OK, here's the final Report with PICS
All in All, the Chicken cook went good. Began with two-35 pound boxes of Chicken Quarters which we caught on sale for $10.00 a box. We brined them in a 1 part salt, 2 parts brown sugar brine for four hours with some Italian seasoning in the brine as aromatics.
For brining I secured two buckets at lowes. The United Solutions 5 gallon bucket caught my eye, as it was marked no BPA and food safe and was actually see-thru with measurements marked on the outside.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_161932...l=1&Ntt=paint+bucket
I also bought two of the Encore Gamma screw-on lids, which are also foodsafe and FDA approved. I love these lids, as you just attached the outer ring to the top of the bucket and then screw on the top. Easy for getting in and out of for overhauling the meat.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_546960...8&pl=1&Ntt=gamma+lid
I rinsed the brined chicken pieces in my deep sink and put them on the FEC 100. Drumsticks first (78 pieces), which smoked at 225 for 2.5 hours with pecan pellets.
The thighs followed (78 pieces) which smoked for about 4.5 hours at 215. On the thighs, I put two 1.5 inch hickory logs on the log burner for a little extra smoke flavor.
The thighs had a better color than the drumsticks due to the longer smoke. I Rotated the racks during cooking on both the legs and thighs. There were some stubbornly undone thighs that got the top-rack treatment for about 20 minutes after all others were out.
All the finished chicken went in the refrigerator overnight with intentions of heating it on the grill the next day. Well, I arrived late and the person who tried to warm it up on the grill ended up burning many much of the chicken due to grease fires on the propane grill.
The parts that survived the flame were very good, and even most folks loved everything and raved about the ‘blackened chicken. The meat had a great flavor and texture, great smoke ring, in some cases all the way thru the meat. I had a couple of bloody joints on a couple of the thighs, but all in all, it was amazing.
Next time, I think I’ll just serve it hot from the smoker and not worry about the non-crispy skin. Also, maybe some more bbq type seasoning in the brine rather than the Italian, as it didn’t seem to be much flavor-added.