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View Full Version : Crispy Garlic Rosemary Chicken on the Drum


Moose
05-21-2012, 02:57 PM
Yesterday I thought I'd whip up a new chicken marinade recipe and see how it turned out. Garlic & rosemary go great together, so I decided to add some additional flavors I felt would be nice enhancements.

Garlic, rosemary, and a bit of fresh thyme:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1268.jpg

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1269.jpg

Along with the garlic & herbs, I added:

Black pepper
Seasoned pepper
Paprika
Sea salt

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1274.jpg


I then added olive oil & a bit of apple cider vinegar:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1276.jpg

I took a small fresh young chicken and quartered it:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1275.jpg

Then I mixed up everything, evenly coated each chicken piece in the marinade, and sealed it up in a bag along with the remaining marinade. Into the fridge it went, and sat all day.

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1277.jpg

That evening, I pulled the chicken out of the fridge to come up to room temp.

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1281.jpg

Then I fired up the drum - of late, I've been using the drum exclusively for rotisserie and semi grilled chicken, and getting great results by elevating the firebasket on two 1/2 cinder blocks. This helps in crisping up the skin.

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/Feb%2027%202012%20Rotiss%20Chicken%20and%20Enchila das/DSC_0660.jpg

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/Feb%2027%202012%20Rotiss%20Chicken%20and%20Enchila das/DSC_0663.jpg

I put the dark meat on first:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1283.jpg

About 10 minutes later, I added the breasts:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1285.jpg

The Missus also whipped up a batch of her famous cheesy potatoes. I got a pic of it before it went into the oven:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1280.jpg

After I pulled the chicken:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1287.jpg

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1288.jpg

Chicken plated with cheesy potatoes and sauteed green beans:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/5%2021%202012%20Garlic%20Rosemary%20Chicken/DSC_1293.jpg

The chicken was great, and so was the marinade. Super savory crispy goodness. We'll be doing this again for sure!

Since this was a first time experiment, I just eyeballed the measurements, but this is pretty close:

12 cloves garlic
1 large sprig rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon seasoned pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika
Scant 1/3 cup olive oil
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

Next time I'm going put some of the marinade under the skin and let it marinate overnight. :thumb:

deguerre
05-21-2012, 03:00 PM
Stellar. That's a keeper for sure. The chicken is gorgeous! Ever use lavender in a marinade?

NRF
05-21-2012, 03:01 PM
THAT looks AWESOME!

Redhot
05-21-2012, 03:01 PM
Looks fantastic Moose! The marinade recipe sounds and looks great, will have to try that one.

deguerre
05-21-2012, 03:03 PM
Book marked this one.

cowgirl
05-21-2012, 03:04 PM
Looks and sounds fantastic Moose! Love the tatoes too. :thumb:

bigabyte
05-21-2012, 03:08 PM
Sounds like a winner to me!

pueblo
05-21-2012, 03:18 PM
wow, that looks great!! So great, in fact, the family's getting it on Memorial Day. I see you raised the coals closer to the grill to crisp the skin. I'm going to have to make some adjustments for my Weber OTS, but could you please give me a little information about heat level, grill distance from the coals, cooking time, etc. Thanks.

bluetang
05-21-2012, 03:23 PM
Man that looks good!

Will work for bbq
05-21-2012, 03:24 PM
That chicken looks fabulous. :hungry:

Gore
05-21-2012, 03:25 PM
Looks fabulous, Moose! :hungry:

Ryan Chester
05-21-2012, 03:26 PM
Looks great!

bobaftt
05-21-2012, 03:33 PM
the chicken looks pretty dang tasty but its the potatoes you werent particularly clear about. What goes in that?

Phubar
05-21-2012, 03:34 PM
My kind of meal!

jmellor
05-21-2012, 03:40 PM
Yum. Nice work! :hungry:

dealm9
05-21-2012, 04:04 PM
Looks great Moose! Thanks for the recipe, will definitely try that soon

Zin
05-21-2012, 04:15 PM
Very nice moose, the only problem i see is to much empty space on that plate. Should not be able to see any part of the plate, okay maybe the edges.

Babyboomerboy
05-21-2012, 04:20 PM
Really great pron! Thanks for sharing :razz:

Grabnabber
05-21-2012, 05:28 PM
Now that looks great. I'm gonna try this one. :thumb:

Moose
05-21-2012, 05:37 PM
wow, that looks great!! So great, in fact, the family's getting it on Memorial Day. I see you raised the coals closer to the grill to crisp the skin. I'm going to have to make some adjustments for my Weber OTS, but could you please give me a little information about heat level, grill distance from the coals, cooking time, etc. Thanks.

If you're doing this on a OTS, you might consider cooking it indirect first with two cooking zones(hot & cold), then on direct to finish. I pull mine when the thighs reach 170ish and breasts about 160.

