Newby help please

[DennyB]

As I stated in the new members introduction threads, I am new to smoking and have alot of questions. I have a Big Chief electric smoker and will be attempting to smoke a chicken. As its important that I get this right (after the first and last fiasco at trying this, my wife rolled her eyes when I asked her to buy a small bird today) I would like to ask what is the best and easiest way, if there is one, to do this. Going thru some of the posts here I see where some use a brine and others don't. Whats the difference? What type of wood would be best (I have a bag of cherry shavings) What type of rubs and seasonings would be best for a first timer and whats up with beer cans!?! Any help you may care to offer will be more than greatly appreciated.

[Richtee]

Denny..I'm sorry to say that that Little Cheif will probably not generate the BTU's you need to safely do a chicken.

Any LC owners tried this?

MAYBE a small one, spatchcocked. Forget the beer can. Spatchcocking is cutting out the spine from rear thru neck with HD scissors. You then lay the bird "flat" and get much better heat transfer.

You have some other questions there, but they are prolly irrelevant because of the smoker. And I gotta run...don't wanna misss the puck drop at 3 ;{)

[Richtee]

Ahhh WAIT a BIG Chief! Now I'm not sure here...Hmmm do they have the stuff people?

On edit... I see 450 watt element. You are going to need to maintain at least 250° consistantly for poultry. Can the unit do that?

[Texas-Hunter]

I agree with Rich.. Spatchcock the bird.. (Butterfly) Cherry wood will be fine.. As for brine, it helps enhance the flavor of the bird.. I do not brine mine very often.. Be sure to have a good thermometer.. If you do not have a wireless one a pocket one will work fine.. You just cant leave it in the smoker..

If you have a favorite rub, you can apply a small amount under the skin.. Place in pre heated smoker... Smoke for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.. Internal temp of the bird should be at least 165*... Take that temp in the thickest part of the breast or thigh..

Now on adding those chips.. Just start with a small amount.. Add a little each hour till the bird is done... There will be a point that you do not see any smoke coming from the smoker.. Thats OK.. Take a sniff.. If you smell smoke your smoking..

[MichChef]

Found this on Smoker Cooking .com:

Little Chief and Big Chief Smokers
These are made for smoking small amounts of fish or jerky, and for adding smoke flavor to meats to be finished off in the oven. The Chief smokers have a permanently set thermostat that maintains a temperature of about 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn't hot enough for most types of smoking, and is too hot for real cold smoking.


So it sounds to me like you could get away with putting a spatchcocked chicken in the Big Chief for awhile with some chips, then either finish it off on a grill or in the oven

[hammerpb]

Hi and welcome to the forum DennyB. I am also new here. There is some great info in the Poultry section, but a good place to start would be the tutorials section. There is a thread in the tutorials
http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3643

that is a step by step. If you follow this, I'm sure you will be pleased with the results. I like to brine my chicken to introduce flavor, but personally dont think its necessary for moistness, as chicken generally comes out very moist as long as you leave the skin on and dont overcook it.

I personally aim for around 300 degrees in the smoker. Any lower than that seems to give good chicken, but rubbery skin. I also baste once an hour with apple juice and a little melted butter with whatever additional flavors you want to bring to the party added. Some good choices are onion or garlic, thyme, oregano, lemon juice or lemongrass, etc.... the butter is pretty important, as it will aid in browning the skin.
Cherry is an excellent choice for chicken IMO. just make sure your chip pan is covered and not wide open on the top. If it doesn't have a cover, wrap some foil around it and poke a few holes in it (3 or 4) and soak the chips if you're cooking at a high temp. For a 3 hour smoke, you will have to replace the chips once at least.

I feel it is also important to preheat your smoker. If you are using a water pan, start it with hot water. I generally just boil a teakettle and pour the water in my pan, when I use one.

As for rubs and seasonings, chicken is a pretty blank slate. Feel free to use whatever you like. some people like spicy, some like sweet. to each his own. A little olive oil and lemon pepper is even good.
As for the beer can, you can basically take a half of a beer in a can, insert it in the cavity of the chicken, use a peice of onion or potato to plug the neck of the bird, and set the whole contraption in a pie plate or on a rack designed for this, with the chicken resting on the can and both drumsticks. Looks uncomfortable, but tastes delicious.

Make sure you cook the chicken until the internal temp checked at the thickest part of the thigh or breast is 175 degrees not touching any bones. Follow these steps, and you will never have to deal with the rolleyes again when you suggest smoked chicken!

this does all depend on wether your smoker is up to a 300 degree smoke, as indicated in the previous posts.

[hammerpb]

If you cant get the temps that you need out of this unit, you should still be able to smoke the chicken for an hour or so in your big chief and then finish in a 300 degree oven, with similar results, though probably with a less smoky flavor.

[Gunslinger]

You can smoke a chicken in a grill too. Seen it done many, many times on a Weber kettle. MANY TIMES, and damn good too.

[RowdyRay]

Yep, the element is whimpy. I haven't used my lil chief in awhile and don't remember how hot it would get. Not very. Couldn't get mine hot enough to make chips smolder. Had to use shavings.

Target sells an electric range by Aroma. It's 800 Watts, and about 20.00. That definitely makes chips smolder and should get your temp higher. I can get a little over 100 degrees in the GOSM. Use it for cold smoking. I bought it for the lil chief, but never tried it.

Not sure what else to suggest. You may have to finish on the grill or in the oven.

[Walking Dude]

You can smoke a chicken in a grill too. Seen it done many, many times on a Weber kettle. MANY TIMES, and damn good too.

what gunny said...............

[Slanted88]

Ain't happenin cookin a bird in a BC....temps can't get to time...
Better experts here than me. Now ya can remove that burner & get after it. Louie has a BC for Salmon....

[DennyB]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I will go with the consensus and use the smoker for an hour and then the oven to finish.

Richtee.....I thought the Wings had that one in the bag. I can't believe they gave up three un-answered goals. Ozzie looked pretty bad on acouple of them.