We have a community dinner in Athens at the VAW building and they also deliver to shut in's.....They will feed about 450 to 500.....and when you got a big smoker you have a LOT of friends......Yall keep posting pics....It is all looking good.
My two ~14 llb birds are on, and I will be cooking two additional breasts in a couple hours. Got a nice stock underneath with chicken broth, carrots, onions, and celery to catch the drippings and add to my gravy.
We're underway. I've got this 19-some pounder a friend gave me. It'll be a first as I've limited my previous efforts closer to 14lbs. Did a dry brine as mentioned in Tish's thread. Seasoned and sealed for almost two days, I got up this morning at 6am to air dry the skin in the fridge.
Going to stuff the cavity with aromatics and just started my coals.
I tried about 4 different setups to accommodate the bird's size in my 22" kettle. Pretty close, maybe too close, to the lid using the cooking grate, I tried charcoal baskets, clay saucers, and even small clay flower pots. None of these gave me much extra headroom. I was also worried about stability. Went with a Pyrex baking dish to support my pan. Lord, please see me through this with some success.