First chicken...

[kad1979]

...So I did whole chicken last night beer can style. As I wanted to utilize the low and slow ability of the KK I cooked the chicken for about 2 hours and 15 minutes at 250 to an internal breast temperature of 165. While I was impressed with how incredibly moist the chicken was and the smoke profile I was not impressed with the skin. I have never cooked a chicken slow and am wondering if perhaps it was my preparation. Can you achieve a super crispy skin at low temps? I rubbed the skin with Queen Creek Bacon Olive Oil (highly recommended by the way, I use tons of this stuff) and dusted with a basic poultry rub.

I am comparing this chicken to my usual bird cooker of a La Caja China which turns out wicked birds so maybe that is the problem.

Any suggestions? Or should I simply be going hotter on the bird to achieve a better skin?

[mk1]

yes...hotter....faster

[Paswesley]

You could do everything as before, except when the internal temp is about 10 - 15 degrees below target, ramp the temp to 400 - 425 degrees until your internal target temp is reached. This technique should crisp up the outer skin. Play and experiment until you get the desired result- and remember, EVEN YOUR MISTAKES ARE ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

[kad1979]

Thanks. Paswesley, I almost did just that...

[tony b]

I did my first whole chicken on the KK tonight. It was on a vertical stand (not beer butt) with Bobby Flay’s 16 spice rub and lemon-infused olive oil (Stonehouse) over/under the skin. I did it on semi-direct heat, since it was vertical - I had it towards the front of the grill away from the hotter part of the grill, but without a heat deflector (I like crispy skin). Things were going smoothly for the first 90 minutes or so, rocking along at 350F over cherry wood. Got distracted for a while and when I went back to check on it about 30 minutes later, the temp had shot up to 500F! Needless to say, when I opened the grill, the chicken didn’t look too happy! It was crispy skin alright - seriously blackened. I had forgotten to put a drip pan under it and the fat rendering out caused the flare up in temp and blacken of the skin.

But, here’s the power of ceramic grill cooking, and the KK in particular, the chicken was not dried out at all when I pulled it off the grill. Yeah, the wing tips and end of the legs were toast, but the bulk of the actual bird was still moist and tender and there were even salvagable bits of crispy skin (woo, hoo). That’s the thing the ceramics do best in my opinion – roasted chicken. These grills are so amazing that it’s hard to screw it up!

Next time, I won’t forget the drip pan!

[Paswesley]

These first steps were experienced by us all. I actually twisted off one of the stainless tabs on Mable's tophat on my second cook! The important thing is learning as you go. Also, remember to have fun ! As you have discovered, even mistakes are delicious.

BTW, there are some anthropologists who theorize that we humans developed our love of roasted meat millennia ago by scouring burnt over areas in the wake of wild fires. The burnt animals tasted much better than the raw ones! There is something very primal about our obsession with roasted meat. I intend to stay in close touch with that aspect of my inner aboriginal.

[EGGARY]

I am curious to know if Bobby Flay's 16 ingredient Rub is spicy ? It looks interesting but I have a wife and two kids who are not into spicy food. I am always looking for new ideas. Enjoy your Sunday.

[tony b]

I am the wrong guy to ask about "how spicy" something is - I am an original subscriber to Chile Pepper magazine, if that gives you a hint. So, to me, No, this does not have serious heat. (I make a destinction between "spicy" (think bold flavor) versus "hot" (like chiles)).

I do like Flay's rub on chicken, as it is an interesting blend of flavors; the cinnamon/clove/allspice and ancho/pasilla chiles seems to work well together.

Here's a link to a copy of Flay's recipe, so you could tweek it anyway that fits your taste:

http://www.food.com/recipe/Bobby-Flays- ... Rub-311297

[Paswesley]

Since you mentioned "hot," I will relate something that happened just a few hours ago. I was polishing off the last of the pulled pork from last weekend's cookout. It was already good and spicy from the rub it was cooked in, as well as the sauce that I cooked up for it. To make it fun and tasty for my palate, I added about a tablespoon of habanero Tabasco sauce to the five ounces of pulled pork and sat down beside my wife in the family room to enjoy a cup of Joe and my hot Q. Well, she asked for a bite. I hadn't the heart to say, "No." How could I? She chewed about three times, and suddenly that bite was being violently expelled toward the nearby trash can. Man, I had some "'splainin'" to do! Yeah, I like it hot, but Sweetie Pie does not!