WSM 47cm first outing - Spatchcock Chicken

[BraaiMeesterWannabe]

Spatchcock Chicken (1.3kg) bought prepared from Hunters Biltong in Bournemouth

1st Use of smoker so although I recon only 1.5 to 2.5 hrs of cooking lit fire early to enable me to get the hang of temperature control before subjecting the bird to the cooker.

Using Weber Premium Briquettes one chimney of unlit coal in WSM charcoal chamber with 1/2 chimney lit charcoal added. Using the provided WSM lid thermo (await delivery of Maverick Et732)
Water pan 2/3 full

Fire lit at 1pm with top vent open and bottom vents 1/2 open
1.15 pm lid temp 110c
1.25 pm lid temp reducing to just over 100c dropped a meat thermo in to abut 15cm below lid through top vent and temp was 120c. Opened bottom vents to 3/4
1.45 pm lid temp 112c and meat thermo 127c closed bottom vents to 1/2 again
2.07 pm lid temp 116c and meat thermo 134c
2.27 pm lid temp 122c and meat thermo 138c
2.55 pm lid temp 122c and meat thermo 137c
3.18 pm - opened bottom vents completely to get temp up as I want to cook at around 150 to 160 deg c (300 to 320 f)
3.24 pm - temp rising. Added 2 chunks Apple Wood to get the smoking started and help raise temp
3.30 pm - chicken on and WSM smoking nicely. Temp dropped while putting bird on to 115c lid and 132c on meat thermo dropped through top vent.
3.45 pm - lid temp up to 124c and meat thermo 136c
4.07 pm - lid temp 132c and meat thermo 144c
4.37 pm - lid temp129c and meat thermo 142c (smoke has stopped so think that chunks burned down and tha may have caused slight temp drop)
5.05 pm - lid temp 135c and meat thermo 143c
5.30 pm - bird on for two hours so time to lift the lid and check internal temp. 79.2c (175f) in thigh and 74.8c (167f) in breast. Skin reasonably crispy so removed from WSM and wrapped in foil to rest for half an hour

Supper was a great success with the smokey chicken being enjoyed by all. The only downside was the skin which was not crispy enough. On reflection I would probably not use water in the pan in future when doing chicken as it was not possible to get temp up high enough to crisp skin. For this size bird at higher temp it would probably only take 90 mins rather than the two hours I did it for.

The WSM maintained its temp brilliantly and I recon if I'd left the bottom vents 1/2 closed I could have got a good few hours more smoking out of it. I am really impressed with how easy it is to maintain temp if you fight the urge to lift the lid and see how things are going.

I have some good pics but not sure how to upload them to the forum.

[essexsmoker]

So long as everyone enjoyed it thats all that matters! You might be better off doing chicken on kettle at higher temp with some wood chucked in.

[YetiDave]

Sod the water, don't foil, don't rest - all of these things will lead to soggy skin. Just cook her up and eat eating

[BraaiMeesterWannabe]

Thanks for the feedback guys. It was mainly an exercise in getting to know my new toy and I tell you I am mightily impressed with it. When I went off to bed at 10.30pm it was still stable at around 120 c and showed no sign of slowing...that's 9 hours cooking time at a pretty constant temp.

[Nodding scooby]

Sod the water, don't foil, don't rest - all of these things will lead to soggy skin. Just cook her up and eat eating

hi when you say sod the water, would you still cook with water bowl in or take it out completely on a wsm47? sorry if a stupid question

[BraaiMeesterWannabe]

hi when you say sod the water, would you still cook with water bowl in or take it out completely on a wsm47? sorry if a stupid question

I would say pan in because fatty drips could cause flare ups if falling into coal bed.

[JamsCowbell]

I tend to do a spatchcock chicken in the kettle indirect before flipping it over to direct to char the skin a bit.

I've done whole chicken and turkey in the WSM and they turned out lovely and moist.

[Nodding scooby]

see what your saying about pan, missus wants ti give whole chicken a try was gonna look for temps etc in a bit.

[essexsmoker]

Defo need the pan as it's also a heat deflector as far as I know. You'll be direct cooking otherwise.

[keith157]

Getting a crisp skin on low and slow chicken is an art form closer to magic than culinary art, the tips on indirect cooking (use well soaked wood chips not chunks for smoke) then finish on direct heat to get a good colour and texture to the skin.