Poultry on Pellet Grill/Smoker

[markh024]

Are you guys that are doing birds also using a pellet tube for your smoke? Did a yardbird yesterday and my chicken flavor and moisture was great, delicious in that respect. But I'm severely lacking smoke in the meat. I want to get this down because i'm doing some smoked turkey for the holidays upcoming. I just don't want to gamble with using a tube and my birds turning to a disgusting disappointment and waste of food.

I was using Lumberjack Mesquite blend on my bird yesterday and failed to achieve even a light smoke taste to me. I don't do birds a lot on the smoker but when I do pork/beef I'm always using a tube for that added smoke profile. TIA!

 

[smokinq13]

I personally don't have a pellet grill... but im finding it hard to believe that its not giving you the smoke flavor you want, something isnt adding up. Either its a weak batch of pellets or running the grill at a too low of temp or maybe something else. What temp you usually running your birds? I dont see why you would need to use anything additionally to just the pellets for smoke flavor but hey i might be wrong as well!

 

[markh024]

250* smoke for 2 hours, then ramped up to 350* for the last 10-15* meat climb. I'll probably just attempt a run on a bird with a tube for 1-2 hours to see if the added smoke gets me where I want.

 

[smokinq13]

Yeah trail and error is your best bet... at least birds are relatively inexpensive compared to other meats

 

[bregent]

but im finding it hard to believe that its not giving you the smoke flavor you want, something isnt adding up. Either its a weak batch of pellets or running the grill at a too low of temp or maybe something else.

Actually, pellet grills produce more smoke flavor at lower temps, which makes them not my first choice for smoked chicken where you want higher temps to render the fat and crisp the skin. Markh024's suggestion about starting low for smoke and finishing higher is what lots of folks do. I like doing roast chicken on the pellet grill but for smoked chicken I use the Weber.

 

[markh024]

Actually, pellet grills produce more smoke flavor at lower temps, which makes them not my first choice for smoked chicken where you want higher temps to render the fat and crisp the skin. Markh024's suggestion about starting low for smoke and finishing higher is what lots of folks do. I like doing roast chicken on the pellet grill but for smoked chicken I use the Weber.

Makes sense. The best smoked chickens i've had are either on a stick burner or a charcoal/chunk smoker. I'll probably just run a test and use a tube to see if it helps. I suppose I can lower the heat even more to start and finish hotter for longer too. I'm not looking for heavy smoke flavor but enough to know it's smoked chicken.

 

[ross77]

Yesterday I smoked some chicken breasts at 180 for 30 minutes then 1.5 hours at 235 with 100% hickory pellets. Tons of smoke, almost too much. If you're smoking chicken with skin you'll definitely want to use high heat at the end. I've had good luck with spatchcock chicken and wings on my pellet smoker. It also helps to mist with apple juice or another liquid every 30 minutes or so. Smoke sticks to moisture.

 

[Quibbley]

Hi Mark,

I had two problems with smoking chicken on my Silverbac smoker on my first couple of attempts; light smoke flavor and rubbery chicken skin. I have made significant progress but I am not quite where I want to be yet.

First, I spatchcock and brine the chicken. Then I smoke at 180 degrees using mesquite pellets and a amazing pellet tray. Higher than 220 or there about, the amount of smoke flavor starts to drop off. Sometimes I light the smoke tray from both ends to get more smoke. For the last 20 to 30 minutes I jack the temperature up to 325 to crisp up the skin which is a bit tricky. It’s hard to time the chicken's internal temp reaching reaching the desired doneness at the same time the chicken skin gets crispy without getting overlooked or burnt. I found turning the chicken skin-side down during the last 20 to 30 minutes if it looks like I am going to reach the desired internal temp before the skin gets crispy. This puts the skin closer to the heat source. Conversely, if the skin is cooking too fast then I turn the chicken skin-side up. Also, everything I cook on the smoker always tastes smokier the next day. So cooking a day in advance helps the smoke flavor.

I hope this helps.

Jeff

 

[markh024]

Thanks Jeff. I spatch too on my birds. I'm not concerned with skin, we don't really eat it and my last bout the skin was not crisp nor was it rubbery. I just want more smoke in my meat and have yet to use the tube in fear it would be overpowering. I think i'll give it a go next try anyway just to see if the smoke flavor improves. Worst case scenario, some local racoon is going to have some good eats if it's untouchable. Thanks again.

 

[ross77]

Smoke essentially attaches to the surface of meat. It doesn’t really penetrate anything.

Interesting article on smoke, scroll down to the section called Smoke and Food:
https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...iring/what-you-need-know-about-wood-smoke-and