More people then I planned on

[dewy]

So I got me a couple big slabs of ribs yesterday, rubbed em and wrapped em this morning and have em in the fridge.I was cooking for me, my wife, her parents, and my 3 kids.Dad found out I was cooking and I invited him and mom out as well.Got home and my wife tells me shes invited a friend of hers and her husband as well.Ive certainly become popular since I got my new Bradley ;D

Im not gonna have enough ribs for everyone though.What I do have is a whole chicken thawed out I can throw in with the ribs.Never done a chicken so I gotta ask, should I put everything on at the same time or will there be much difference in cooking time between the ribs and the chicken?If possible Id like to take everything off at the same time.I can FTC one or the other for awhile longer then the other but Id like to have em close to one another coming off.Im leaving shortly to look at some rib racks, chicken stands, and other accessories but Ill check back when I get home, Im sure one of you guys can help

[Gizmo]

I have never tried both at the same time.  Chicken has a lot of moisture.  Others here may have the experience you are looking.

If doing both, I would think you would want the chicken on the bottom and the ribs on top.  It would also depend on what you wanted your chicken to turn out like.  Check out the recipe site for some chicken recipes.  The skin of chicken in the bradley does not turn out crisp with a low and slow approach.  You could cook seperatly if time permitted.  In that, I would cook the ribs first (4 hours of smoke and pull), wrap them in foil with some applejuice and place them in the oven set to 190.  They can hang out there for a couple of hours getting happy and tender.  While the ribs are getting happy, you can do the chicken.
You could also do a Beer Can chicken on the grill.  They are absolutly great and fairly fast as well.

[West Coast Kansan]

I would second Gizmo approach.  Ribs will take much longer and can be moved out of the way when you do the chicken.  if you have a chicken crown to sit your chicken on that works great. allows the smoke to get into the center of the chicken.



Your chicken will absorb smoke faster than the ribs and the ribs need to cook longer. That is what makes them hard to do together. The smoke time does not line up well. Besides you might want a lighter flavor smoke on the chicken than you use on the ribs.

An alternate method is to split the chicken in half down the breast and back. A half chicken on each rack makes a nice presentation and smokes well that way also if no crown is available.

An alternative is to smoke the chicken and finish on the grill with your favorite sauce. Works good also and opens up the smoker for some mushrooms (maybe stuffed with sausage) or something like that to go along with the other dishes.



Doing lots of things at the same time with the bradley works pretty good when you can align the smoke time and flavors. When that does not work - there are lots of ways to cook stuff but only one smoker so I time around the smoke.

Last chicken idea is a pointer to the recipe site that tells how to do the chicken wrap correct.  Below is my attempt but not as pretty as on the site. 



Like Gizmo says - Lots of great ideas on the site. A super resource when you need ideas  ::)

[dewy]

Thanks guys, Kansan that chicken looks awesome.

[Cajun]

WCK the split chicken looks great but the one on top looks like she lost her best friend   ;D

[NePaSmoKer]

WCK

The chicken looks fantastic. Great pix too buddy.

nepas

[West Coast Kansan]

Thanks,   :)
Yea, she lost more than her friends before it was all over.   :'(
Zero origional thinking - all ideas from the forum and recipe site.   ;D

Pix ok but - not even close to your video capability  ;)  ;)

[Wildcat]

All great plans.  I think I would simply go buy more ribs.  With regards to sauce, when you get a chance, send an e-mail to Iceman and get some of his sauce.  It will be the best purchase you ever made second only to the BS.

[dewy]

Already contacted Iceman, he is a really nice guy and shipping me some of his sauce monday, cant wait.

Well, my meal was a fiasco.The ribs which looked good frozen really sucked after being thawed.Cooked em for 6 hrs in the bradley at about 200, they didnt get tender, took em out and boated em with some apple juice and put em in the oven for another 2 hrs, still very tough but everyone was hollering about being hungry so I got em out and told em I didnt want any complaints since it wasnt my idea to take em out.

I did away with the chicken and put a 4 lb pork roast on instead which saved the day, it came out awesome and was quickly devoured in BBQ sandwich form.

After gnawing into a rib I found out why they were so tough, the bones were huge in them and if I had to guesse they came off a fairly old malnourished boar ;DThe leftovers are going into a crockpot today, ill get them suckers tender yet if it takes all week.

So I wont be buying frozen ribs anymore, if theyre not fresh at the meat counter where I can see them plainly Ill go somewhere else. :'(

[coyote]

Hi Dewy , The reward is getting it right , the fun is the practice of getting there. ;) Keep up the
good work Dewy. It's a labor of love. ;D
                                                                          Coyote

[West Coast Kansan]

Did you get the John Morrall 10 pound boxes of ribs.   :(  I have been burned by them before  :-[  Same with thier packaged corn beef flats. They were not quality at all.  Just wondering  ;)

[dewy]

I got mine from the meat counter at a Fareway store.Ive gotten them there before and they were excellent, lotta meat, enough fat to keep em moist while cooking, and bones about the size of my middle finger.They were also fresh and uder the counter

These after being unwrapped and thawed had bones about 2 1/2 times that size, very little fat not much meat on the outside of the bones.After about the first 4 hours of smoking i started spraying them with apple juice but it didnt help any, they were still very dry and tough.They had none under the counter this time so when I asked they gave me two frozen racks from the cooler already cellophaned :-\

Think Ill check the prices at the local locker, I know the guy up there and he has some pretty good cuts of meat.

[owrstrich]

i would go score a couple giant breaded tenderloins for my self and watch the animals fight over your smoked goods...

gotta have about 10 pounds of pulled pig in the freezer for those times the animals want to eat...

pathetic little varments aint they...

you gotta eat...

[West Coast Kansan]

 :D  :D  J.O. this is not the giant you had in mind but it is pork loin on bread.  ;D

Spiced up some bread crumbs and applied to some thin sliced pork loin.



Smoked them with oak along with some spicy baked beans that were and still are tasting and smelling great!  :o



What I call Pork and Beans for lunch  ;)



What you call a giant tenderloin~ I am with ya   :o 



Need to do again someday  ::)

[dewy]

Another 6 hrs in the crockpot on low and the ribs were still tough but you could get them off the bone at least.Looks like Ill have to try again this weekend ;D