Help, party tommorrow just doubled in size UDS big enough???

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rookiesmoke

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2013
2
10
I have a UDS "Big Poppa" kit smoker, single rack.  I have had great success smoking spatchcocked chickens on it.  I planned to smoke 3-4 chickens for a party tommorrow (originally 12 people) guest list has now jumped to 24.  I've got 7 whole chickens in the brine now, but not sure how I am going to fit them all. Can this be done on a single rack ?  What if I stand them up on beer cans ?  Maybe add a second grate 4-5" below lid, and put 5 chickens on original grate and 2 spatchcocked on the top ?  Also, it is going to be pretty cold here tommorrow, and I am worried that loaded with so much chicken, I'll never get the temps up.   HELP PLEASE
 


About the 4:50 mark he fits on 6 birds but there is room for more...Good luck on your cook!     Oh, i would have a holy pizza pan type of diffuser in there, it distributes the heat and will catch some of the grease. 

 
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Lastly pre heat to well over 350 before you put them on and use lump if you can.  The BP has plenty of air holes as you know to keep it well over 300 on the cook.  Keep all the air open until it settles in, then adjust accordingly. 
 
fantastic, thanks for the help.  Hopefully, the cold weather won't hurt my temps.  I will say that I have been very happy with the Big Poppa UDS so far.  Seems like I can get it going, set the temp with the bottom vent, let it stabilize, put on the chicken and come back in 2 1/2 to 3 hrs and a perfect spatchcocked chicken is inside.  Once you set the temp, it simply doesn't waver.  No messing with it, just sit back and have a few cold ones.
 
You should be good on 7 - standing. I crank the Temp up on my UDS to 365 degrees when cooking chicken. I use no defuser or water pan. My lower grate is 15 inches from top of coal basket (24 inches from bottom ash pan.) No issues with flareups, and i look for the juices to drip on the hot coals.

I brine whole chickens for 12 hours and then rub inside and out (I do cut back on salt in rub.) I run a mix of lump and briquets with Pecan wood chunks (3-4) mixed in. I pull chicken off when internal temp hits 170 in thigh.

I like to cook low and slow, but after reading a lot of post on chicken. I now cook at 365 and seems the chicken does come out better. 
 
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