This is the inaugural cook on my new-to-me 22½ Smokey Mountain. With a good supply of pulled pork, brisket and spare ribs in the freezer I decided to do some fowl. I got some eight pound chickens for the upper grate and a 20 pound turkey for the bottom.
First to lay the fire with Kingsford Blue, apple, cherry and some hickory.
It was a cold morning, 10° when I awoke but nearing 20 by the beginning of the cook.
Needed a little fire in the hole to melt the ice off the lid so I could open the vents. (We had an ice storm two days ago and cold temperatures in the mean time.)
Finally got that big bird on!
Now for the chickens. This is probably not what most people think of when they hear the phrase "bucket of chicken."
It turns out that (1) a Reynolds turkey size oven bag is a perfect fit to line a 5 gallon pail and (2) four eight pound birds will just fit and (3) two gallons of brine will fill the remaining space to within a half inch of the top.
And on the grate! Can you see what's wrong with this picture?
Yeah. I could only fit three birds on the grate.
This is where the "perfect fit" meme came to an end. I quickly fired up the mini-WSM to take the overflow. It's just right for an eight pound chicken. Back to perfect fit.
The cook is still in progress. More of this story to follow.