Quick question about smoking chicken

[Chili Head]

Yeah their turn is coming 
I got ribs going in Tuesday for the parents 

[Max]

he skin even turned out crispy!

How did you accomplish that? Was the bird on the bottom rack?

[wonko the sane]

I'm going to do a 7.5 lb roaster in my Original Bradley tomorrow. I'm going to try doing the "beer can chicken", just to see if it works at all. Forgive my ignorance, but where do I put the thermometer to check the internal temperature? Some places say the thigh, others say the breast. What's the total time for smoking I can estimate? How long should I put it in the oven in order to crisp the skin? Thanks for putting up with my questions. Be well.

[ArnieM]

Hi wonko, this is purely my opinion.  I'm sure you'll get more.

I think a "beer can chicken" in the OBS is a waste of time.  The temp is too low.  But, then, I think it's a waste of time (and good beer) in any case.  The chicken's cavity has a membrane that won't readily anything to easily penetrate.  I believe it's more psychological - mmm, beer, tastes good.

That's a nice sized chicken, basically an "oven stuffer".  This is just a guess but I'd figure on 7-10 hours, at least with the OBS cranked up as high as you can get it.

Thermometer placement is tricky.  The breast is a good landing site; plenty of meat.  You might hit a void or a bone in the thigh.  I'd go with the breast to 160-165 and then use an instant read thermometer to check out the rest of the bird.  Either that or move the probe around.

I'd do 10-15 minutes in a preheated 400-425 oven to crisp the skin.

I've gotten to doing my birds in the Big Easy (CharBroil, oil-less turkey fryer) or an electric rotisserie.  I did a 6.1 pound bird in the Big Easy yesterday in about 75 minutes.  Nope, no smoke.  But they always come out with rave reviews; crispy skin with moist and tender meat.

I only use broiler/fryer size on the OBS and they are split in half.

Good Luck.

[Up In Smoke]

Kinda agree with Arnie here, temps in the bradley are a little low for the beer can........But i have had success with quartering an orange
and stuffing the bird with it, rotate about half way through the cook.
this will help keep from drying the bird on the inside, and will add a nice mild citrus flavor to the meat.

[ArnieM]

One last hint that I got from the forum.

If you cut it open and it looks pink, especially the thigh area, dab it with a white paper towel.  If you get color, it isn't done.  If the towel comes out uncolored, it's done.

[Quarlow]

Just a side note: you asked how long to smoke, you don't want 7 to 10 hours of smoke. You probably only want 2 to 3 hours of smoke depending how smokey you like it, then the rest of the time is just cooking.
 Hey who was the one that put the pic of the chicken with the orange halves in it  to look like breast? I loved that pic and get a laugh everytime I think of it.

[Chili Head]

To get the skin crispy rub the chicken down with olive oil before you put your spices on and cook it skin side down on the second or third rack.
Cook for 1.5 hours per pound. I put a probe in the thigh and instant read the breast once the thigh hit 170.

[Habanero Smoker]

I've had good success making can chicken in the Bradley. The liquid gets plenty hot to make steam, if you don't believe that, when the chicken is finish grab hold of the can. Because metal and liquid are such good conductors of heat, it helps cook the chicken from the inside. Also stuff a half of a lemon in the neck cavity to trap the steam (some use a small potato or onion - you may have to trim a bit for a tight fit), you can warm up the liquid to give it a head start. You may want to double up your racks. When you smoke/cook can chicken the rack tend to bow; making the chicken unstable.

For chicken I prefer to smoke/cook chicken parts. That way I can separate the white meat form the dark meat and cook them to different internal meat temperatures; with a final IT for white meat at 155°F, and a final IT for dark meat at 165°F. For whole poultry I measure at the thickest part of the thigh. The breast cooks faster then the dark meat so the breast usually reaches 165°F sooner then the thigh and leg. For my taste, if the dark meat is not cooked at least 162°F (as the final temperature) the meat has a slimy texture, and a slight metallic taste.

[GusRobin]

regarding the breast cooking faster - a trick I saw on another forum involves putting the chicken (or turkey) on a rack on the counter breast side up. Get a large (2 gal) baggie, fill with ice and place on top of the breast for about an hour. It lowers the temp of the breast vs the rest and helps reduce the temp difference as it cooks since one starts out at a lower temp.

[wonko the sane]

Just to let you know how my 7lb oven stuffer turned out. The OBS was flawless. The temp fluctuated between 249 & 254. The Maverick was totally accurate. I smoked the bird for the first 2 hrs 40 min. Total time in the OBS was 5hrs.50min. I then made a variant of the honey maple glaze recipe. I painted the stuffer 3 or 4 times during the final 25 minutes in a 450 degree oven. The results were beyond sensational. I only wish that the rest of the family had left it alone long enough to get a photo. I've never tasted anything like it. Everyone who ate it totally flipped. This includes my 29 year old daughter, who hates everything, and only eats to avoid dying of malnutrition. A million thanks to all who took the time to share their wisdom with a newbie. The best is yet to come.

[ArnieM]

Good going wonko.  It sounds great.  There's a lot of satisfaction in doing something yourself that's better than you can get when going out - and less expensive too.

You're going to feed up your daughter 

[wonko the sane]

Thanx muchly, Arnie. Right now, I'm doing boneless chicken cutlets, rubbed and marinated overnight. On the other 2 racks, I'm doing pork spareribs, different rub, different marinade. I'm using the recipes, and directions I got from this site. The amount, and quality of information here is beyond phenomenal. I honestly believe that I could put dirt in the Bradley, and it would come out tasting like gourmet cuisine. I'm curious, is it a major production to install a second heating element in my smoker? Is it worth doing? Thank you(everyone) for all your help ! The adventure continues......

[ArnieM]

"I'm curious, is it a major production to install a second heating element in my smoker? Is it worth doing? "

I haven't done it.  I've heard it said that it's pretty easy assuming you have all the right tools and it's not snowing.

I currently have a 6 pound rack of Berkshire pork spare ribs on for dinner tonight; can't wait.  I'm doing them a little different.  They'll be in my next review.

Yes, the recipes and technique are great from here ans susanminor.org.  I usually tweak mine some depending on what I have on hand.  If you do that, keep notes and compare.  That's how you get your OWN recipes. 

[GusRobin]

I'm curious, is it a major production to install a second heating element in my smoker? Is it worth doing?

It is very easy, if you follow the directions and mark each wire. I did mine and helped a friend do his. The only problem we had was I hooked the wires backwards and blew a fuse on his. A quick trip to the store for a fuse, swap the wires and we were back working. I got cocky the 2nd time and didn't mark the wires. Other than that it is fairly easy. THe directions that everyone posted makes it simple, I printed them out and just followed them.
If you decisde to do it there are plenty of folks willing to help.

Is it worth it? I can't really copare since I did mine right when I got the soker so except for the initial seasoning I don't know what it was without it. My friend is glad we did his even though we had the fuse issue.