My first chicken.....F-

[caseydog]

We all do them in our own ways. I do brine overnight, with fresh herbs in the brine. I then let the bird dry in the fridge for a few hours so the skin will brown up nicely.

Now, I use a rotisserie, but you can get good results with indirect heat, too. But, I like some direct heat to crisp up the skin.

Chicken takes smoke well, so with a cook time that isn't going to be more than 60-90 minutes, you should still taste the smoke. if you toss some wood in your coals. I like pecan, personally.

So, my method is really more grilling than smoking.

CD

[landarc]

I don't spatchcock chicken normally. I believe the best method for roasting a quality bird is whole and trussed. I will rub an olive oil and herb, or clarified butter and rub paste under the breast skin prior to trussing. After trussing, a coating of rub on the skin. I truss so body cavities are closed up. Then, onto a rack or rotisserie if available. I like to roast at 400F, I tend to use lump for this and no smoke wood. At 400F, the wood just ignites anyways. Roast until done.

[QDoc]

Take a lesson from Walmart. use your favorite brine and rub. Build a hot 375-400+* fire ( they cook them at 375 ). cook indirect, Rotate about every 20 min. quickly (You lose heat when you turn that's why you need a hot fire because you're going to lose heat when turning. If you have to baste take the bird out and baste out of the cooker. Keep the lid closed. Then and this is important when done (170 in the breast)
place the bird in a foil covered pan for at least 1-2 hours to steam and tenderize the skin. Don't think about crispy!!!

[1MoreFord]

Originally Posted by pull_my_butt

A newbie questions but is the smoke supposed to literally have a blueish color to it?

Think Thin cigarette smoke. Kinda has a blue tint from the proper angle to the light source. Heat waves Only is even better.

[lashing1c]

Originally Posted by gtr

That dirty cooker thing is a myth, not to mention kind of nasty and also a fire hazard - you can burn up a load of food like that if you let it go too far. I don't clean my cooker out with soap and water, but I do wipe it down good. Once in a while I'll hit it with the scour pad side of those yellow sponge thingees. Some guys will get their cookers really hot & get a little water in there to steam off the gunk. Some folks will use "Simple Green" or you can blast it with a weed burner and wipe it down after - whatever you do, the gunk has got to go or you will continue to have the same problem.




Yup. Thick white smoke is laden with nasty chit. Once a fire is burning cleanly and efficiently, the smoke will be more translucent and blue, sometimes not visible at all. Lake Dogs has a good side by side example photo around here somewhere.

Here is one of many threads on fire management. Fire management is a big deal, IMO more so at this stage than brining or not, spatchcocking or not, etc. If your fire isn't right, it isn't gonna matter what you do in any other part of preparing food.

dtr is so right on this!!!!!!!! Bad Smoke=Bad BBQ. If we are talking a Weber Smokey Joe to Treager. If you do not have good smoke your food will be awful!

[Panthers65]

Bad smoke vs. Good smoke.

[code3rrt]

I've never used an offset smoker, so only speculation or guesses from here. Was it a windy day outside, can wind stir things up inside an offset? And did you let the briquettes get to temp before putting on the chicken.......I know I've had some chicken come out tasting like petroleum if you don't get the briquettes going right at the beginning. And I know chicken absorbs smoke(as well as other flavors) like a sponge......to much smoke can be overbearing on chicken. There may or may not be an answer in here, lol, but just guessin' here anyway.