2nd attempt at my 1st try.

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nonthink

Guest
This Saturday I’m planning my 1st live burn. Two sacrificial chickens will go into my silver smoker, and hopefully two tasty birds will come out.

I’ve done the lowering the chimney, heat baffle, and cooking grate level, surface mount thermometer mods.
I just got my “Oregon Scientific” Wireless BBQ Thermometer in the mail today and have ready all the stuff I will need for a brine.

I plan on soaking the chickens Friday for 24 hrs. and will put them in at around noon hoping for a finish time between 5-6. Each bird is about 4.5 lbs so that should be more then enough time.

To start off, I plan on putting a layer of unlit briquettes on the fire grate, then pour a Weber charcoal chimney load of lit lump on top. Adding as I need and removing the ash with my fireplace shovel. I haven’t raised my fire grate yet. It’s kinda low. I’ll also be adding some well seasoned walnut in which I have a pretty large stock of from a black walnut tree taken down about 2 years ago in my yard.

Most of all the prep. I’ve done I learned from the brethren. Through your wisdom I hope all goes well. If you see that I missed anything, or have any tips or suggestions, please send them my way. Wish me luck.
 
Sounds great-- alot of prep work and a solid plan. :grin:

Walnut tends to have a pretty heavy smoke flavor, and I find poultry to be a bit of a smoke sponge, so you may want to go light on wood and heavier on the charcoal....that's my .02, anyway.......

Good luck-- and have fun!!
 
Is Black Walnut the only smoking wood you have? To some, it has avery heavy flavor. It should probably be mixed with other wood because of the bitter taste it can impart.
 
nonthink said:
To start off, I plan on putting a layer of unlit briquettes on the fire grate, then pour a Weber charcoal chimney load of lit lump on top. Adding as I need and removing the ash with my fireplace shovel. I haven’t raised my fire grate yet. It’s kinda low. I’ll also be adding some well seasoned walnut in which I have a pretty large stock of from a black walnut tree taken down about 2 years ago in my yard.
Click to expand...
How low is low on your fire grate? If you have less than 3 to 4" space between the bottom of the firebox and the fire grate your airflow will be impacted and you may have temperature issues. I'm not familiar with the firebox on your smoker, but you should see what you can do to raise the grate if the gap is small.

Have fun - Take pictures
 
To start off, I plan on putting a layer of unlit briquettes on the fire grate, then pour a Weber charcoal chimney load of lit lump on top.
Click to expand...

At the beginning of the cook, this really won't make a lot of difference however, I think it should be pointed out, that as a general rule, briq charcoal should be added to the fire lit and lump should be used when you wish to add unlit fuel to the fire. Lump already has the impurities burned off and can be safely added to the fire as is. As briq ignites, it generates unfavorable smoke that can give an off taste to the food and therefore should be added to the fire lit.
As an alternative to your plan, go ahead with the bed of briq in the box and add lit briq to it to start your fire. Add the lump as the cook goes along (unlit). Occasionally you may find your coal bed beginning to dwindle, then is the time to light up some more briq and add to the box to keep things going.

Ditto the above comments about walnut. For a first cook, I would strongly suggest that find something else to use, even if it's just grocery store hickory chips or chunks, if you can get apple that would be even better. As BYC says, birds take on smoke very easily and it won't take much.
 
Yeah, what they said, lots of knowledge here. I would have been lost when I started without the brethren. Fire and temp control will undoubtedly be the biggest stumbling block. Just remember keep the exhaust vents wide open, make changes slowly. And get a notebook and write down everything you do. It'll pay off when you do your next cook and scratch your head, "hmmm, what did I do last time? Did that work or not?"

And above all have fun :-D

Oh, and take pics and post em. . .
 
Watcha gonna soak the chickies in? For a typical brine, 24 hours should be fine. Just remember to rinse them off and let the skin dry before stckin' 'em in the cooker.

Here's my favorite chicken brine...

Apple Brine

1 gal apple juice
3/4 cup Morton K salt
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar.

Rinsed the bird VERY well inside and out with running water to remove all traces of the brine.

