Weber smoking newbie needs help

[Domj]

Hello Smokers  ,
 I am new to this club. I was gifted a weber 22 inch kettle grill. A small background I have  been using chargriller gas grilled and I have smoked chicken and turkey using the smoker box..which turned out pretty well.

on receiving my gift I grilled some ribeyes, 2 minutes on direct and 2 minutes indirect .... For the first time !!!! A medium steak turned medium and it was juicy!!!

so I just ventured to smoke a half chicken and it was a disaster. I used  applewood wood chips , 1/2 chimney of coals... The grill chugged out smoke but the meat didn't cook at all after 4 hours !!!!!

Can someone please point me to the right direction of  setting up a charcoal grill for smoking a chicken ...

[Troy]

any of the first 4 methods here
http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2013/11/05/smoking-on-a-weber-kettle/

Try using chunks instead of chips. You'll get better smoke.
And you don't want chugging smoke, just a nice clean wispy smoke. The smoke coming out shouldn't be harsh, it should smell good.

What was your pit temp during those 4 hours? Hard to imagine a half-chicken didn't cook during that time.
Did you keep the lid closed?

[Domj]

I was exaggerating it was a steady smoke ;)So here's the exact procedure .
I soaked wood chips close to an hour .
I filled 1/2 chimney of charcoal and lit them and poured them into the kettle onto one side and a baking  pan of water on the other. I followed the instructions on amazingribs website about making markings on the kettle aluminum frame which marks 1/3 ,1/2 and full open.

So once I dumped the coal, I set up the water and  I covered the grill, I set the bottom dampers to between 1/3 and 1/2 open and the upper dampers to complete open. The temperature on grill registered 400.
I tinkered with upper and lower vents or almost closing the lower  vent  for an hour to bring it to 250. Once that occurred I put the soaked wood chips and the temp dropped to 200. Once a steady smoke started coming out of the vents , the temp was at 225 I put the meat in and sat back untill the smoked died down in 30 mins.
The chicken was injected with chicken stock brine and was kept overnight and I rubbed it wiith seasoning.
After every 30 minutes I kept adding wood chips but the temp was only registering 220 after 2 hour or so I added some 3 coals and more wood chips. At the third hour the internal temp registered 130!!! I knew something was off so put some more coal and little more wood chips and just opened the bottom vents and that was when disaster finally struck...
It smoked bad, the meat looked smoked but the internal  temperature was still 130!!!!

I just gave up

[LightningBoldtz]

I never cook Chicken under 300 at the grate.

that said I don't do a lot of smoked poultry, in fact the best turkey I ever did was on the roto with no smoke at all.

[Domj]

This is the first time I have smoked at 225, so are suggesting that the bird should be smoked around 275 -300..
 Also inorder to get the temperature going how many briquettes should I be using in an hour..

Thanks guys

[Domj]

I never cook Chicken under 300 at the grate.

that said I don't do a lot of smoked poultry, in fact the best turkey I ever did was on the roto with no smoke at all.

This does makes sense , since I couldnt get a temp below 275 on my gas grill , the birds would cook. I thought a charcoal grill's smoke would handle a bird differently at 225..
Thanks I think you have identified my issue

[LightningBoldtz]

This is the first time I have smoked at 225, so are suggesting that the bird should be smoked around 275 -300..
 Also inorder to get the temperature going how many briquettes should I be using in an hour..

Thanks guys

Briquettes per hour, so many factors from weather to type of charcoal.  I think the rule is always 8 to 10 but again, you have to watch it.

[Domj]

Thanks

[haeffb]

My thoughts:

1) You can cook chicken at 225deg. But you won't get crispy skin, which is why most recommend a higher temp for chicken.

2) I would use nearly full baskets or a pile of unlit fuel (briquettes). Then light 8-12 more in a chimney and dump them on top. You shouldn't have to add more fuel during the cook, and can control how fast it burns/temp with the bottom vent.

3) I don't soak my wood - but I usually use chunks rather than chips. Add a chunk when you dump the lit coals. Or even put the chunk on top of the chimney after the coals are nearly ready to char it on the outside first. I think that helps reduce the heavy initial wave of smoke. As noted above, you're looking for that "thin blue line" of smoke, not billowing waves.

Practice some more. See how the grill responds to changes in vent positions. You'll get the hang of it in no time.

[MacEggs]

All excellent advice above.

I personally cook chicken in the 300-325° range, and sometimes hotter.

No real need for the water pan.  Perhaps just some foil to catch all of the drippings.

Keep at it, and you'll get the hang of it.

[Domj]

Thanks for all the valuable advice ..will try this out in my next smoking session

[Darko]

Also, don't bother with soaking the wood chips. It doesn't help. All you are doing is steaming off the water, cooling your cooking chamber. Try an experiment... Soak some wood chips and then cut some open. See how far the water penetrates. It's minimal to non existent.

[Domj]

Also, don't bother with soaking the wood chips. It doesn't help. All you are doing is steaming off the water, cooling your cooking chamber. Try an experiment... Soak some wood chips and then cut some open. See how far the water penetrates. It's minimal to non existent.

I tried un soaked wood chips. it will catch fire  eventually  and releases a lot more smoke, I tried this with even with  the smoker box + gas grill 

[haeffb]

It won't flame with the grill lid on. Not enough oxygen. But chunks are better for burning with briquettes or lump.

[Cellar2ful]

Also, don't bother with soaking the wood chips. It doesn't help. All you are doing is steaming off the water, cooling your cooking chamber. Try an experiment... Soak some wood chips and then cut some open. See how far the water penetrates. It's minimal to non existent.

I tried un soaked wood chips. it will catch fire  eventually  and releases a lot more smoke, I tried this with even with  the smoker box + gas grill

For indirect cooking, I use larger chunks on one side of the kettle and chips on the other side. Both are applied at the same time when the chicken is put in the kettle.  For the chips, I make a small, double layer aluminum foil tray (3"X4") to hold the chips.  I drop it right on the coals with the chips in it. Takes longer for the chips to start to smoke and  lengthens my smoke time. If you are cooking with briquettes on one side only, do the same but apply on the same side.  Works for me.