Smoked Chicken Troubles

Tydfan

I've been egging for a few years now and chicken halves or spatchcock has always been one of my favorite things to do.  One thing I've had a bit of trouble doing is getting the fall off the bone smoked chicken like I get at some local BBQ joints.  Every bit of chicken I do is tender and juicy but not fall off the bone.  I usually go indirect at about 375 until b the breast hits 160 and the thigh hits 190 for smoked or direct when doing a spatchcock.  Do I need o go a bit longer to render out more of the fat or would that just cause the breast to dry out?  Where am I going wrong with this method?

Mickey

Yes. Most of those places cook the crap out of it. Well over the 160. I am way happier with the start of your story than where you are going. 

minniemoh

I just smoked a whole chicken with a few pieces of apricot wood on Saturday. Smoking is cooking it low n slow for me, like 250 degrees. If you want that soft, tender, fall-off-the-bone kind of texture, that's how I do it. Took about 3 1/2 hours for a 4.5# bird.

If I'm roasting one, then I go at 400-425 spatch'd. They cook fast and stay juicy but have a more firm texture than when you smoke it at low temp. I drop in a few wood chips when I put the chicken on and get a little smoke taste.

I like to cook them both ways but do spatch'd far more often.

Tydfan

Mickey, don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the results I normally get when cooking chicken.  I've just noticed I was never getting the fall off the bone like they were.  I figured they must be going a bit longer on their cooks to pull this off.  I sure won't sacrifice the tenderness or juiciness to achieve this.  I was just wondering if achieving both at the same time was possible?

Tydfan

Thanks minniemoh, I'll give that a try. 

DMW

Use leg/thigh quarters and overcook low and slow to 200*-ish. I wouldn't try to get fall off the bone with breast meat, it will be cardboard dry.

minniemoh

Tydfan said:

Mickey, don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the results I normally get when cooking chicken.  I've just noticed I was never getting the fall off the bone like they were.  I figured they must be going a bit longer on their cooks to pull this off.  I sure won't sacrifice the tenderness or juiciness to achieve this.  I was just wondering if achieving both at the same time was possible?

You can have both at the same time if you go low on temp. Your dark meat will hit 180-190 and the breast is incredibly juicy if you pull it at about 155-160. Mine usually seem to hit those two numbers at about the same time. I've done them at 225 and they have taken 4+ hours. Just make sure you don't put in too many wood chunks. I used 3 small ones and had a nice blue wispy smoke for the first couple hours. 

These pictures are not from my weekend cook, they are from a few months ago. I don't have any sliced pics but these were both very juicy in both the white and dark meat. I don't think the bbq joints are taking the breast any higher than 160-165 either. The first one was smoked with orange wood and the second was smoked apricot. Peach and apple are also very good.

Tydfan

Thanks DMW,  sounds like low and slow is where I need to be.

1move

As stated by others, count for about a 3-4 hour cook depending on the size of the bird. However 160°F is a little too low for my liking, I go up to 167°F. I used to work in the food industry a while back that cooked a lot of chicken meat and it was always at 167°F for chicken for a 6 minute hold at that temperature. So it has always stuck with me, most other places online recommend 165°F

minniemoh

@1move - duly noted. Don't want anyone getting sick.

Does anyone know if it makes a difference if it stays at 160 for say, 15 minutes, does that kill off the bad stuff? The meat temp moves very slow when you're smoking at 225-250.

I'm just trying to be better informed here.

1move

@minniemoh you can easily bump the cook to 275°F. If it stays at that temperature for that long you will be increasing its internal temperature regardless. If you are planing of finishing it off in the oven, make sure your oven goes that low as most of them won't go below 170°, at least my last three didn't 

Theophan

This is all very interesting -- it's never occurred to me to cook chicken low and slow.  I always pull it around 160°, expecting it to rise to 165° (for white meat, that is -- dark meat higher temps), and I was agreeing with those above who said not to cook a lot higher than that to get it "fall off the bone" tender because it'll fall off the bone but it'll also be dry and awful.

But this idea that if you cook it at a lower temperature, still shooting for a final temp of 165°, the meat will still be juicy but will be more fall-off-the-bone tender is an interesting idea to me.  I'll have to try it, sometime.  I suppose the final rise after pulling might be smaller if cooked low and slow, so maybe pull it at 165° instead of 160°, I guess.

Love this forum -- always learn some interesting stuff!

minniemoh

1move said:

@minniemoh you can easily bump the cook to 275°F. If it stays at that temperature for that long you will be increasing its internal temperature regardless. If you are planing of finishing it off in the oven, make sure your oven goes that low as most of them won't go below 170°, at least my last three didn't 

Thanks for the advice. I don't finish anything in the oven - my egg is my oven. I have done them at 275 too but they seem to get that softer texture when I smoke them at 225-250 and they stay very juicy. The one that I made over the weekend was so tender and juicy that the breast was falling apart as I sliced it. The leg and thigh temps were around 190 and pulled cleanly from the bone. I only tried a quick bite of it before serving. Everyone loved it and said it was incredibly moist. (I ate the best brisket I've ever cooked instead. No pics though so it didn't happen <span></span> ... bummer!)

1move

I usually do mine as a beer can chicken. I add a beer some butter and spices to the ceramic stand I have and it just always falls of the bone. I usually cook between 250-275° and always to 167° IT at the breasts. You can see how much juice came out just by setting it down into the dish. I usually have quite a bit more when I cut into it

Mattman3969

I really like my chicken at 225-250 for at least 3hrs on the egg.  I do mine direct and raised about 4-5" above felt. You can run the temp in the breast to 170-180 and not hurt a thing and it will pull like pork for pulled chicken sandwiches 

NonaScott

I also do all my whole birds at 250 indirect until the breast is 170. Always tender and juicy.

Mickey

I am in the 400/425 raised direct camp spatchcock 

Carolina Q

If you want pulled or shredded  chicken and don't want to have to cook it for a month of Sundays, just cook it at 400° until done. Then, put it in the Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Shreds like a champ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEX5coddlUs

Mattman3969

To the OP. Here is a chicken sandwich done as I described above 

Thatgrimguy

That fall off the bone chicken is a product of very low cooking temps and very long holding times. I think the long hold is the biggest factor.

XC242

Those are some great looking birds guys, nicely done!