade smokenator ripoff basket to the charcoal grate because there is still plenty of room in the middle for a pile of charcoal during direct grilling. I cut a hole for a BBQGuru fitting and a probe fitting and poof, I have a nice setup. I also learned to use strip magnets to cover up the intake holes while using a Guru on the kettle, prevents the little leakage that makes controlling temperature hard.

Alright modifications done, I decided to try chicken quarters, which I have never done before. I brined overnight in salt water, rinsed, dried and added some Yardbird to them. Cooking at 275F until done by temperature.

Kettle is $299, aluminum expanded metal is $20, and the aluminum sheet metal was free, scrap at work.

Also the basket will work great for steaks, because I like to reverse sear mine and there is plenty room above it for the searing job.

Chicken came out juicy and delicious, though the skin wasn't as crispy as I would have liked, but that seems like the hard part of cooking chicken. I also learned my bird butchering skills are pathetic.