First cook problems

garyflintstone · January 2016

Got my egg delivered yesterday. First cook was spatchcock chicken direct at 350. Started skin side down when to flip it and it the skin was burned. I am thinking maybe I put the chicken on too soon before the charcoal was ready. Any ideas?

Beside that it was great. Controlled temp in Michigan 12 degree weather with no issue.

Thanks

buzd504 · January 2016

You probably should raise the grid if doing a spatch direct, or go indirect. Likely your skin was too close to the fire.

chadpsualum · January 2016

Direct or indirect? How long did you leave skin side down? Did you have a rub/marinade on the bird that contained sugar (white, brown, honey, etc...)? What was the setup? Was the grid raised?

Sorry for all of the questions...lots of possibilities.

txhawkeye · January 2016

I always cook a spatchcock indirect, skin up. If going direct I would probably cook it skin up to start and flip towards the end to crisp up a bit.

garyflintstone · January 2016

it was direct. not raised. how do you raise the grid? just use bricks or do you need to buy some type of rig to raise it.

I started skin side down for about 15 or 20 minutes per recipe directions.

I used the better than bullion rub from the website. it had brown sugar.

Maybe with that brown sugar I should have went indirect.

Thank you for the help

kl8ton · January 2016

When I spatchcock, i have skin side up. Direct. Grid left in "factory" position.

THEBuckeye · January 2016

Next time, raise the grate to the felt line. Can use 3 bricks or get a PSwoo2 or an Adjustable Grate (Google or search the forum).

I always so skin side up at 375. Gets to 160 breast temp in about 40-45 minutes and easily falls apart.

GO BUCKEYES although kudos for egging at 12*.

THEBuckeye · January 2016

No need to flip by the way.

gdenby · January 2016

In most cases, I would expect that the recipe might cause the skin to burn. Any time a cook is direct, the heat radiating from the lump is much more powerful that the heat being absorbed from the surrounding air. Think of an arm in the sun by the window inside an air-conditioned car. The other arm chill, but the sunlit burning.

My supposition is that in many cases, the chik won't get very warm during the time between being removed from the fridge and going into the Egg. That might be enough to make the difference between crisp and burnt skin.

Most folks on the forum seem to use a different method. 400 - 450 dome. The grill is raised to the felt level so that the IR heat is somewhat more diffuse and lessened compared to the lower level. Start meat side down. Start checking w. a quick read therm after 25 min. When the breast meat hits 140-ishm if the skin is not crisp, turn over the bird and wait maybe another 10 min.

Many ways to raise the grill. 3 fire brick splits on edge is a simple way to do that. Also, fancy 3rd party add-ins.

Tip s for crisp chicken. Beside letting the bird dry in the fridge for awhile, lift as much skin off the meat as possible. Maybe work some butter between the meat and skin. Add some corn starch to the rub.. Those methods all improve the way the skin will absorb heat, and not just steam, and remain rubbery.

garyflintstone · January 2016

Thank you for the help and the picture. No flipping sounds good. I will raise it up and try it again. How long do you normally wait from lighting to stabilizing temp to adding meat?

bgebrent · January 2016

garyflintstone said:

Thank you for the help and the picture. No flipping sounds good. I will raise it up and try it again. How long do you normally wait from lighting to stabilizing temp to adding meat?

Go raised, direct. Skin side up with no turning. How long depends on how you light your egg. In general it takes 30-60 minutes to have a stable fire and good smoke. Then you put on the meat.

gdenby · January 2016

garyflintstone said:

Thank you for the help and the picture. No flipping sounds good. I will raise it up and try it again. How long do you normally wait from lighting to stabilizing temp to adding meat?

Simple answer... Depends

How much heat did the lump get for starters, how wide were the vents open, and for how long, has the Egg absorbed any moisture from rain and/or snow?

My method, hit the lump in 3 spots w. a propane weed burner, each for about 20 seconds till I see glows from all spots. Close dome, remove daisy, leave bottom vent wide open. After maybe 15 minutes, close bottom vent to a little more open than what I expect to need for my final temp, daisy vents set in the same fashion

Typically by 25 minutes I'm about where I want to be. Do another adjustment of the vents and then wait till the "bad" smoke clears. Maybe another 20 min.

But there can be a large variance. I've had 250 fires ready in as little as 20 minutes, sometimes (Thanksgiving, off course) close to 2 hours.

lousubcap · January 2016

Regarding stable fire, another factor is the quality of smoke-if it smells good then it is good and you are ready to go as long as the temp is where you want.
BTW-Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.

jak7028 · January 2016

txhawkeye said:

I always cook a spatchcock indirect, skin up. If going direct I would probably cook it skin up to start and flip towards the end to crisp up a bit.

To me, raised, indirect at 350-400 is the most user friendly way. Dont have to worry about flareups or burning the skin. At the end, flip the bird so the skin is down and grill direct a few minutes to finish it off and make the skin extra crispy.

Overall, raised indirect is as easy as cooking an in oven once you get the fire stabilized how you want it. Takes about an hour to cook a whole chicken.

THEBuckeye · January 2016

garyflintstone said:

Thank you for the help and the picture. No flipping sounds good. I will raise it up and try it again. How long do you normally wait from lighting to stabilizing temp to adding meat?

Lighting and getting to temp will depend on how quickly you shut the egg and allowing it to get to temp - or - waiting too long and overshoot your temp. Conventional wisdom is catch the temp on the way up. It may take a little longer but easier to lock in a temp than trying to cool it down.

It also depends on your ignition source. Torch? Looflighter? Starters? You'll also learn that 350-400 required the bottom vent be open so far.

How long to get a Spatch on? With a fire starter I'd say around 30 minutes.