Grillman
05-21-2012, 05:39 PM
Very, very nice....:hungry:

chicagokp
05-21-2012, 05:43 PM
That looks great! And the spuds look rockin' too!

chicagokp
05-21-2012, 05:44 PM
That got me thinking, do you ever make bad food?

N8man
05-21-2012, 06:03 PM
I want that now!!!!........

pueblo
05-21-2012, 06:06 PM
What would you think the indirect cook time might be? Also, at what temperature for the indirect part? Sorry, I don't understand two cooking zones (hot & cold). A little new at this. Thanks.


If you're doing this on a OTS, you might consider cooking it indirect first with two cooking zones(hot & cold), then on direct to finish. I pull mine when the thighs reach 170ish and breasts about 160.

fingerlickin'
05-21-2012, 06:13 PM
That looks fantastic Moose, pass me a plate and don't skimp on the cheesy potatoes this time! :razz:

Moose
05-21-2012, 06:23 PM
What would you think the indirect cook time might be? Also, at what temperature for the indirect part? Sorry, I don't understand two cooking zones (hot & cold). A little new at this. Thanks.

Indirect exposes meat to more gentle heat so it doesn't burn so easily, and is really helpful for chicken that has skin on it. You can also use the indirect phase to add some smoke to the meat with a chunk or two of smoking wood. So, you'd set up two cooking zones, one half of your kettle with charcoal about two inches full, the other side, nothing. The "cold" side is where you'll be cooking indirect, meaning the meat is not directly exposed to heat like it is on the side with your coals. When the meat is within about 10 degrees done using an instant read thermometer, you can then put it on the hot side to crisp it up. This approach also works incredibly well for large cuts like tri-tips, whole filets, big steaks etc.

This method is commonly known as a reverse sear, and you can read more about it in an article I wrote for Smoke Signals, The online BBQ Brethren Magazine. Article is HERE (http://issue4.smokesignalsmagazine.com/), on page 21 I believe.

I don't pay much attention to the internal temp of the grill unless I'm doing a smoke, but I'd say an internal grate level temp would be somewhere in the 300-350 range. Since you have a OTS, not really any option to adjust grill height, and not really necessary. I raised the firebasket on the drum because it's essentially designed to be a smoker, and raising the firebasket puts it more in grilling mode.

Hope this helps...

Moose
05-21-2012, 06:25 PM
That got me thinking, do you ever make bad food?

Yes...I've had my fair share of culinary trainwrecks. :icon_blush:

10_Bears
05-21-2012, 06:27 PM
Moose, fantastic looking food and great advice, nice work, thanks very much.

pueblo
05-21-2012, 06:42 PM
Helps tremendously. Many thanks, think I'm all set now. Did my first brisket yesterday and isolated the coals for indirect cooking with two bricks. Neither Lowes nor H.D. had fire bricks so I just used regular common clay bricks. Worked great. Because I'll be cooking chicken for 7 people perhaps I'll create the small "hot" area with the bricks for the indirect part, then remove the bricks and add more coals over the whole coal grate for the direct part. More work than just moving the chicken from "cold" to "hot", but don't know how else I would get it all done on 22.5 inches. Any comments on this idea would be much appreciated.

Indirect exposes meat to more gentle heat so it doesn't burn so easily, and is really helpful for chicken that has skin on it. You can also use the indirect phase to add some smoke to the meat with a chunk or two of smoking wood. So, you'd set up two cooking zones, one half of your kettle with charcoal about two inches full, the other side, nothing. The "cold" side is where you'll be cooking indirect, meaning the meat is not directly exposed to heat like it is on the side with your coals. When the meat is within about 10 degrees done using an instant read thermometer, you can then put it on the hot side to crisp it up. This approach also works incredibly well for large cuts like tri-tips, whole filets, big steaks etc.

This method is commonly known as a reverse sear, and you can read more about it in an article I wrote for Smoke Signals, The online BBQ Brethren Magazine. Article is HERE (http://issue4.smokesignalsmagazine.com/), on page 21 I believe.

I don't pay much attention to the internal temp of the grill unless I'm doing a smoke, but I'd say an internal grate level temp would be somewhere in the 300-350 range. Since you have a OTS, not really any option to adjust grill height, and not really necessary. I raised the firebasket on the drum because it's essentially designed to be a smoker, and raising the firebasket puts it more in grilling mode.

Hope this helps...

jgbmgb
05-21-2012, 08:36 PM
Awesome looking food! Great pics too!!

Big Bears BBQ
05-21-2012, 08:47 PM
Its a 10 for sure ....:clap2:

Moose
05-21-2012, 08:53 PM
Because I'll be cooking chicken for 7 people perhaps I'll create the small "hot" area with the bricks for the indirect part, then remove the bricks and add more coals over the whole coal grate for the direct part. More work than just moving the chicken from "cold" to "hot", but don't know how else I would get it all done on 22.5 inches. Any comments on this idea would be much appreciated.

