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chicken doneness question

StoicDude
StoicDude Posts: 80
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I live spatchcocked chicken from my Mini, but I observed something that worry me a bit.
I cooked the chicken at 350 direct, 3.5 lb bird, for 1 hour 20min. I measure the temperature in the breast when I took it off and it read 170.
The thigh meat by the bone was still a bit bloody. This has happened to me even on my gas grill when doing beer can chicken. I ve never had any food poisoning issues from my food.
I'm asking this because my girlfriend and her family treat chicken like biohazard material. I just wanted to see what you guys think.
The one time that I didn't see any blood was when I put a foil wrapped firebrick on top of the chicken. It was very food and the chicken was falling apart. I forgot to do it last night.

Comments

  • Cpt'n Cook
    Cpt'n Cook Posts: 1,917
    I used to check with a thermo and pull at 170 breast and had the same underdone problem that you had. I now cook them by eye and loosness of joint. It is hard to overcook a Chicken in the egg.
  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    gh5a.jpg

    Your are right, it's hard to get the white meat(165°) and dark meat (180°+) perfectly done at the same time....unless they are separated. I do the lateral split instead of the axial split. I do turkeys like this too.

    DSC05517JPGw.jpg

    I butcher like this for my pressed chicken too, only I use the pizza stone wrapped in foil.

    DSC03237a.jpg

    DSC03220a.jpg
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • Thanks. The joint separated while pulling the chicken off the grate. I guess ill just cook longer or put the brick on. Thirdeye, thank you as well. Ill try that next time. I think it will fit on the mini.
  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    Typically the breast needs to get to 160 and the legs and thighs to 180, but that is more about being cooked the way we like to eat it than for food safety. There is no more or less hazzard to eating dark meat than white meat.

    I think that you are safe beyond 150.
  • where is stike when we need him

    the red near the bone is not blood.. todays chickens are raised on industrial farms and the chickens are bred to get big fast and go to market asap ,, your "red" issues is a result of the bones being immature and the red is comming from the marrow space thru the thin immature bone... thermapen won't lie.. if is is cooked to temp it is done, regardless.
    there was a thread on this a while back and this info is on the internet.. i case the fearful ones need more re assurance
    bill
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    StoicDude

    I'm not an expert and I am always learning to do the same things differntly. Also, I am doing this in a large egg.

    I also try to be very cautious when handling chicken by making sure the bird is kept refrigerated (not at room tempture to long) and washing and disinfecting as I go.

    I plan 3 hours in advance and do this indirect at 350*-400* and I try to have the lump up to the fire ring. There are many ways to do this and so far this is how I like my spatchcock chicken done. I spatchcock like normal by cutting the backbone out. I do two more steps I cut each leg quarter off. So, I have three pieces.

    You know you can wash and dry your bird and leave uncovered in the fridge in order to dry out the skin for the cook this lets the skin get crispy later when cooked.

    I start by baking the potato's first.

    After 20 min I put the leg quarters in skin side down.

    After 20 min I flip the leg quarters and the potato's and put the rest of the spatchcocked bird in skin side down.

    After 20 min I flip the spatchcock breast and wings and insert the meat probe into the breast and cook to your desired breast temp mine is around 170*.

    I know this is wordy but I like to pull everything off at the same time as well as having a crispy, done well bird.


    Tim ;)
  • That describes it perfectly! I didn't measure the temperature in the thigh this time, but have on previous cooks and it was 180 but still bloody. I personally don't mind, but have people around me that freak out when they see chicken. I take great pride in my cleanliness and cooking, so I make sure I handle the food right and wash hands and utensils frequently.
    Thanks for all your suggestions.