whole chicken, not my specialty

dougemsmacks

I have tried whole chicken with no success, it came out dry in the breast and almost done in the thigh. The details would be it was done indirect @ 350 breast up and leg temp 170. I can make it spatch cooked but not whole. Should I just give in? I also messed up a pork tenderloin,I have made it my kettle many times heat on one side, food on the other. I don't know what temp. I only used my hand over the vent to tell how hot it was. the pork was done indirect at 375 and I pulled it off @160, the Sahara has more moisture in it than that pork. I am a newbee but I have cooked every night for the last 3 weeks and all other meals have been great. We also had some out of town company for a week and I am betting they will be on this forum soon asking questions. Our friend claims to have gained 5 pounds but I think it was closer to 10 :pinch: (hope she isn't reading)

Firetruck

Try brining. Although you should not have too to get a moist bird. I do it to add flavor and moisture. I brine it in the fridge overnight. about 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup sugar, other spice such as lemon pepper, and chopped onion. It also helps to salt and pepper the skin then rub EVOO on it before eggin. Indirect about 325-350. Make sure your temp probe is calibrated. Mine usually come out great.

lowercasebill

your porkloin was over cooked at 160 and i would expect it to be dry. i am curious, what kind of chicken did you cook? was it a mass market type or specialty. hopefully with some more info we can help.
bill

Grandpas Grub

I cook my whole chickens the same as spatchcock and they turn out great. I have use a chicknen stand and just laid it breat up on the grid.

I cook any chicken on raised grid and at least use a piece of tinfoil to catch the drippings. That would be considered indirect cooking.

I have often cooked a whole chicken indirect with a pan of potatoes, onions and some Italian sausage in the mix with the chicken above pan. I cook this at 400° for one full hour. It turnes out great. Some have cooked the chicken at 500° for one hour. At some point in time I am going to try that to see how it comes out. Not sure if I will use the spuds and onions below it on the first try.

GG

thirdeye

Hopefully there is some water involved in the brine.

Just pickin' on you man. I'm a brine man myself.

thirdeye

Easy fix for chicken perfection. Cook it in halves. Not axial halves, but try dark and white halves. Look at it this way, white and dark meat are two totally different muscles and are cooked to two different levels of doneness(165* and 175*). This way you can pull each half off when it is perfect.

You can cook it raised direct too, I actually like it over indirect. I think it comes out with more moisture.



For pork loins, I pull them between 145* and 150*.

Like I mentioned to Firetruck, I like brining too. I brine 99% of the white meat I cook.

Jeffersonian

You might need a rack of some sort, Doug, and a good dome thermometer. These were done at 400*, indirect, with a drip pan and were very moist:

dougemsmacks

i have not tried the brining yet i usually do a rub, but would brining increase the moisture/texture of the food ? Beer butt chicken comes out moist but with beer only, no rub it tastes kinda plain.I prefer some flavor in the meat besides the meat itself. Am i missing something?
The pork I usually cook it to 155-160 but not knowing how the egg cooks 100% I am still trying to adapt. My experience is tenderloin needs a semi hot cook or it will be dry. Slow cooking seems to dry it out

thirdeye

Until you try brining only you can decide if you are missing something. It does add moisture and will take some flavor (if you make a flavor brine) into the meat during the process. This is different from a marinade which adds flavor mainly to the surface of the meat and may have oils or things like vinegar added.

The texture will not change much (it will firm a bit)unless you add something like Tenderquick, which will also give the meat a pink color.

Brining works wonderful on pork chops and sections of pork loin too.

There are some recipes and information about the brines I use in the FLAVOR BRINES section of my site, the link is below. Give it a try, and a side-by-side comparison, you may be surprised.

Michael B

Start with a roaster. They usually say 'young' on the warp.
S & P.
500* dome.
Plate setter & drip pan.
Chicken on regular grid, breast up.
1 hour.

Spanek chicken is good too, but requires a little more attention