ProQ Excel 20 - beer can chicken

[Up in smoke]

Hi guys,

I got my excel last week and so far have cooked 4 chicken, 2 batches of 2.

The first time didn't go well (sharp learning curve), I couldn't get the temperature high enough, even with a full basket of briquettes, it wasn't until they had burnt down and I added more that the temp started to come up. All the vents were fully open. I put it down to bad or old charcoal from Homebase (bought out of desperation) and the fact that I added warm water (about 7 litres) to the water bowl. after 2.5 hours I ended up having to take them out and finish them in the oven.

Second attempt went much better, I added the same amount of water but boiled it first and used different briquettes, the excel came up to temperature really quickly and cooked the chickens for 3.5 hours.

The thing is that all 4 chickens were the same in so much as the leg meat was pink, it was properly cooked and up to temperature but was very pink. we'd kept one of the chickens in the fridge overnight after cooking it and heated it up in the oven for an hour last night and the leg meat was still very pink.

Is it something that I'm doing wrong or are other people getting the same results?

[Toby]

First, you dont want more than 2" of boiling water in the pan, warm water from the tap still needs to heat up and will absorb your cooking heat as you discovered from your second attempt.

Check the thermometer on the Pro Q they have a tendency to be out, so think about getting a digital one. Did you probe the meat before taking it off? With this style of cooking i am afraid its a case of waiting until its done, timings used for ovens dont work ie 20 mins per 1lb

you didnt mention whether you added wood, smoke turns the meat pink, but i think from what you describe it was all taken off a bit early.

Hope that helps a little

[Eddie]

A lot of people are different in many ways with the cooking techniques of low and slow BBQ. I am a great fan of beer can chicken and I have had some fantastic results with cooking with the PRO Q excel 20. If you need any recipe ideas Steven Raichlen Beer can chicken is a very good book.
Try looking into using the clay saucer method when cooking it next time. You don't need the moisture from the water pan as the beer will do that for you.
I don't know what thermometer you use when checking the internal temp, but the ETI Thermo pens are second to none. If phone them up and quote that you are a BBBQS Member thay may give you a discount ?
As for the charcoal, you cannot really get away with using a poor grade, Try and get your hands on some restaurant grade or Heatbeads. In some ways it will save you many as you will use less as they generate more heat and last longer.
Last of all the best bit of kit that I have ever purchased was a Maverick Redi check ET 732.

Eddie

[Up in smoke]

Thanks for the help guys.

I had ordered an ET732, it arrived on Saturday so tested it last night on a smoked pork loin that I did, makes life so much easier being able to go into the house and still see the temperature of the food. I had been using a Fluke digital thermometer to monitor the temperature.

I used chunks of Apple wood both times and empied the chimney starter onto a bed of unlit briquettes.

I'm going to try another couple of chickens today, one with a rub and the other marinated and injected with some Newmans original recipe sticky bbq sauce. I'll use less water and the ET 732 to keep an eye on things.

Unfortunately the charcoal I used the first time was all I could get at the time, not a lot of choice around here so it looks like I'll need to order a few bags online, I was thnking of mixing it with cocshells to see how that goes.

[keith157]

IMHO I wouldn't mix anything else with the coco shells, I find they burn excellently but differently (if that makes any sense). For sure other people will have other ideas.

[Eddie]

Thanks for the help guys.

I had ordered an ET732, it arrived on Saturday so tested it last night on a smoked pork loin that I did, makes life so much easier being able to go into the house and still see the temperature of the food. I had been using a Fluke digital thermometer to monitor the temperature.

What works for one, may not work for another. I found out very quickly thats its a lot of trail and error, practice, practice and even more practice.
Good luck with you next cook and let us know how you get on.

Eddie

[Up in smoke]

I've just put a couple of chickens on, I have to say I'm enjoying the practicing. Lets see how I do this time.

[Up in smoke]

The chickens came out great.

I didn't use any water, didn't have a clay saucer so covered the water bowl with tin foil then added heat bricks wrapped in tin foil. the Excel got up to temperature really quickly and I shut the vents down to control the temperature, it stayed at 250 - 257F for hours with the vents almost completely closed.

I monitored the temps with the ET732 and another cheap thermometer and the chickens were perfectly cooked.

Really happy that these turned out well, more practice needed and time to experiment with different flavours.