Quote:
Originally Posted by mosesbotbol
You nailed it, high temps are needed for chicken which makes it not truly BBQ or smoked. When I make a rub, I mix in a touch of olive oil (to get it a touch thinner than a paste) and stuff under the skin and that's it. The residiual I rub on the skin. My rub's are 50% salt and the rest herbs and spices.
If you want to "cheat" a water pan aids in keeping things moist, but I try not to use one unless it's something cooking while I sleep or it's really hot out.
The easiest chicken to cook is a whole chicken split in half with the spine removed. The underside is a perfect shield from overcooking the skin. I never flip chicken either.
The higher temps seem to let off less smoke too.
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Bingo, which is why I called it " low heat indirect grilling with a lot of smoke", not BBQ. I've done BBQ'd thighs for the purpose of shredding them into pulled BBQ chicken where the skin gets tossed out, but this ain't that.
I'm not sold on the theory of water pans keeping the food moist, as all they really do is work as a heat sink to control temperature. Internal meat moisture comes primarily from the internal breakdown of connective tissue and fats, not water. If you've ever had over boiled meat that was dry (dried out corned beef for example), you'd understand that water doesn't do jack for keeping meat moist. Depending on the design of your cooker, the water pan might make a better heat sink and buffer from direct radiant heat than it might in other pit designs, example a WSM where the pan, be it empty, filled with water, sand or concrete is a shield that keeps direct radiant heat from hitting the food. In an offset, the water pan is just a heat sink since direct radiation is very limited.
I don't personally care for using olive oil with BBQs & grills. Main reasons are that some of them like EVOO has a lot of flavor that you might or might not want, it really depends on the food. The fruit compounds in the oil burn very easily and taste icky, also, olive oil goes from being a very good oil for you to being a very bad oil for you at a relatively low temperature. I like my olive oils for cold dipping sauces, dressings and soups but thats about it. I prefer the higher smoke point, more neutral flavored oils that don't burn easily, allowing for better browning, for BBQ & grilling.
I'll agree that a whole butterflied chicken is an easy & tasty thing to cook. I tried once with some foil wrapped bricks to hold to flat open on the grill as described by Steven Raichlen in one of his recipes, but didn't really care for the results. I have since collected a stack of various sized cooking grates salvaged from discarded ovens and toaster ovens, everything from small up to large enough for a 40lb-ish hog, butterfly the sucker out, rub it with spices, drop it on one of the grates, put another grate on top and wire the grates together with uncoated bailing wire. Holds the meat in this wide open flat state for more even cooking.
Although if you give me a whole chicken and a few hours to cook it, screw butterflying it, that sucker is getting beer-canned.