Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Oh that wouldn't work... the entire bottom of the bbq is open, due to an ash drawer... I need to start saving up for something like an Oklahoma Joes bbq with offset smoker to fix this problem...

Almost to dinner... I ended up pulling off several diamonds of the ham to "test" the flavor... it was like digging into a bag of Lays potato chips... can't eat just one

 

Good ole mastercarve ham. 3 hours at 240 w/maple and hickory blend. Added bourbon to the glaze packet provides thanks to @TurboGT planting that seed! Good stuff!

 

I didn't get a precut photo... but

 

Looks awesome!! How was it??

 

phenomenal... got my mom to make gravy out of the glaze/drippings and that was fricken awesome

Internal temp never got above 140°, and it hovered there for a couple of hours. I managed to keep the bbq temp at a fairly steady 300° a majority of the time after the initial 650° burn, but otherwise... super happy that I didn't let anyone else in the family volunteer for ham duty

 

Did 2 beer can chickens on the Traeger last night, shredded the chicken and made a chicken pesto pizza and a bbq chicken pizza, also on the traeger. didnt get any pics

 

Sounds great minus the beer can cooking part. Sorry, I have to point it out every time someone posts about it. Not a safe or optimal way to cook birds.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/debunking_beer_can_chicken.html

 

So my question is did the beer quantity go down? In my thinking if your coals are hot enough to keep the temp at or around 300 it will evaporate the liquid in the can and it basically steams the chicken from the inside? Hence producing a more tender chicken. Also if its cooked to proper temp how is it going to be bad?

 

Whole chickens are good, but honestly my favorite way to cook chickens is when they are in pieces. The white meat can go on at a different time than the dark meat. I like buying big packs of quarters. You can also get more of whichever cut you like the best... And dark meat is always cheap. You can't go wrong cooking a huge pack of bone-in thighs. Even people that don't like dark meat will inhale them.

 

it will evaporate, Ive been doing beer can chicken for years and thats exactly what the concept is, steam it from the inside out. makes for a super moist chicken with a nice crispy skin.

Pick your favorite beer, drink it, grab a second one, drink about half, punch a bunch of holes in the top, add some rub or seasoning to it, season the chicken and toss it on at 350 for about an hour or until internal on the thigh is 170* and it literally falls off the bone. Done it on an Egg , charcoal, gas and still had my best results on the Traeger. By far my favorite way to cook a whole chicken.

 

I resorted to halves because I am cheap. $5-$6 bucks for split chicken breast or $6-$7 for the entire chicken. I rather butcher myself.

 

Frugal. Not cheap.

 

sounds like the guy in the article a few posts back disagrees but oh well...I havent done one yet but what you say makes sense to me.

 

IMO the key to juicy chicken is indirect heat.

Looks like my food safety is just fine. No ones sick today.....

 

Over a direct open flame I can see his point that heating aluminum isnt safe, indirect heat like my traeger or other smokers I dont see it being a huge issue. I've been cooking chicken like this for years and I dont have cancer or a 3rd leg growing out of my forehead. Both cans I used yesterday came out looking exactly as they went in and were cool enough after I let the bird rest for 5 minutes to remove without any gloves or heat protection.

 

I think you missed the point of the article but it sounds like you like your BCC so

 

I didnt read it hahaha, just figured it was along the lines of the "holy shit you shouldn't heat aluminum on a grill" that seems to be the biggest argument for or against BCC. I have in the past replaced the can with a hollowed out and juiced Lemon, poured the juice and rub mixture back into the hollowed core and had equally solid results but thats a pain in the ass and I've only done it for presentation purposes.

 

I've been doing BCC and Turkey for close to a decade. Only bad thing to happen, my attention wandered, saw smoke pouring out of the grill opened it to find the bird fully engulfed in flames Put it out (with water), skin was black, but to my surprise the meat was near perfect! So not a total loss. Just no crispy skin to munch on.

 

This article is more about thermal mass, cooking temps, and air circulation. Basically not creating a chicken coozy amongst other things You should give it a read but I know people are prone to sticking with what they consider having succes with, I know I do