First Smoke on my new Weber® Smokey Mountain (PICTURES)

I bought 6 pound birds, they took up the entire space on the top grate. I think they might be a little too big. Should have shot for the 4 pound birds instead.

Sounds good. Love some smoked BBQ chicken.



Oh, and pics if you can.

Love some smoked chicken. Pecan is my preference for wood. Just bought some of Myron Mixon's Honey Money Cluck rub last week and I gotta say man....that stuff is awesome.

Good luck. Looking forward to pics.

I do chicken thighs at 275 in a pan in my WSM. Skin side down for a hour then flip over for another hour. I usually take them out the pan and let them sit on the grates for about 15 mins.

Just took the lid off after 45 minutes, and here is what I've got:



The breast is 135, and the thigh is about 139.


Here it is with a light coating of homemade BBQ sauce, and my new Maverick thermometer in place



I have been getting some false readings on my Maverick, I'm not sure if my placement is bad or what. But I have a Thermowand (a decent instant read thermometer) and its helped me get the right reading with my Maverick.

Here's what I do for chicken and they come out great every time. I cut the chicken in half and brine it for at least 4 hours, but usually 12 hours.
The brine - 2 gallons water, 1 cup brown sugar, half cup of salt, rosemary, thyme and any other fresh herbs I have on hand, bring to a boil, then cool quickly with some ice cubes and put in freezer. Once cooled, I add the chicken and let it sit. After its done brining, I rinse off and pat dry.

I then dry rub with a store bought rub that has some sweet and some heat.

I use the minion method for the coals, if I'm only doing chicken, I'll do one chimney of unlit coals spread around and then add a lit chimney to the middle. A few chunks of wood in the unlit coals.

I have the pitimaster IQ 120 attached to one of the bottom vents on my WSM. I set it to 250. I usually open the bottom vents all the way and mostly close the top until the temp is around 220, then I close off the bottom vents to about half way. I've found its alot easier to gradually bring the temp up to 250 than trying to bring it down to 250.

Once its holding 250, I put the chickens on the top rack. I don't usually put the food temp probe in for chicken, seems like 2-2 1/2 hours is the right amount of time.

I love my WSM, this past weekend I made a brisket flat, rack of ribs and a chicken, all at the same time. Came out great.

ETA - Also, alot of people will tell you not to put anything in the water pan, I disagree, I fill it up with water, I find that it helps keep the temp at 250 and adds moisture to everything I cook. Its not too bad cleaning it up after, I rinse it off outside, then run it through the dishwasher.


Remember, if you are lookin', you ain't cookin'

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Because that's what Johnny Trigg said to do

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sold!

Johnny T. is the friggin man

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I do chicken thighs at 275 in a pan in my WSM.

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do you scrape the underneath fat and perforate the skin with a meat tenderizer? good way to ensure that bite through skin

I looked and they started using those with the 2009 models