7lb chicken with Mire Poix

[40 caliber]

I  brined the chicken using the bi stole shamelessly from DM. This is the one with orange juice, rosemary, kosher salt, water, onion powder and a few other ingredients. I have used it before with great success. The chicken was brined for 24 hours. I took it out patted it dry and put some mustard binder on it followed by killer hoggs rub. The  rub is heavy in brown sugar so that goes to the black skin. It still was not crispy, as we all know that doesn't seem to happen with the smoker.
I created a Mire Poix mixture of equal parts onions, carrots, apples and celery and stuffed it into the bird. after the brine,

I used 7.7 ounces of maple wood in my SI3D at 275. I don't know if it hit 275 but I did see it at 260. It took 3 hours for this 7.11 lb bird to get to 165 in the breast.  The meat was a winner! moist with the right amount of smoke and a great taste. I have found that with my old SI2 3-4 ounces was enough wood. With my 3D, I seem to need more to get the right taste.

The Mire Poix, however, was a disappointment. It was crunchy and OK but not wonderful. It was better deep in the cavity in the bird but not near the end. I have two questions.
1. Was I supposed to season this mixture? I thought the bird and maple wood would take care of that.

2. Am I supposed to saute or pre-cook this mixture in some way?

We were trying Mire Poix  out  for Thanksgiving prep (although we will use a Turkey). It  didn't seem worth it for what we got but thought I would see if anyone had suggestions.

Other than that, it was definitely a winner!

 

[SuperDave]

That was one big bird! Your veggies seemed to be missing an aromatic and some butter. When I stuff my turkey I add poultry herds to the veggies.you can buy them in a little combo pack in the produce section of the grocery store.,usually a mix of Rosemary, Thyme & Sage.

 

[40 caliber]

Thanks Dave! You should have seen the Purdue oven stuffer that weighed in at 9lbs that we did in the spring!  We cut it  in half and the neighbors made a few meals from half the bird.

Thanks for the idea, i will do that with the Mire Poix next time
Tom

 

[NDKoze]

FYI, the "Mire Poix" is usually added only for the flavor and not meant to be consumed. After the smoke is done the Mire Poix has given its all and is just discarded.

I am not saying you can't eat it. I just never have and I am pretty sure that most others do not eat it either.

 

[SconnieQ]

I don't eat the mire poix either. It is there to flavor and "perfume" the inside of the bird, keep it moist, and help the bird cook evenly. I don't discard it though. I almost always make stock from the carcass, and the mire poix goes in the stockpot with the bones, scraps, neck, gizzard, heart and anything else I can round up. Nothing goes to waste. The mire poix adds a lot of good flavor to the stock. The stock can be used to make soup by adding meat that you clean off the carcass and bones, or you can use the stock to make gravy for a future meal. In my thanksgiving turkey, my mire poix consists of large chunks of onion, celery, fresh sage, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme (herbs from my garden), and big slices of an apple or two.

 

[SuperDave]

With turkey, in addition to the cavity, I put the turkey on a bed of it along with a can of broth.  This mire poix I actually love to eat.  Most don't use a pan but I like recovering all the juices for gravy and such. 

 

[40 caliber]

Hey Dave, that looks great! did you do that in the smokin it? the pan did not interfere with the cooking?  If you have a thread on that prep, i would love to read it. looking to do this for Christmas dinner. Any tips would help!

well done!

 

[SuperDave]

Tom, this was done in my #4 which has plenty of room to handle pans without effecting the process.  Here is my thread from my turkey smoke.

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2645.0

 

[DivotMaker]

Hey Tom, I always discard the mire poix; to me, it's for flavoring the meat, not a side dish.  Although, I really like Kari's idea, just never have used it like that!  Did you notice the difference in the taste of the meat?

Another thing that strikes me is your brine time!  24 hours is a LONG time to brine a chicken, using my poultry brine!  Was it overly salty?  I usually do whole chicken in about 4 hours.  Whole turkeys will go at least 12.  Poultry just doesn't have to brine that long.

As for turkey, I, personally, never use a pan.  I think it's detrimental to getting smoke to the dark meat underside, but Dave doesn't seem to mind that.  I prep the bird with a brine, mire poix, and a good poultry rub (that includes all the Thanksgiving seasonings, like rosemary and thyme), and smoke it straight on the rack.  The thing I like about this method is that the harder to cook dark meat is lower, so by the time the breast hits 165, it is done, too!  And, it's smoked in 360 - all the way around!

 

[NDKoze]

I brine my birds with the same salt/water ratio for 12-24 hours all the time and don't find that my birds are too salty. To each his own I guess.

 

[40 caliber]

Hey Tom, I always discard the mire poix; to me, it's for flavoring the meat, not a side dish.  Although, I really like Kari's idea, just never have used it like that!  Did you notice the difference in the taste of the meat?

Another thing that strikes me is your brine time!  24 hours is a LONG time to brine a chicken, using my poultry brine!  Was it overly salty?  I usually do whole chicken in about 4 hours.  Whole turkeys will go at least 12.  Poultry just doesn't have to brine that long.

The meat tasted wonderful. i was not sure if it was the brine, the Mire Poix or both. As far as the  Brine, I have been eating chicken sandwiches all week and did not find it salty. good to know about the brine time though. i figured longer was always better.

 

[DivotMaker]

Good to know about the taste, Tom!  I guarantee it was both.  I love the flavoring the meat takes on from the veggies!  I use reduced brine time on poultry because it is so lean, and absorbs it so much faster than beef or pork.  You can certainly save some prep time!