First time using 008

RJT

Never done chicken BUT I've seen where folk's suggest to put them under anything else you might be cooking. I would put them in together with the therm. in the chicken when it's done pull it out and wrap up and put in a cooler until the ribs are done.. Time's are kinda hard, go by internal temp to be safe.. If you use the search button or poultry archives you should find a good temp.

Good Luck
Mark

I would put the chicken on the bottom, and ribs above it. Any drippings from the ribs will baste the chicken. Also, I would suggest butterflying the chicken (also called spatchcocking). This gives you more surface area for rub and smoke. If you search the forum I think there is info on how to do this. If not, search the web. There is a video tutorial out there that I have watched in the past.

As far as cooking time, the chicken will be shorter. Your search should turn up posts with typical cook times, but I think it should be somewhere around three hours, but I always cook to doneness, not for a specific time. I would probably put the ribs and chicken in at the same time, and monitor the chicken temp (in the thigh) and pull when the thigh hits 160-165 and then wrap the bird in a couple of layers of HD foil, a couple of beach towels and toss it into a dry cooler (warmed up with hot water and dried). The skin on the bird will not be crisp, so about 15 minutes before eating, I would toss it skin down on a hot grill to crisp up the skin and heat it up if needed. The ribs will probably go about 4 1/2 to 5 hours (for BBs, longer for spares). When you open up the cooker to take out the chicken, this would be a good time to give the ribs a quick spray with apple juice, cranberry juice, etc. Its not necessary, but I like the added flavor. YMMV

OK, did my first smoke, a top round roast. Used 2 chunks of supplied wood and smoked to about 143. It was not real good. Tried again with 4 large chicken dark quarters. Rubbed them with oil and supplied spice mix. Added 2 small pieces of wood and cooked to about 183 at 225 on the bottom shelf. Chicken was moist, almost too moist, but tough and rubbery. Flavor just OK. Am I doing something wrong? I hope this gets better next time around. I paid a lot for this unit and so far am dissapointed. My wood smoker although more work does a much better job. I am going to try chicken and ribs this weekend. If I can't make it work I may go with the 30 day guarantee and get a propane unit. I am beginning to think a max temp of 250 is not enough to get the results I want. Do many of you finish the meats off on a grill? Please give me some advice. Thank you.

RJT.

If you've done only a few cooks, then give it some time. There are 100's of posts here from satisfied people.

My thoughts? You're doing too many different things and coming up with substandard results. And you still need to learn how to make this smoker sing.

Do one thing and master that.

Like your ribs and chicken post, each of those has issues and I wouldn't try them together until you've master them individually.

It's tough sometimes answers generic posts like "how do I do ribs" or "how do I do chicken" as there is a lot of information and experience already in the forum and some of the posters
Do a search on chicken (go to the Poultry archives near the bottom of the main page) and read through those, theres a LOT of useful information, but you won't always get a lot of responses since the information probably out there. Do some research and then ask some detailed questions.

Best thing about your smoker?

You have this forum to help solve any issues and help with the learning curve.

Welcome to the group.

Smokin'

RJT,

I am another fairly new smokette owner and did consider getting a propane smoker. I have plenty of friends with a propane smoker and they have never been really satisfied with them. Propane can do some funny stuff to your meat is what they always tell me.

One of the most important things I have learned on this forum is that no matter what kind of smoker you end up buying, there is going to be a learning curve for that smoker to make the best possible product with it. It is just to bad it is a 30 day guarantee and not a little more.

Another advantage of Cookshack is their customer service, there aren't to many companies out their that will beat Cookshack in that department, and I have experienced first hand as their a small problem with my unit from shipping. They were very responsive and got the problem resolved real quick for me.

What has helped me the best to adjust my cooking styles for the cookshack is the endless reading I have done on this forum (approx. 4 hrs a day so far) and it has helped a lot. I have never had confidence in my cooking ability the first time I try a new recipe, but this forum will definitely give it to you.

I would recommend trying a boston butt for a smoke, I found this to be the easiest thing to smoke so far, and nearly impossible to screw up.

I have done a few smokes so far, the boston butt and ribs were the big ones so far and the butt was perfect, and ribs were good, but not yet my best and that was due to some of the things I did and not the smoker.

As far as rubbery skin on chicken a lot of people recommend soaking a cheese cloth with butter and placing it over the chicken during the smoke, a friend of mine did this with his, and the skin was real good (just can't get him on the forum yet).

Jason

I�ve not tried chicken (whole of halved) together with ribs in the same smoke�That could get interesting, even for someone more experienced. But I have experimented with chicken by itself. I buy the largest whole chicken I can find, usually 6� - 7 lbs. Cut it in half, coat all sides liberally with your favorite rub, place in the middle rack, crank the temp setting to 250 (max) and with 1 or 2 chunks of hickory let it sit for 3 hours. Don�t look at it, don�t probe it with a temp, don�t do anything for three hours.

It is done to perfection, pulls apart easily and juices gush out. Browned and smoky...perfectly done chicken with no guesswork. Just my $0.02�.

RJT

Don't get discouraged, like SmokinJ said, there is a definite learning curve.

One thing, keep notes on what you do, type and size of meat, cooking temp., meat temp., time, wood type, wood quantity, etc. That way you can avoid repeating mistakes and learn from them and if you like a result, you can repeat. Also, if you ask the forum and provide those details, we are better able to make suggestions. Your post did not state what you did not like about your results, i.e. too smoky, too tough, over/under done. Read SmokinOkie's 101 tutorials listed above under SmokinOkie's guides. They will give you a lot of info and how to advice.