Well, the easy solution would be to get another 22 OTS, especially if you're going to be doing periodic cooks for more than 4-6 people. Is that the only grill you have? If you have a gas grill you could use that for the end sear. Otherwise, you're probably spot on. You could also free up some space by removing the bricks entirely for the whole cook.

The chickens I use are typically on the small side, but you shouldn't have too much trouble fitting two medium size quartered birds on 1/2 of the cooking grate. Just be sure to rotate the pieces that are closest to the hot area periodically to the back so everything cooks evenly. Also, it helps to put the breasts on a bit later in the cook as they cook the fastest.

BBQ Bacon
05-21-2012, 08:53 PM
That looks great. I want chicken now. In fact I'm going to make some chicken wings now.

pueblo
05-21-2012, 09:23 PM
Other than the 22 OTG I have a built in brick Santa Maria style thing. Useless for anything except grilling. If the second portion of the cook doesn't require covering I could fire it up and move the chicken to it for the sear. Does the end sear portion of the cook require covering? Also, for planning purposes how much time does the cook require? I read your article. Very helpful, as your advice here has been. Thank you.

Well, the easy solution would be to get another 22 OTS, especially if you're going to be doing periodic cooks for more than 4-6 people. Is that the only grill you have? If you have a gas grill you could use that for the end sear. Otherwise, you're probably spot on. You could also free up some space by removing the bricks entirely for the whole cook.

The chickens I use are typically on the small side, but you shouldn't have too much trouble fitting two medium size quartered birds on 1/2 of the cooking grate. Just be sure to rotate the pieces that are closest to the hot area periodically to the back so everything cooks evenly. Also, it helps to put the breasts on a bit later in the cook as they cook the fastest.

bbq_addict
05-21-2012, 09:28 PM
I'd hit it.

Moose
05-21-2012, 09:43 PM
Other than the 22 OTG I have a built in brick Santa Maria style thing. Useless for anything except grilling. If the second portion of the cook doesn't require covering I could fire it up and move the chicken to it for the sear. Does the end sear portion of the cook require covering? Also, for planning purposes how much time does the cook require? I read your article. Very helpful, as your advice here has been. Thank you.

If your Santa Maria grill functions well, why not use that for the whole cook? With some oak for fire, you'll get a wonderful smoky taste, plus you can lower it for the sear part. Otherwise, yes, you could just use it for the end sear just fine. Timewise, I'd give yourself about 1-1.5 hours for the entire cook depending on temp. the chicken took about 40 minutes in my drum.

pueblo
05-21-2012, 10:49 PM
The smoke my Santa Maria grill produces is minimal. Mine is sort of a mini, backyard version. It's too small and shallow to be very useful for anything but grilling. But, I know what you mean, a real Santa Maria setup would be wonderful for this. Looks like it's either all of it on the OTG, with removing the bricks for the sear, or first part OTG, then sear on the (mini) Santa Maria. I'm eager to see how it goes. Our guests for my first brisket were wonderful guinea pigs (raved about it whether they liked it or not, I'll never know). Why stop now?

If your Santa Maria grill functions well, why not use that for the whole cook? With some oak for fire, you'll get a wonderful smoky taste, plus you can lower it for the sear part. Otherwise, yes, you could just use it for the end sear just fine. Timewise, I'd give yourself about 1-1.5 hours for the entire cook depending on temp. the chicken took about 40 minutes in my drum.

Greg1911
05-21-2012, 10:51 PM
It all looks good to me!

DaveMW
05-22-2012, 06:13 AM
Wow, that chicken looks stellar!

Boshizzle
05-22-2012, 07:30 AM
Great recipe executed to perfection! :thumb:

lkissell
05-22-2012, 08:54 AM
Moose,

The chicken looks great and it's on the list to try this weekend.

Any chance that your missus will share her potato recipe?

Thanks!

Craig0648
05-22-2012, 09:16 AM
looks great!

Bigdog
05-22-2012, 09:31 AM
This thread is a perfect example of a great cooking thread.:clap::clap::clap: fabulous job Moose.:hail: I gotta try these. Any chance of getting the cheesy tater recipe?

Moose
05-22-2012, 11:18 AM
This thread is a perfect example of a great cooking thread.:clap::clap::clap: fabulous job Moose.:hail: I gotta try these. Any chance of getting the cheesy tater recipe?

I'll work on the recipe for you! A lot of stuff The Missus does are her own creations and they've never been written down.

basuraman
05-22-2012, 11:38 AM
Love it..want to try it..

zwylde1
05-22-2012, 11:54 AM
I am with everyone else on this one. Looks wicked good. Will be watching for the tatter recipe as well. Thanks!

caliking
05-22-2012, 09:20 PM
Nice. My MIL is big on chicken, so I will definitely try this one. Thanks for sharing.