DivotMaker
New member
I smoked 2 5 1/2 lb chickens today in the #3. No time to brine, so these went in straight out of the package. Rubbed with EVO, and McCormick's Chicken Seasoning, then in the #3 with 3.5 oz of cherry. No water pan, and the Auber set to 325. These were stuffed with mirepoix, consisting of chopped carrots, onion, celery, apple and lemon.
I had smoke at 10 minutes, and reached 320 at 50 minutes in. Funny thing is, that was the max. I even bumped the Auber up to 335, but it maintained 320. Could this be the limit of the 1200 w element in the 3? Hmmm... Not sure, but I'll find out!
Results? Should have brined! While they weren't bad (actually better than what we get at the local BBQ joints), they weren't as good as brined birds. As you can see in the pics, the skin dried and shrank at 320 like it would on the grill. I did this more as an experiment, than desire to eat the skin (we're not big skin eaters). But, my attempts to smoke chicken in the #2, at 300+, have failed. I wanted to see how fast the 3 heated up, and it definitely shined there! The chickens took 3 hours to cook, so they spent over 2 hours of that in 320 heat. No fan, no big holes, no special prep of any kind - just a bypassed #3 with the Auber set to 325.
In the future, I'll go back to my normal brine routine, and 250. At that temp, the skin doesn't tear and shrink, so it continues to insulate the meat, unlike today's birds!
I had smoke at 10 minutes, and reached 320 at 50 minutes in. Funny thing is, that was the max. I even bumped the Auber up to 335, but it maintained 320. Could this be the limit of the 1200 w element in the 3? Hmmm... Not sure, but I'll find out!
Results? Should have brined! While they weren't bad (actually better than what we get at the local BBQ joints), they weren't as good as brined birds. As you can see in the pics, the skin dried and shrank at 320 like it would on the grill. I did this more as an experiment, than desire to eat the skin (we're not big skin eaters). But, my attempts to smoke chicken in the #2, at 300+, have failed. I wanted to see how fast the 3 heated up, and it definitely shined there! The chickens took 3 hours to cook, so they spent over 2 hours of that in 320 heat. No fan, no big holes, no special prep of any kind - just a bypassed #3 with the Auber set to 325.
In the future, I'll go back to my normal brine routine, and 250. At that temp, the skin doesn't tear and shrink, so it continues to insulate the meat, unlike today's birds!