Chicken Flatties

Mark_B_Good

OK gang.  I picked up 2 chicken flatties to cook on the BGE tomorrow.
What temperature do you guys cook at and for how long? they are about 2.7 lbs each.

Do you guys cook to a certain internal temperature, or just time it?

Direct or indirect cooking?

Thanks.

Botch

There's been all kinds of cooks at all different temps, including a "Low und Slow" posted just a couple weeks ago (I haven't tried this).  
Personally I've done "flatties" (a term I had to look up, where are you from?) at the felt line, indirect, 375º; and also raised direct, 400º (I'm not fond of the burnt sections on the bottom, but better skin), and parts in more ways I can remember, and I haven't found "the perfect one" for me yet (part of the fun!).  
As @CTMike said above, cook to temp, and hope the skin is good at that point.  
 
Hopefully more will chime in, I know there's a lot of combos recommended by forum members.   

keener75

I've had good results cooking raised direct with a dome temp of about 400. I usually start breast side down for 15 mins or so (I find this helps with crispier skin) and then flip and let it ride until the breast reads 165 and legs around 185. As others have mentioned, an instant read thermometer is very helpful. Good luck and post your results.

Mattman3969

Exactly.  Just remember don’t wait to late to crisp the skin. 

Be careful with the amount of wood you use. Chicken really absorbs smoke and is easy to over smoke. 

CTMike

Always cook by temperature, especially poultry. If you don’t already have one, invest in a good instant read digital thermometer such as a ThermoWorks Thermapen or the like. 

Mark_B_Good

What temperature do you guys set your dome at to cook chicken? 

Mark_B_Good

Thanks guys. Ok I'm going to try a combo of what you're suggesting. I'll go indirect at 375F until my digital says breast is at 160F. Then I'll go direct at 400F to finish it off an crisp the skin.

Will let you guys know how it turns out.

How long does a chicken about 3 lbs take to cook? Need to start it at the right time. I'm thinking 2h to 3h??

Mattman3969

If your running 375 I would be surprised if it takes longer than 1 hr give or take. If you have a way to get the bird high in the dome you won’t need to sear at the end. If you decide you want/need to sear the skin I would do it around 130 or so. The breast will overcook if wait till 160 which is actually the finish temp you are looking for    

Mark_B_Good

Oh, ok thanks @Mattman3969

So if i want to cook longer (more low and slow) should I drop the temperature to say 275F or 300F?

Mark_B_Good

Mattman3969 said:

Exactly.  Just remember don’t wait to late to crisp the skin. 

Be careful with the amount of wood you use. Chicken really absorbs smoke and is easy to over smoke. 

Ok thanks. Yeah, you're the 2nd person that told me that about smoke and chicken.

Thanks again everyone.

Mark_B_Good

Botch said:

There's been all kinds of cooks at all different temps, including a "Low und Slow" posted just a couple weeks ago (I haven't tried this).  
Personally I've done "flatties" (a term I had to look up, where are you from?) at the felt line, indirect, 375º; and also raised direct, 400º (I'm not fond of the burnt sections on the bottom, but better skin), and parts in more ways I can remember, and I haven't found "the perfect one" for me yet (part of the fun!).  
As @CTMike said above, cook to temp, and hope the skin is good at that point.  
 
Hopefully more will chime in, I know there's a lot of combos recommended by forum members.   

I'm from Canada,  but got introduced to "flatties" while living in South Africa. Its very popular down there, introduced by the Portuguese community.

Mark_B_Good

So I think I'll rather cook indirect at 375F to internal breast temp of 130F, and then finish off direct to crisp the skin.  

Aiming for just over 1h cook, so that smoke isn't overly dominant.

Will let you know how it goes.

Mark_B_Good

Ok so, I kept dome at 375F, cooking indirect until breast hit 160F. I figured I would stop there and not cook direct, as it would keep the chicken moist. Once it hit 160F, the inside was cooked perfect, very tender/juicy, but I didn't like the look of the skin, I like to see crispy skin.  This is what it looked like after the indirect cook:



So I turned up the grill to 500F and cooked it direct, open flame, probably less than 1 min each side ... very quick so i didn't lose too much moisture. It looked amazing after that, and the inside was still very juicy. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Entire family was very happy with taste, texture and how juicy it was. Took probably 1.5 hours in total, and was not overly smokey, even though I added a few small Applewood chunks.

Botch

Those look fantastic!  Will be trying your method next.  

Mattman3969

Great job.  Looks very good.  

Mark_B_Good

Botch said:

Those look fantastic!  Will be trying your method next.  

Yeah, i am really happy with how it turned out. After it hit 160F indirect, I took off the chicken and wrapped in foil, then I took out the conveggtor plate, and got the dome to 500F. Once it reached the target temperature, I opened the dome and cooked it on the direct fire. Didn’t even bother closing the dome ... with a few flare ups, it cooked that skin really quick. Cooked skin side down first for not more than a minute, then turned over and cooked bone side for a similar amount of time. That short sear made sure I didn't lose too much moisture.

Mark_B_Good

Cooked at 350F to 375F for 1h 15 min. 
Birds were about 3 lbs each.
Smoked with Applewood.

pab

How did the skin turn out? Was it rubbery? I’ve never been able to get crispy skin on chicken on the egg. It looks good.

Mark_B_Good

pab said:

How did the skin turn out? Was it rubbery? I’ve never been able to get crispy skin on chicken on the egg. It looks good.

It was good. But normally I switch to direct 500F, breeast down,  for a few minutes to crisp everything up. I just ran out of time kn this one. But, it still turned out fine.