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Spicy Chipotle chicken & lemon chicken

TheToast
TheToast Posts: 376
So my third cook on my large BGE and I thought I'd try slow roasted chicken. Two 1.4kg corn-fed birds. One made following the Spicy Smoked Chicken recipe from the Pitt Cue book (which someone has published here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/07/whole-spicy-smoked-roast-chicken-from-pitt-cue.html ) and the second chicken with a made-up recipe of lemon, garlic, thyme and rosemary (lemons, garlic and herbs in cavity, smashed garlic under skin, and outside chicken smeared with lemon and salted). 

Not it a perfect day for it: the rain was torrential today and the coals got pretty wet when I was trying to light it, but once lit I was away. 
 




My wife didn't like the idea of a spicy chicken, and I thought with two birds, I'll have leftovers throughout the week. I'm also at early stages of experimenting with the Egg, so the more things I try the better.



I had a few spuds and a butternut squash spare which I threw on (potatoes parboiled first, then coated in olive oil. Squash I simply halved, sprinkled with oil and chopped fresh sage leaves I had leftover from Christmas). 

I made the mistake of positioning my Maverick grill temp reader too close to the edge of the plate setter resulting in a false reading of 250c (rather than 150c)! Live and learn. 

The other thing I didn't account for is that the chicken with the lemons in of course cooked more slowly than the other, because of the cold mass in its cavity. And I also feared the foil under the squash was preventing air from circulating in an already-crammed Egg, so I ditched the foil towards the end of the cook and extended the time by 20mins to ensure the lemon chicken cooked through. 



The result: the lemon chicken was delicious, but the spicy chipotle chicken was another level. The rub is absolutely incredible. It's sweet, but then a syrupy heat hits you.  Both birds were very moist. I can't imagine roasting a chicken in the oven again. I'd added just a few hickory chunks and the chicken had a subtle smokey flavour, they were moist throughout and the rub flavours had permeated the meat in a way that I've just not experience from oven roasting. 

The potatoes were good with a blob of butter - a bit dry and ones that were close to the edge were carbonised, but they were just an experiment. The squash was delicious, soft and smokey. I'm already looking forward to leftovers. I may just have to nibble a leg before bed too...





So that's three cooks in and I think that gasket has been seasoned enough, so next weekend I'll try some direct grilling. Finally, steak!

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