Chicken Temp

[shoresdiver]

Its me, back with more help requests --

I have 4 5 lb chickens in my OBS, the temp slider at the top, smoke generator on, and 85 degree ambient.  A thermo through the top vent shows 211 F  I have been rotating top to bottom every hour after the first 2 hours.  They have been in for 5 1/2 hours, and the thigh temp measures 160, and is hardly climbing. 

Seems like they should be done, from some of the posts I have read... But I don't want sick folks or chewy chicken.

Should I:
a) pull them now, and rely on additional temp rise;
b) Calm down, open a beer, and wait another hour; or
c)  Any other suggestions...

Also, it seems strange that my cabin temp never gets above about 210-215 or so.  I checked the thermo in boiling water and its OK.

Thanks for any help... Hungry people are staring at me...

[classicrockgriller]

Take them and say you are crisping the skin and stick them under the brioler in oven

till skin is crisp and you will be probably good to go.

Just no red blood flowing from thigh meat.

[shoresdiver]

Thanks Rocker --
I may go ahead and try that.  I am just too impatient when I hit a temp plateau.

[shoresdiver]

On a related note - I understand why pork shoulders, etc. hit a plateau due to the collagen break down, but why would poultry plateau?

[classicrockgriller]

Can't say that it does.

But if you don't have your vent open all the way with as much moisture

that chicken produces, this could be some of the low temp reading.

Vent wide open for Chicken.

[Habanero Smoker]

That is a lot of chicken for the OBS. In the future I would not rotate hourly, every 2 hours is more then enough for whole chicken. Each time you open the door, you are increasing the cooking time by at least 30 minutes.

I'm not sure if you are seeing a plateau in chicken. At around 140°F, protein begins to denature. This causes the cells to shrink and expel their water. That may have an effect on slowing the temperature rise in meat.

[shoresdiver]

Thanks for the explanations -- I was running the vent wide open, but it was really humid, and that probably affected things.  Also, I did notice the temp drop with the open door, so that probably contributed also.

I ended up finishing on the grill with some sauce, and everyone loved them.

Thanks for all the advice!  There are a great bunch of people on this forum!

[Habanero Smoker]

Glad to hear every one enjoyed the chicken. Dropping the cabinet temperature by opening the door will definitely slow the cooking process.