First Yard Birds

[bigredsmoker]

I am goiing to smoke my first whole chickens today to have while watching Green Bay womp the Giants. They have been in the Brine overnight, but not sure when I should start smolking to have them be done around 6:00. Will it hurt to have leave them in the brine longer? Can you over brine chicken? After doing some reading I am thinking of going at 210 for 2.5 hour of smoke. Then I am going to pull the birds and put in a 350 oven until desired internal temp is reached. How does this sound to everyone? Any suggestions??

Terry

[KyNola]

Terry,
I think you're right on the money.  I would take the chicken out of the brine, rinse and pat dry and then allow to air dry in the frig.  Don't forget to have your vent opened pretty much all the way as poultry holds lots of moisture.

KyNola

[bigredsmoker]

It's not going well. Put the birds in at 4:30.  Can't get teh smoker aboeve 195. It's 15 degrees out, and my pucks aren't advancing. I have had a couple of E1 errors on my DBS and have to manually advance my pucks. This cold weather stuff is for the birds. I am planning on finishing the smoke and then putting the Birds in the oven to finish. It's 6:30 and probably another half hour in the smoker and then to the oven.

[West Coast Kansan]

BRS, the E1 is usually related to the small cable between the generator and the tower. Plugging and unplugging / switching it around end to end will often help it make contact.  Outlander had cold weather problems with his advance last winter - but it was -20 or something crazy.  He warms it up in the house before the smoke and it then works ok.  GOOD LUCK TO THE PACK.

[bigredsmoker]

I was wrong, it is just an E error. The pucks just aren't advancing correctly. I have had this problem on previous smokes. I think there is something definatley wrong with my smoker unit. I have had to unload all of my pucks and reload on more than one ocassion. Even the manual advance is not working every time. I had to hit it twice to get the puck to advance. A phone call to Bradley is coming on Monday. Just took the Birds out and put them in a 350 oven. Will finish them there. They still got a good 2.5 hours of smoke, but only at about 190 degrees best.

[West Coast Kansan]

Calling bradley is a good cure.  Take Care.