First time cooking whole chickens on my new XL BGE fail?

stike

depends where that tip was in the breast.

also, pink color in the meat can be from smoke.  if the center is pink, that's undrcooked (for some), but if the exterior meat is pink, that's the smoke ring

Dan4BBQ

Just got my  Thermopen a few weeks ago and everyone is right---it is wonderful

michigan_jason

I bought a digiq dx2 and a thermapen, i think ive got all i need.

cbr0011

I hear a lot about the raised grill. Is that an egg-accessory? Can I do it with my current grid?

Rolling Egg

Another thing that may help you in the future. A lot of us, before we were eggers, were probably over cooking a lot of stuff, including chicken. When I first got my egg, I often wondered if I had pulled my chicken too soon, even though the thermapen said it was done. Chicken off the egg is so juicy that it sometimes is called under done. My dad was the worst person I ever had to convince about doneness of chicken. To him juicy = under cooked. Now he has an egg and I have completely got him in tune with done temps on every cook. Now I'm not saying your bird was done, because if it was bloody, it obviously was not done. But chicken sometimes will be red down next to the bone, tricking people to say " hey that chicken is bloody!". One trick you can always do is take a white paper towel and dab the red spot. If the towel comes away white, your good. Comes away red, you have bloody chicken. Hang in there. Before long you will be cranking out birds that everyone will be going nuts over!

Duganboy

I hear a lot about the raised grill. Is that an egg-accessory? Can I do it with my current grid?

@cbr0011 the raised grill means raising the grid off of the fire ring where it sets on your to BGE to the felt line or gasket line of the BGE.

Some people will set fire bricks for example on the fire ring and then put the grid on the bricks.

Ceramicgrillstore.com has adjustable rigs and things they call a woo.  Check them out

cbr0011

Thank you

ccpoulin1

Just remember, success is the pile of failures you stand on top of.  If you stop, you have failed, if you continue, you will succeed, no doubt.  If you want proof, look intoo the story of Colonel Sanders.  Keep on eggin' on!

twlangan

The literature that came with my Thermapen says the end 1/8" is where it reads from. The rest of the probe is unaffected by heat.

Little Steven

Ok, so I am BRAND NEW here, and first I want to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Jason and I am obsessed with smoking/grilling and finally got the grill I have wanted for years. I'm from the metro detroit area of Michigan and have a family of 4. I really look forward to learning from the masters on this forum. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

So, now to my first eggsperience. I had 3 whole 6lb chickens given to me for a grill test. I did some research and attempted 2 sittin chickens, and one spatchcock. The spatchcock was injected and rubbed, the sittin chickens were only rubbed. One sittin chicken was lemon pepper rub, lemon juice on the sittin chicken, and onions. The other was a standard poultry rub, with beer in the sittin chicken and onions.

I cooked indirect at 375 and immediatley inserted my meat thermometer probe (kmart) into what I thought was the thickest parts of the breast. I left the grill alone and it seemed to be within one hour, the internal temperature of the breast was already at 165+ I inserted it into another part of the other chickens breast and it read the same if not higher. I pulled all 3 off the grill and closed my dampers. When plating and cutting into the chicken, I discovered that the chicken was pink in the legs and thighs and even the breasts were still mushy and the juices were pink.

I then put all 3 back on the grill, opened my vents to get the temp back up and cooked for what seemed to be another 30minutes. The weird thing is that the second time I put the meat probe into the chicken, this time being more careful as to where I inserted it, it read much lower and took longer to get up to temp. I am wondering if the meat probe being exposed to the grill dome temp made it read incorrectly, or what. I am looking for advice, tips, and or help, because I have guests over very frequently and do not want to look like a fool like I did last night. What gives?

thanks,

Jason

Dude,

If you're gonna do stand chicken invert it

double

If you touch the bone with the probe it can also give you a false read.