Cooking a whole chicken in the Big Green Egg

Unknown

Hi,

I have had the Big Gren Egg for a couple of years but never bothered using it till now.

On a couple of occassions we tried to cook a whole chicken placed on a V rack inside a low tray to catch all the fat drippings.

We placed the chuk in at 1.30pm at 350 F. We also placed some potatoes and vegies in the bottome of the tray about 2.30pm. At 4.15pm we took the Chuk out for eating but although juicy the inside was still a bit raw with heaps of water/juice ooszing out. We had to place it back for another hour.

Surely this should not be the case. I have tested the termometor by placing in into a jar with boiling water. It works OK.

Your comments will be appreciated. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong and I'm sure it should not take this long for a normal size chuk to cook.

2. Do you advice to place meat, chicken, etc directly on the Grid or is it better to always place in a tray to catch the dripping. Would this also apply for smoking food.?[p]Thanks
CAS

TRex

<p />CAS,[p]Try this method for cooking a whole chicken - it has worked perfectly for me every time.[p]TRex
[ul][li]The Naked Whiz's Spatchcock Chicken[/ul]

Poncho

CAS,
I've done chicken several times, both whole and spatchcocked. For whole, I use a dome temp of 475 and cook indirect. Timing depends on size of the bird, but it usually takes 1 1/2 hrs or less. I've used a v-rack and a roasting pan. I cook spatchcocked direct and on the grill--I shoot for 425 dome temp, usually around 40 min--flip half way through. Prick the thigh with a skewer, if the juices run clear it's done.
Poncho

Bob V

TRex's comment on Naked Whiz' spatchcock is right on, but what might slip the eye is that he has elevated the grill (look at the pic and notice the grill is level with the dome).[p]The spatchcocked chicken seems to work best on direct fire, but with the grill elevated from its "normal" position on the fire ring. This can be done by putting a couple of firebricks resting sideways on the fire ring and then putting the grill on top of them.[p]Indirect cooking works best for a whole (non-spatchcocked) chicken. As Poncho said, you can go indirect with firebricks, a plate setter, or just put aluminum foil or a foil pan underneath the V-grill. I've done it with V-grills and with the vertical roaster this way.[p]One thing that may have happened: were the vegetables sitting in the pan with (and touching) the chicken? If so, they may have acted like a heat sink for the chicken. When I cook veges with a chicken, I usually put them in the drip pan or separately from the chicken.[p]Hope this helps - Bob V

ravnhaus

CAS,
Here is one way.
[ul][li]chicken on an egg[/ul]

Unknown

Thanks a million to ravnhaus, Bob V, Poncho, TRex and those of you who emailed me privatley with your suggestions and mostly for caring.[p]Regards[p]CAS[p][p]