Slightly OT - Chickens and Boston Butts

Dredger

Decided to smoke two chickens and a 7 plus pound Boston butt on the smoker this weekend. Weather has been wet and cool, but decided to proceed with cook plans anyway. Boston butt was seasoned with Dizzy dust and refrigerated a little over 24 hours and went on at 8:00 AM. Chickens got garlic, oregano, thyme, and parsley and plopped down on a roaster stand with onion, lemon, garlic, and white wine and went on at 11:00 AM. Used apple for smoke. Sides were cole slaw, Bush's baked beans, mac and cheese, french fries and onion rings. Turned out great. Too hectic for finished shots, everyone was tearing into the chicken, so was lucky to get these.




 

SmokeyPitt

Man those are some good looking birds.  The color looks great.  Did you happen to use cherry wood for smoke?

johnkitchens

Those look great. 

Dredger

Thanks guys. @SmokeyPitt, just apple this time. Flavor was outstanding. I'm trying various fruit woods stand alone to pick out favorites before I start blending them.

Tinyfish

Spectacular colour on those yardbirds. 

SGH

@Dredger - Sister those birds look phenomenal. The only way they could look any better is if they were sitting on a plate right in front of me  For a job well done, allow me sister:

feef706

What temp and how long for the chickens, I want to try one on a stand, those look fantastic, love the color 

YukonRon

I love them on the stands. I did my first spatchcock last week. It was killer. If you have not tried it you may find it easier and just as delicious.
Yours looks awesome.

feef706

@YukonRon I did my first whole chicken as a spatch, it cooked faster than expected, didn't get much color, these look awesome 

Dredger

Thanks, everyone. @SGH, thank you! I finally got my first seal of approval! Yeah, they were indeed phenomenal. They almost rained juice before they were descended upon. I know that spatchcock is quicker, but I am old school when it comes to birds. I knew I had plenty of time in order to finish the butt. @feef706, I started the Boston butt at 350, then added the chicken 3 hours into the cook at 11:00. Temp dropped and it took about 30 minutes to recover. The chicken finished at around 12:30. It was around 50 degrees and windy outside, so I think it did pretty good. Next time, I'll start everything at the same time and hold the chickens in the oven on warm. Sorry for no Boston butt pictures, but it was fantastic as well. I'll do better next time, but it's a rough crowd when they're hungry, lol. @YukonRon, I've been a fan of a vertical roaster for years and this model I have used 3 times. Twice in the smoker and once on the egg. It's hard to describe the juiciness of the birds each time and, of course, it could be the brand of bird I am using that accounts for the moisture. I use the Greenwise brand from Publix each time and it is the juiciest, most moist bird I have ever done.

SGH

Dredger said:

@SGH, thank you! I finally got my first seal of approval! 

As good as your grub looks, I'm sure it's just the first of many yet to come. 

Dredger

Thanks so much @SGH. I would have switched the camera to video to get the juice dropping off of the chickens if there wasn't such a crowd gathered around them, lol. I had to look over their shoulders, so no room to take pics. So much for my plans of using the smoker to have left overs for us. We were left with two chicken skeletons to make stock and about three inches of Boston butt for a sandwich later. Our next line of defense for left overs it to give daughter and son in law their own Smoke Vault for their birthdays next month. Maybe that will work. We shall see.

YukonRon

Thank you for the post and info. I will try to find the brand of bird of which you speak. No doubt stands give to the color and retains the juicyness.

Dredger

No doubt stands give to the color and retains the juicyness.

@YukonRon, I think that you are right. We had 1/4 of a lemon wedge and a splash of white wine for the liquid in the diffuser of the stand to add moisture. We also kept the smoke going with apple chunks. I'm sure that also added to the color.

YukonRon

Dredger said:

No doubt stands give to the color and retains the juicyness.

@YukonRon, I think that you are right. We had 1/4 of a lemon wedge and a splash of white wine for the liquid in the diffuser of the stand to add moisture. We also kept the smoke going with apple chunks. I'm sure that also added to the color.

I have been using a lot of pecan and peach when smoking poultry. Flavors are light but are very complimentary, specific to white wine and lemon. I also prefer chunks. I am now out, but the last time MBW and I were in France we had some pieces of Burgundy and Chardonnay barrels shipped back to us, to use for smoking. French white oak. Amazing touch. I have seen chips here in the states, but we had pieces cut 12cm slabs.

Dredger

We have pecan and peach, but haven't used it yet. We have been ordering from Fruita and have been very pleased with their product and customer service. They offer a Merlot/Bourbon Barrel wood that looks interesting. http://www.fruitawoodchunks.com/mebooakbach.html  Not sure how it would compare to the French version though. They also offer slabs on most of their wood. We like chunks versus chips also. Their website is a little "clunky" to navigate, but they really deliver on product.