First Chicken in a Smokin-it Smoker

[capsfan]

Costco Whole Chicken 5.5lbs estimate ( I forgot to look)

Brine
• http://www.portlandbrewing.com/blog/2013/06/04/portland-brewing-beer-can-chicken/
BEER CAN CHICKEN BRINE
• 1 bottle Portland Brewing Mac’s Amber Ale
• 2 quarts water
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary chopped
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• ¼ cup minced garlic
• 1 onion diced
• 1 TBSP Black Pepper
DIRECTIONS
Mix the beer, water, sugar and salt together and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and mix in the remaining ingredients. Chill the beer brine in the refrigerator. Once the brine is thoroughly chilled, soak chickens for a minimum of four hours (soak up to 24 hours for best results).

○ Except I used Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin IPA [http://www.ballastpoint.com/beer/sculpin-with-habanero/] instead of Amber ale 
• Soaked in Brine for ten hours.

Rub
• McCormicks Chicken Rub http://www.mccormick.com/Grill-Mate...and and try cherry wood, maybe add some oak.

 

[gregbooras]

Hey John,

Congrats on your first smoke with chicken.

I like to use cherry and apple with chicken, 2-3 oz range. For the brine, I use more salt in the brine and go for around 4 hours, but your mixture looks good.

Greg

 

[smokeasaurus]

Does it help to put chicken on the rack closest to the wood box to get "crispier" skin?

 

[gregbooras]

Does it help to put chicken on the rack closest to the wood box to get "crispier" skin?

With this smoker the skin is well, let's say just a way to keep the the meat moist.

If you read the many posts here, if you really like bite through skin.... sorry.
Greg

 

[smokeasaurus]

Yeah, I figured as much.......not eating the skin is a bit healthier but ya just cant beat crispy skin. In my off-set for the last half hour I will move the chicken closer to the fire-box side to tighten the skin up a bit............

 

[gregbooras]

Yeah, I figured as much.......not eating the skin is a bit healthier but ya just cant beat crispy skin. In my off-set for the last half hour I will move the chicken closer to the fire-box side to tighten the skin up a bit............

If you really want to eat the skin, put it under the broiler in your oven....

But other wise, you will be eating the best chicken ever.

Greg

 

[capsfan]

Does it help to put chicken on the rack closest to the wood box to get "crispier" skin?

I put it on the fourth rack from bottom and got fairly crisp skin. I think pushing temp to 250 near the end of smoke helped. But since this is my first chicken with the smokin-it I do not really have anything to compare it to.  I also think pricking the skin with the tip of a knife before the smoke helps render fat and creates a crisper skin 

 

[pargolfr2003]

Looks great John. I did a beer can chicken just last week. Doesn't get much better.

 

[DivotMaker]

The chicken looks great, John!  For those that know me, don't even get me started on the quest for crispy skin in these smokers! LOL! :