Chicken

Unknown · April 2001

I'm new with the "Egg",
LOve it so far. But today I cooked a 3 pound Chicken. Followed the guidlines plus to satisfy my wife, I gave it an extra fifteen minutes. The breast was juicy and white, the thighs and wings were juicy and quite pink. Is this normal? The juices were running perfectly clear but the pinkness scared her. Can anyone help me?

Char-Woody · April 2001

Barry Lee, sure thing.. if the thigh temps were up to 180 and breast was at the 170 top end temp..your free and clear.
The redness you speak of is due to the smoke even from pure charcoal. you find it more pronounced in pork as and called a "smoke ring". This is a desirable characteristic to most.
If the juices were clear..its a good sign your well cooked.
I have found that the closer a bird is to a drip pan, the more problem's I have with a under cooked area that is exposed to the pan. Raising my birds as much as 4 inches over the pan (other meats too) increases the uniformity of the smoke ring and crusting.
Welcome to the forum and feel free to jump in any time..Some one will coach you thru the problem.
Char-Woody

Tim M · April 2001

Barry Lee,[p]You didn't mention what guidlines you followed (ie: times, temps, etc) so if you followed the directions from someplace other than here online, like from the manual/cookbook that comes with your Egg, then I would not trust it. One thing I have found is that an arsanal of good thermomters is needed. Always check the temp on foul, and never trust a recipe in the manual. [p]Welcome to the Egg family. [p]Tim

Earl · April 2001

Barry Lee,[p] Char-Woody is right about the pink color of the meat. When the juices run clear, if checked under the legs or wings, you will be fine. After awhile, you will look for the pinkness in the food.I would get a good polder temp gauge, this will remove some of your worries and your wife will feel me at ease. If you could give us some more info as Tim mentioned, we could help more..
Welcome.[p]Earl

Earl · April 2001

Earl,
More at ease!!!

Unknown · April 2001

Earl, Good one Earl...This one is for the book's! I pasted it by Gretl's.
:-)
C~W[p]

Wise One · April 2001

C~W, you need to keep track of these. Maybe at EGGtoberfest we should have an award for the top three typing faux pas's of the year fo rthe bGE Forum. Earl's would rank up there. I've got a few that I'm just glad slid by without anyone noticing (or at least bringing it up.) :-)

Char-Woody · April 2001

Wise One, there have been some goodies in the past, I think Gretl's was a classic. I too have goofed! :-)..Good to see Earl post a immediate retraction. Notable of his honorable intent..heeeyaaa.
C~W[p]

Unknown · April 2001

Char-Woody,
Thanks C-W. UNfortunately my bird rack was right on the pan. I'll try your suggestion next time. Other than that I love the "Egg". Everything else has been fine. It's nice to know that this support is here on the forum.

Unknown · April 2001

Tim M,
You guesed it. Being new to the "Egg", the guidlines I followed were the ones in the manual/cook book that comes with the "Egg". Thanks for the support. It's appreciated by all of us.

Char-Woody · April 2001

Barry Lee, you will see a big difference next time..E.mail me on the next bird cook and we will walk it thru..
Cheers to ya..ya got the right spirit.
C~W

Unknown · April 2001

Char-Woody,
On 4/2 you answered a question from Barry lee on cooking chicken. You mentioned the smoke ring and raising the bird 4" above the drip pan. Was the bird in a V type rack or the pole type where the bird is impaled on the pole? How do you raise it 4"? With fire bricks or what?
Cooked for the first time on my BGE yesterday, strip steaks with Montreal seasoning, excellent.
Big Daddy

Chicken

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