Chicken Rolls

[CUTiger80]

I was conversing with a buddy of mine last week over some ribs while I was in Memphis for business and he asked me if I had ever had a Chicken Roll.  When I told him that I had not, he proceeded to describe a whole chicken that had been completely de-boned with skin on, stuffed, rolled and then baked.
I went to YouTube (how did we ever live without Al Gore's internet???) and found the following video showing how to easily (at least it looks that way when someone else does it) de-bone a whole chicken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPMnQRlMbW4

I was thinking that this would be great in the smoker and wondered if anyone had ever tried it.
Some questions that I thought of:
1.  Do you brine it before or after the fillet session? (I assume after.)
2.  What are some ideas/options for stuffing the critter?
3.  I assume that 250 deg smoker temp and an IT of 165 deg would still be correct?
4.  Any guesses on how long the smoke may take? (Probably longer than a whole chicken since the wrapped chicken roll is more dense than the whole chicken.)

Always looking for something new and unique to impress my wife (who is an excellent cook, by the way) with.

 

[NDKoze]

Brian AKA "Pork Belly" created a post for his Turkey roll that may help you:
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2396.msg16227#msg16227

 

[DivotMaker]

Wow, that guy has de-boned a bird or two!  Makes it look so easy!  Somehow, I don't think my first attempt would go that smooth.   I love the tube and net trick!

 

[CUTiger80]

Me too, Tony.
Wondering where one can find that netting material.
Would you agree on brining after the deboning process?

 

[BedouinBob]

I've done that before but left the legs and wings intact and trussed the bird with the little "nails" everyone uses for turkey baking. It also had a hard boiled egg in the middle which was fun. Got a lot of reaction when you have the "whole" bird and just begin slicing across it. It's fun to do but I am not sure if my recipe (Chinese I think) would work for a smoke though. I liked his idea of stuffing it with bacon! What could go wrong with that? 

 

[CUTiger80]

Bob,
Bacon is always good, but I was thinking of something like a mixture of carrots, celery & onions or maybe a traditional cornbread dressing, or something even more creative.

 

[DivotMaker]

Yeah, Ravel, I think I would definitely brine post-surgery!

 

[CUTiger80]

In my effort to find a "stuffing" for my chicken roll, I ran across several posts that talked about not stuffing a whole bird (chicken or turkey) with a bread-based stuffing for safety (bacteria) reasons.  While searching the internet, I found several chefs that were talking about turkey & chicken rolls and using a bread-based stuffing and that is why I thought of it.  I'm thinking now that they were going to cook it in a traditional oven at a much higher temp than I will be smoking.
What do you guys think about using a bread-based stuffing in the chicken roll and smoking at 250?  Should I abandon the stuffing idea and/or jack up the smoking temperature?
I'm probably going to do a couple of whole chickens this weekend the traditional way and stuff them with mire poix, but just wondering for future reference.

 

[paidin]

stuffing with bread mixture could risk drying out the chicken by the time the inside reaches a safe temp but if you precook the stuffing first so that it is safe then stuff the roll then smoke it, you should be ok I would think, and with the lower temps you do not risk drying out the outside by the time the inside is done since the inside is already safe.  you have to get the surface of the chicken that is on the inside up to the safe temps.  This should reduce your cooking time yet keep everything moist and safe to eat.  At 99 cents a pound for whole chickens, you can afford to experiment with several at one time in your smoker and get back to us with what works the best

 

[DivotMaker]

What do you guys think about using a bread-based stuffing in the chicken roll and smoking at 250?  Should I abandon the stuffing idea and/or jack up the smoking temperature?

Easy answer: DON'T do it!

 

[Limey]

+1 on that. I'm very cautious with poultry stuffing although I cook chicken on the "ragged edge" to preserve moistness.

 

[BedouinBob]

+1 on no bread stuffing. The recipe I used in the past had green onion, mushrooms, and non bread items like that. Puts in moisture and flavor. You could roll it with the stuffing and spread it out more like a panchetta.