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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking.


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Old 02-18-2020, 05:46 PM   #1
TxQGuy
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Default How to pretty up a grilled chicken?

Hey y'all. I have been doing a LOT of vertical grilled whole chickens lately. My father-in-law absolutely loves them, swears it's the best chicken he has ever had. Cooking up a chicken or two on a Sunday for my FIL to take home for the week is a way for me to play with my pit/enjoy a few beers with not only permission from, but the express full-on blessing of my dear wife. Naturally, I do this as often as possible, and both she and I ignore the fact that she is, and always will be, much smarter than me and fully aware of what I am up to.

I won't say I've perfected it, because that would be untrue and boring and not allow me to keep spending money and time on new rubs, techniques, and BBQ Brethren threads. But I will say my chicken is pretty darn good. Anyhow, the process for me is pretty simple. Dry brine the bird overnight, then prop it up vertically and indirect grill it for around 90 minutes to temp. It turns out juicy, tender, and with a deep smoke flavor from the mesquite/apple chunks.

But, in the interest of refining technique (and because we eat with our eyes first), I have become unsatisfied with the appearance of these birds. The skin on the breast side in particular sometimes shrivels up, exposing the meat. And now and again, despite me putting little foil "booties" on both the drumsticks and wingtips, the tips of both will kinda get a bit too crispy.



Observe, dear Brethren.


Here we have one standard chicken. He has been taken from the comfort of his home in the meat section of H-E-B, dry brined, dressed in foil booties, and placed upon my Old Smokey in a standard 2-zone grilling configuration for your consideration. So far, so good:





After almost an hour, we are coming along very nicely. Nice color, that skin is looking pretty tasty! Been basting it every 20 minutes or so with some garlic butter, because garlic butter makes everything better:





Nooooooo! What could once be described as "gorgeous" or "purdy" is now in the dreaded "well, he has a really nice personality" territory. The skin has split, and that far side wing is a crispy critter.








I thought I controlled the temp fairly well...running a medium-hot fire with no flares that I could see. Is this just a matter of cooking too hot? How can I prevent this from happening? It doesn't happen every time, but this is like the third or fourth time and I don't like it! Any suggestions?
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Old 02-18-2020, 05:48 PM   #2
zippy12
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Get a stick burner and keep thin blue smoke!
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Old 02-18-2020, 05:53 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zippy12 View Post
Get a stick burner and keep thin blue smoke!
Hehehe, I have one but I very rarely do chicken on it. I think that is worth a try...next time I fire it up I'm gonna throw a bird in there. It has seriously been YEARS since I made a chicken in my offset.
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Old 02-18-2020, 05:56 PM   #4
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Looks pretty to me, how did it taste?
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Old 02-18-2020, 05:59 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stingerhook View Post
Looks pretty to me, how did it taste?
Thanks! It tasted quite good. Did the tortilla and pico de gallo thing with it.

Honestly, I've been looking at a lot of pictures of competition chicken lately and am always in awe of how pretty it looks. Been wanting to concentrate harder on the appearance of my grub lately for some reason.
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Old 02-18-2020, 06:08 PM   #6
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Do you know what temp you're running at?
the more we/ you know, the easier it is to make subtle changes.
maybe put an oven thermometer on the grill next to the bird the next time and check the temps when you baste it.
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Old 02-18-2020, 06:24 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HAndyman View Post
Do you know what temp you're running at?
the more we/ you know, the easier it is to make subtle changes.
maybe put an oven thermometer on the grill next to the bird the next time and check the temps when you baste it.
I'll be 100% honest and say I have no idea. I have never used a thermometer on the grill (only on my stickburner), I've always kinda done the "hand test". I guess it is time I start getting a bit more precise. What is a good brand of oven thermometer to use? Do I just place it on the rack?
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Old 02-18-2020, 06:28 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TxQGuy View Post
Hehehe, I have one but I very rarely do chicken on it. I think that is worth a try...next time I fire it up I'm gonna throw a bird in there. It has seriously been YEARS since I made a chicken in my offset.

All these smokers give you smoke.
The stick burner with a good flame is CLEAN smoke.
Thin Blue Smoke
it gets the trash in the smoke from hitting your meat!

I have been converted
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Old 02-18-2020, 06:33 PM   #9
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Spatchcock the bird instead
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Old 02-18-2020, 07:07 PM   #10
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I’ve been really digging rotisserie chix!

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Old 02-18-2020, 07:34 PM   #11
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As to the skin ripping maybe moving the legs forward will but less stress on it just a thought
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Old 02-18-2020, 08:43 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sudsandswine View Post
Spatchcock the bird instead
I second sudsandwine. I have better luck with spatchcocking or splitting my birds. And in my opinion it helps with flavor since you get smoke and rub on the rib side of the breast too. With that said, yours is still purdy to me.

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Old 02-18-2020, 09:56 PM   #13
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Spatchcock cut it AND cook it in a stickburner.Thank me later.
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Old 02-19-2020, 01:37 AM   #14
Mike in Roseville
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The dark split skin is due to too much heat and smoke. After you try your stick burner, try cooking with a clean, hot charcoal fire (and no smoke wood).

Last edited by Mike in Roseville; 07-20-2020 at 11:04 PM..
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Old 02-19-2020, 03:26 AM   #15
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I'll start simply by stating that I'd hit any of the birds portrayed in the above shenanigans.

I'm a Vortex guy. I, too, like to stand a bird vertically in my 22.5 kettle, but I do it in the middle of an upside-down (wide part up) Vortex. I distribute hot coals around the outside of the Vortex, and the hot radiant/indirect heat cooks the bird from all angles and dangles.

For this type of cook, I like to stick with 350-ish as a dome temp, and I rotate the dome every 15 minutes to (potentially) provide more even heating/cooking via exhaust vectoring.... or something... like... that.

Hope that'll help somehow and maybe give you some ideas for consideration. Keep the birds cooking, man. I'd sure destroy some of that on this end.
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