Smoking a beer can chicken today

[jorrtvh]

What are your opinions on smoking birds?  Should I just do the usual 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour cook at medium heat "hitting it with smoke" as I say or should I take the heat down and do a longer smoke using a snake or some other method?  I've done several at medium heat with great results.  I want to try a longer cook but I'm wondering how the skin will come out.  Thoughts?  I know you all have the answer!

[DarrenC]

Skin could be an issue as well as the potential for over-smoking.  I ruined a few yardbirds with too much smoke in my early days.

[1buckie]

Same as Darren....I've over-smoked chicken here & there....it's easy to go overboard with that & most types of fish....

If you've got a good setup going & like how it comes out, maybe don't mess w/ success?

[MikeRocksTheRed]

You can setup your fire to start hot but cool down after a little bit so that you can get the skin going then slow things down for a longer cook.  As Darren and Buckie said, a little smoke goes a long way with chickens, so be careful not to over smoke.

[jorrtvh]

Thanks for the replies, guys.  I guess I'll just go at it the usual way.  Jamie Purviance has a recipe where he has it go at medium heat for the usual time.  There must be a good reason for that!  It calls for oak wood which I've never used.   Last year I did the Thanksgiving turkey with cherry to good success.  I always want to try different woods.  You guys like oak or should I go with cherry?
 

[Bustin Butt]

Cherry is a good choice for chicken as for as flavor. It's milder than oak, but will darken the skin more so than oak.


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[jorrtvh]

Thanks, BB!  Anyone ever do a combination of woods?  I mean I've used Stubbs smoking chips and those are a combination of woods....but I had the idea of maybe starting with the oak chips and later throwing in a chunk of cherry since I figure the chips will burn down before it's done.  BTW, I realize I'm way overthinking this!

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Thanks, BB!  Anyone ever do a combination of woods?  I mean I've used Stubbs smoking chips and those are a combination of woods....but I had the idea of maybe starting with the oak chips and later throwing in a chunk of cherry since I figure the chips will burn down before it's done.  BTW, I realize I'm way overthinking this!

I mainly use Apple and Pecan for most of my smokes and I combine both of them all of the time....especially with pork.  I would start with Cherry in your case.  Not as strong and will give the skin a nice mahogany color.

[jorrtvh]

Sounds good, Mike.  I have some pecan chips as well so I may throw some of that in there too.

[DarrenC]

Fruitwood blended with pecan sounds lovely for poultry!

[jorrtvh]

Real time update from the dinner table.....the chicken came out great.  I ended up using a chunk of cherry then added some oak chips  when it was time to turn the bird.  We have another chicken in the freezer so I'll probably go with cherry and pecan for that one soon.  Thanks so much for your opinions!

[jorrtvh]

Haha I just saw the post about the Cherry Dr. Pepper can chicken.  Well, mine was (and usually is) actually a lemon San Pellegrino sparkling beverage can chicken.   I infuses a nice lemon flavor into it.    Another thing....I finally got one of those poultry holders Weber makes.  It worked great except that the lid would close fully at first.  I had to really work the yardbird down on the thing to get it to close.  I threw half a lemon in there so I think that was taking up just enough room that the bird wouldn't quite fit down on the poultry holder.

[kettlebb]

Not that I've done this yet but an option might have been to cook the bird on the charcoal grate


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[jorrtvh]

Haha I just saw the post about the Cherry Dr. Pepper can chicken.  Well, mine was (and usually is) actually a lemon San Pellegrino sparkling beverage can chicken.   I infuses a nice lemon flavor into it.    Another thing....I finally got one of those poultry holders Weber makes.  It worked great except that the lid would close fully at first.  I had to really work the yardbird down on the thing to get it to close.  I threw half a lemon in there so I think that was taking up just enough room that the bird wouldn't quite fit down on the poultry holder.

Edit:  So, obviously I meant the lid wouldn't close fully at first.....