As to your 1st smoke - top round to 143 deg. First, IMO a top round probably is not suitable for a smoke because it is a very lean cut of meat and 143 deg. is probably over done. If you really like top round and want the smoke flavor, try starting in the smoker at about 200 deg on thermostat for about 1 to 1.5 hours then remove to indoor oven and finish under a high heat.

On the chicken, next time try a higher rack position and remove when you reach an internal temp of 175 deg. internal temp on the thigh. Was the chicken you used a roaster or fryer? Fryers are younger and smaller, but also more tender. You might also consider brining your chicken before smoking.

Unless you prefer a heavy smoke flavor, try cutting back on your wood quantity. That is a personal taste issue, but too much wood will result in some bitter taste.

Don't give up. Like SmokinJ suggested, try a pork butt. The butt is one of the most forgiving meats to smoke and has the added benefit of significantly improving the seasoning of the interior of your smoker, not to mention one of the most satisfying in terms of the finished product. Do read Smokin's 101 on pork butt.

Keep trying and good luck.

OK, I have success with ribs. St. Louis style with a sweet rub. I put them on the middle shelf for almost 6 hours. I did flip them half way thru. They were great! The book said 4 hours but it is cold here so maybe that affected the time. I am sure I can get my next chicken better with more time. As was stated top round was not a good choice for smoking. The ribs were as good as any restaurant. I will work on a better rub. I am looking for a sweet and mildly spicy recipe or a place to buy one.

Hey RJ,

Congrats on the rib succcess. As for the cold affecting your cooking time, I doubt that was the issue. The CS is very well insulated. Most folks find that the times listed in the book are definitely on the short side. If you do a seach of this forum for whatever meat you're wanting to cook, you'll find more accurate time esimates.

Good luck, and have fun!

Matt

Hay, RGT, as SmokinJ suggests try a boston pork butt. Simple, like the guy says on TV says, "set it and forget it". A great investment for using your new cookshack is a remote temperature probe.
My 008 has been the greatest investment I have ever made.

Regarding the temperature probe, I have one. I pulled my chicken at 183. While it was cooked safely the meat was not as tender as I would like. It was about 3 hours to get to temperature. Next time I plan to go for 4 hours as I am hoping it will be more tender. With the ribs I went 6 which was 2 hours over the books suggestion but they were probably at temperature in 3 hours. My impressions are that this is a moist cooker almost like a crock pot if you will, so extra cooking time helps tenderize the meat. I am thinking 4-5 hours for a whole chicken might be a good bet. If I am right it would be hard to really overcook a chicken. I do plan on trying a Pork Butt as well.

RJT

Congrats on the ribs. It's good to have those successes. The times in the CS recipe book are questionable. Six hours for St. Louis style ribs depending on the size of them is about right. The outside temp is not an issue. There are many of us in the northern climates, like you, that will be smoking even if it is 0 deg. outside. So like we've said, do a search here in the forum for recipes and cooking times and you will continue to have success!!!

A different twist on whole chicken that I have done (and for store bought butt portion HAM too) is to place the bird in a shallow disposable aluminum pan and put about 1/4 inch of Mojo Criollo in the bottom. If you want you can marinate the chicken in it (very good).

It is a spanish marinating sauce and the brand I use is La Lechonera (best) but you can buy Goya also.

Put some wood in and let er rip.

Scott

I would never have thought to put the Mojo on a ham. Have you ever used the bitter orange that is ued to make the mojo criollo as a marinade?
I just got a recipe for a sauce from a friend in Biloxi that uses bitter orange juice

OK 2nd time and the ribs were awesome. Takes 5 1/2 - 6 hours while the book states 4. Also a whole Chicken was good and took about 5 hours ,while the book states 3. I took the internal temp on the chicken up to the low 190's. I may try my first pork butt this weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by RJT:
[qb]I took the internal temp on the chicken up to the low 190's.[/qb]

Inquiring minds want to know, hope you don't mind me asking but WHY???

190 would burn any chicken I cook up to a dried out piece of flesh. If you took it to 190, I'd check your thermometers.

160 in the breast and 175 in the thigh.

I would just like to add...DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!
Your new smokette is designed to cook with the moisture contained in the meat. When you open the door, not only do you let moisture out, but heat also. There is no reason to open the door and turn the ribs over or turn anything. Maybe you would feel better cutting the slabs in half and using rib hooks. You can get more in that way also. Also, I figgered out a long time ago that smokette cooks better when it is really loaded up with meat. I agree the biggest broiler chicken you can find will end up better than a small bird. The only thang the smokette should be drying out is jerky, and you don't open the door to accomplish that. You leave it in until it is done, then open the door to remove it. Experimenting and documenting the cooks will help you more than anything. Do it often. Rant over. Good luck!

I do not know if the thermometer is dead on or not but the chicken cooked at 225 for almost 5 hours. This was a 3.5 lb bird.

RJT,

Lots of posts in the forums about thermo probe problems - usually caused by moisture getting into the probe where the wire enters. If that happens you can get strange and faulty readings.

A 3.5 lb. chick at 225 on the thermostat should be done in about 3.5 to 4 hours give or take. Temp in breast should be 160-165 and 170-175 in the thigh.