This one was done originally for turkey, but also works great on chickens... (this is from Russ (Smokin' Okie) at the Cookshack forums)

Smokin’ Okie’s Holiday Turkey Brine:

1 gal. water
1 c. coarse kosher salt
¾ c. soy sauce
½ c. white sugar
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. honey
½ c. apple cider vinegar
4 Tbsp. black pepper
3 - 4 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. Allspice
1 oz. Morton’s Tenderquick (optional)
Measurements “How much is an Ounce?”
2 tablespoons = ounce
6 teaspoons = ounce
Heat water/salt/sugars to rolling boil. Take off burner, add other ingredients. Allow mixture to cool before placing meat into solution. Place 10 - 12 lb. turkey in non-reactive container and cover with brine. Refrigerate for 12 hours. Load smoker’s wood box with 4 oz. hickory wood. Remove turkey from the refrigerator and discard brine. Rinse turkey three times, pat dry and lightly rub skin with mayonnaise. Apply light coating of Cookshack Spicy Chicken Rub. Place turkey in smoker and smoke cook at 200 degrees F for one hour per lb. I like cherry or apple wood for my turkey. Smoke until internal temperature of breast reaches 160 to 165. Remove from smoker and allow to sit for 30 minutes before slicing.
Note: About the “optional” Tenderquick. If you smoke a turkey at temperatures of 180º to 225º F., you might want to consider using the Tenderquick. The turkey will be spending a lot of time in the DANGER ZONE of 40º to 140º, so just be aware of this. If in doubt, use the Tenderquick.


 
Just curious Ron, have you ever done a chicken in either of those brines for a full day?
 
Thank you brethren for all your feedback so far.

Addressing the level of my fire grate. It’s at stock level, which means the grate is sitting on the bottom of the firebox.
Can I use regular bricks in the firebox for the soul purpose of raising the grate?

As far as the walnut is concerned. I don’t have to use it. I do have a bag of hickory chips laying around. Should I place the soaked chips in a metal smoker box, or can I just throw them on the fire?

The fire method I described was what I did in my 1st test/seasoning run just to maintain heat. I guess adding the briquettes lit in the very beginning makes more sense. The briquettes will be used just to bring it up to temp. the rest of the time it will be lump.
Should I add whole charcoal chimney loads or should I dump in smaller shovel loads as needed?

And as far as libations. There will be plenty of Guinness flowing.




 
Also:
1) After I rinse the chickens, should I apply a dry rub?
2) Should I place the chickens directly on the cooking grate, or should I place them on a rack?
3) Should I place a drip pan under the chickens? And if so, should I pour water or any other liquid like apple juice in it?
 
I do have a bag of hickory chips laying around. Should I place the soaked chips in a metal smoker box, or can I just throw them on the fire?
Click to expand...
Just put the chips on the fire. Soaking is entirely optional. It really won't make any additionaly smoke, it will just make them steam before they smoke. With chips you will need to add a handful fairly often though.

Should I add whole charcoal chimney loads or should I dump in smaller shovel loads as needed?
Click to expand...

Try to make smalller additions of lump as you go along. To keep a steady temp you want to have the same sized hot, yet small fire for the duration of the cook.
 
nonthink said:
Also:
1) After I rinse the chickens, should I apply a dry rub?
2) Should I place the chickens directly on the cooking grate, or should I place them on a rack?
3) Should I place a drip pan under the chickens? And if so, should I pour water or any other liquid like apple juice in it?
Click to expand...

1) use a rub if you wish. Putting it on the skin won't do much, to flavor the meat, you need to get the rub under the skin and on the meat. A good way to do this is to mix the rub with butter and put the mixture under the skin. Be cautious of salt content since you've brined the chicken, it will be easy to get too much salt after brining.
2) Chickies will be fine right on the grates. I would consider spatchcocking them. This is a method of cutting out the backbone and laying the chicken out flat. This will reduce cooking time a bit and help the white and dark meats to get done a bit more on the same schedule. See how here http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatch.htm I don't know if you'll have room to do them both this way, but it's worth bringing up.
Another good way to ensure white and dark meat get done together is to let the chicken sit out of the fridge 30-60 mins before cooking with a small ziploc of ice on the breast area only. This will allow the dark meat to get a head start when the cooking begins (thanks for the tip Brother 3rd eye:wink: )
3) Drip pans are more for a cooking situation where you would have a chance of the chicken dripping on the coals (smoking on a grill rather than an offset).

Best of Luck and Happy Eating!!!
 
Wow!!! Thanks for all that info. I'm ready to take on the world, well at least the chickens.
 
Kirk said:
Just curious Ron, have you ever done a chicken in either of those brines for a full day?
Click to expand...

Close... I usually prepare the brine and out in the bird the evening before and take it out a couple of hours before i cook so the skin has time to dry, so its in there for 18 hours or so. This is for large, whole birds (4-5 lbs roasters). For pieces I usually only brine for a couple of hours.
 
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