To add water tray or not with whole chicken, etc

Frog....Here is a link for you....look at the bottom slideshow. It is for "spatchcock chicken". It is a way of opening the bird, and allows for a very even cook.
http://www.bubbatim.com/Egg-cipies.php

No need to have water in the egg, ever, in my opinion. Poultry picks up smoke flavor easily, so be careful you don't over smoke it. You can do indirect, or direct raised grid. See the slideshow. Gives you a bit more info.
Welcome to the forum!

As far as you chicken goes, get you a throw away pan and stand the beer can chicken up in the pan and cook at about 300. According on bird size this could take a couple hours. I hate to give you a time because I've always used a platesetter and Im sure the pan will let more heat to the bird vs the platesetter and should speed it up a bit. Take it to 160 to 165 breast temp.

This is going to be long but it is useful and there are some great chicken cooking ideas below with what egg stuff you have now.

With regards to your ribs, I would think you cooked them to too high a temperature, hence the dried out. Cooking to too high a temperature will happen with most all foods you cook.

I didn't like it and it and I thought it was too expensive, however, the best advice (well one of the best) I got from the people on the forum as to buy a Thermapen - This is the new one

Before spending that much money on a thermometer I bought enough of the cheaper thermometers to pay for the Thermapen.

Don't get any substitutes just get this thermometer as soon as you can afford it. It will be one of the cheapest investments you make into your cooking adventure.

I doubt you will find one person out there that owns one that will say it was a mistake to buy.

The second best advice I can pass on is to COOK TO TEMPERATURE not time.

Next, calibrate your dome thermometer if you have not done it recently or at all.

Moisture in the food, I don't put water in the egg to get moisture as I am not really interested in steaming.

The only time I get a somewhat dry chicken is when I cook it at very low temperatures and or cook it too long.

Most of the time chicken on the egg will have moisture dripping out of the breast if you cook it to 160° or 165° internal. That doesn't matter if you do spatchcock, whole or 'frogged'.

I like cooking direct on a raised grid as I like to cook higher in the egg for most foods. 99.9% of the time I don't use the plate setter for indirect cooking. Chicken does not have to be cooked indirect.

If you don't have a plate setter here are some quick things you can do to cook indirect if you want.
For chicken, put less amounts of lump in the egg. Only fill lump up to the top of the air holes in the fire box. That will give some distance between the lump and food when cooking on the fire ring.

To that you can put the grid on the fire ring. Get some fire bricks from a big box store like Home Depot and if you have or go to walmart and get another grid. Just something cheep.

If you have 2 grids put the cheap or old one on the fire ring if it fits, then the fire bricks then the second grid. If the second grid is not 18" then put the BGE grid on the fire ring, fire bricks then the second grid.

You are ready to cook. If you want indirect put some cupped aluminum foil below the chicken. Make sure the foil is strong enough for when you remove it you won't spill the grease into the bottom of the egg. I picked up a Stainless Steel deep dish Pizza Pan from Walmart to use as an indirect barrier and as a drip pan. That is enough for indirect cooking and to catch the grease coming off the chicken.

You will get different flavors catching the chicken grease or letting the grease drip onto the lump. I generally use something to catch the grease but the chicken is great both ways and there are many, many ways to skin the cat, or if you will cook the chicken.

Remember to cook to food temperature.

Little Chef's link above will take you to some spatchcock method.

I tossed the beer can cooking idea out long ago, a lot of people like the idea and if they don't cook with beer they will use coke or Dr. Pepper. For me it is more of a mess. I tossed my chicken and turkey stands out long ago.

Raised grid. You can cook the chicken whole at any temperature from 350° to 500° dome. It will take about 1.5 hours on the low end and 50 or so minutes on the high end. For me always close to an hour.

I use EVOO on the chicken and then put some kind of rub that I like.

I absolutely love chicken cooked over a tray of potatoes, onion and what ever else you want to toss in the tray and the final step is to cover with cheese. The tray of veggies is as good or better than the chicken itself.

Here are some links and cooks to see what you want to do. None of them uses water they all are great and if you cook the chicken to temperature you will have a very moist chicken breast and will probably see the juices flowing out of the breast when you make that cut.

Speaking of moisture, you will probably get comments like 'is this really cooked long enough'. YES, 165° is done and YES the chicken is really this moist and no water was used. Thanks to the BGE and ceramic cooking.

If you have more questions ask. The following might help a little.

Direct, raised and each cook has moist breast.

This chicken was cooked to 165° and the rest if the pictures shown will about the same amount of moisture in the breast.


500°


Same at 400°


Click on This Link to cook this dish.


Last but by all means not least 350° direct
Click on This Link to cook this dish.


There is more but enough for now.

Enjoy there are a lot cooks to do.

That's my 2¢.

GG

If you have a large egg a plate setter is good, however, I would strongly suggest to get and Adjustable Rig, Spider and Wok

as well as or instead of a plate setter. They are both useful.

You can find the Adjustable Rig, Spider and Wok setups at The Ceramic Grill Store Tom is a great guy and will be happy to help with questions.

I am using the Spider below with my SS Deep Dish Pizza Pan to hold the Dutch Oven. If I didn't have the Pizza Tray the Dutch Oven would fall through the Spider. The DO is too small a diameter.



When I cook indirect I use the same set up, but the pizza pan is wrapped with aluminum foil to catch the grease from the food. When the egg is cook I just wrap up the edges of the foil and remove it for a quick clean.

I put the adjustable rig above the spider then the grid to cook. The picture above with the 4 chicken quarters was direct with the adjustable rig and grid only.

These beef ribs were cooked indirect using the spider pizza pan wrapped and adjustable rig


and a close up


These beef ribs are fantastic. The first time, no Thermapen and I over cooked and they were unbelievably dry. I didn't cook beef ribs for another year.

When cooked to food temperature the food is moist.

By the way, when you want to cook Turkey try the Mad Max method. Oh my, best and moist turkey around.

Have fun.

GG

Sometimes I’ll add liquid (if I’m smoking a turkey for example) but for the most part when roasting / smoking a chicken I don’t.
I do however always do it indirect with a plate setter and a pretty low fire.

On the last packer I did low temperature, it was good but not like the pictures I saw.

Yup, q2 & stoker.

Kent