4 Whole chickens going on the Rotisserie to smoke on the 4th!

[merchguy]

I just finished setting up the grill/smoker, thanks DaveNH for your great pics and descriptions to how you set up your grill (which is like mine) to smoke.

I have 4 whole chickens. I only brined 3 because I wanted to see if there is a difference if any between the one not brined and the ones that are brined.

I also have a pepperoni/mushroom/mozzarella Fatty that I will be tossing on at some point.

I promise Q-view will come tomorrow as the process evolves.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July, and that all smokes come out excellent.

 

[bb53chevpro]

Looking forward to the progress and the finished results.

 

[merchguy]

They are in the fridge with the rub on them wrapped up snugly. I will be posting some Q-view tomorrow before, during, and after this is completed. As well as coming back and reporting how much, if any, difference there is between the brined and non-brined one.

 

[merchguy]

OK, finally got the chicken on. Ran into a problem to start, the weight was just too much for the rod I am using so I had to take 2 of the chickens off. My plan is to run the to on the rotisserie for the first half, the switch them with the ones that are just sitting in the grill.

I also stuffed each one with a big slice of an apple and a slice of a peach. Temperature is holding steady around 250 and I have some nice TBS as will be seen in the pics.

Q-view is coming from my cell phone since I dropped and broke my digital during the last smoke.

Chicken finally getting on and going:



Some nice TBS getting started:



And it is looking good:



Now we are expecting some rain today, but that won't stop or slow me down.

 

[merchguy]

Decided to not switch the ones out that are not on the rotisserie. They are just going to be done on the grill top getting smoked. I tossed the fatty on about 1 hour ago. And the chicken as about another 1.5 - 2 hours left. They are looking good.

If you are wondering why I moved the smoke box, it is because the chicken was putting the weight on the motor and I didn't want to put any unnecessary strain on it. Now for some much needed Q-View.

The chickens just spinning and sitting:




And the fatty:



Can't wait to eat these.

 

[waysideranch]

Looking good Merch.

 

[merchguy]

Wow, this meal was great. We had the chickens with some cole slaw, and red potato salad.

The chicken was really tasty and the skin was excellent. I was spraying with Apple Juice, Bourbon (Jack Daniel's is my best friend), and some butter.

The fatty was excellent as usual. I will have to keep thinking of new things to put on the inside.

Now for the difference between the two types of preparations. I brined 3 and didn't brine one of them. The one not brined was just not as juicy or flavorful as the ones that were brined. So I would definitely recommend for everyone to brine their chickens or any bird they are smoking.

OK, now for the best, Q-view.

One of the chickens:


The Fatty: (uncut, then cut, Great smoke ring in it)




We have been looking for a real smoker, rather than me using the propane grill to smoke with. We will be getting one soon, probably a bit closer to the end of BBQ season (to get the best deal).

We had plenty of chicken left over, and I am going to be eating chicken sandwiches or just grabbing it out of the fridge and getting a quick snack when I need a fix.

Merch

 

[davenh]

Cool...glad you gave it a shot

. Everything looks great! Did the rod spin ok with the two birds?

 

[merchguy]

Well, They spun OK. I need to move the brackets up a bit so that when it sags it doesn't get as close to the grates (either that or take the grates out).

I started off with all 4 on there but that was just too much weight. Ideally I would like to have 2 more claws and grip each bird on each side that way they are steady and don't rock because of the open cavity. They will be fixed.

But as I said in my last post. We are looking at getting a real smoker, so I will have to mod it to where I can place the rotisserie into it. Shouldn't be too hard. I have the idea in my head already. Just determines on what kind of smoker we get.

 

[pineywoods]

Looks awesome don't forget smoked chicken caesar salad yum

 

[davenh]

I do remove the grate below the bird when I use the rotisserie. You could also get some long skewers to bridge the birds together. Keep experimenting, its the fun part

.

 

[merchguy]

Didn't think about the skewer idea. Thanks for that one. Will try that next time. Now if I could only find a way to get a support in the middle to keep it from sagging to much. Guess there is no reason to do that because I will be getting a real smoker soon, and will just need to mod it.