Wander, the trick is to let the lady of the house think she is winning.

Earlier this year we went for a drive to "explore" a certain part of Norfolk.

Amazing how we ended up in the old MQs at RAF West Raynham. She was too angry to come and reminisce with me as I leapt the fence and wandered round the old camp.

I was gone quite some time :ok:

SS ... How are you old chap ... clearly up to mischief as usual :ok:

SS- how do you think I escape to UK for a couple of weeks at a time to glide, and go to airshows..................

Did a double sitting chicken yesterday. One wore Bud, the Other Stowford Press. Both done at the same time, we and our guests could detect no distinct flavours from either, except that the Stowford did appear to have more moist breast meat. I am now debating whether our lack of lumpwood, and use of the emergency briquettes could have masked any subtlety. Not a problem, we are already planning a repeat test, using proper charcoal, with the same guests. Three good tries so far, and every one a winner as they say, a great way to cook a treat. Thanks to all on this thread who introduced me to the delights.

Smudge:ok:

Smudge
 

I agree, for quick grilling lumpwood can't be beaten. But for a long cook, I find briquettes are ideal, & easier to regulate the temperature.

Mrs Aks bought me one of these to replace the beer-can. The dome is filled with liquid of your choice, put the spikey thing on then put your chook over it. Next put the cap on. Very little steam comes out the top of the chook.

The cone holds the poultry upright, which allows the pan to catch all the juices that can be used for basting or making a delicious gravy.

http://imgbin.me/image/EVVMOQMW.jpg

Akrotiri 71,

I'm using these myself, stuff your beer of choice in the middle and off she goes. Not done a bad one yet, and, not bad for a tenner each. My SWMBO insists it's the best chicken she has ever sampled. Praise indeed.

http://www.diy.com/nav/garden/outdoo...skuId=13239307

Smudge:ok:

Akrotiri 71,

Odd, I find briquettes to be hugely inferior to lumpwood. The briquettes are full of sawdust, coal, saltpeter etc, and generate a huge amount of ash. I remember the days of using the lever thing on the bottom of a Weber Kettle trying to get it all out. High quality lumpwood (I use Nature-glo or BGE brand) is much superior. Much reduced ash burden, far superior consistency of heat (as the lumps are MUCH bigger than briquettes) and much better recycling of unused fuel. If you jog the unused fuel about with an ash tool, the loose ash falls off to the bottom, and the unburned charcoal is ready to live another day. Briquettes are too small to do that with. Once it's alight, it's almost certainly going to burn through, or be so small as to make it not worthwhile re-using.

Here's a comparison of various charcoals and Kingsford briquettes.

Smudge/R280
 

Smudge. That looks a fine beer-up-the-chuff device! Good price to. Good job sir. :ok:

R280. Having never tried BGE charcoal/briquettes, I cannot comment. But I have always found Weber 240 minutes Long Lasting briquettes more than adequate for my needs for a long cook. I did a 5 hr smoked pork sheet-rib on a 1.5 chimney. (I am not adverse to buying a bag or two of BGE lump and trying it out. And I will. I'm always open for hint/tips etc). That link was superb, just my thing...:ok: (Anorak).

With regards to briquettes living for another day. Close off all vents as soon one is done cooking, and the remaining briquettes extinguish quickly, and can be used for the next grill. (Load them up in the bottom of a chimey, hey presto!).

I'm trying to coax SWMBO that a BGE is a must! But apparently she thinks that having a 57cm Pro/Smokey Joe/Smokey Mountain are sufficient. I have started to use utilise the Smokey Mountain to make my own Biltong. The first two attempts have been not bad at all.

Happy grilling. :ok:

Akrotiri 71 ...

@ #1506

I reckon if you hooked that up to a waveguide it would work very satisfactorily on the S Band :}

I agree with Akrotiri71.

Lumpwood for quick grilling and good quality briquettes for low'n'slow because it's easier to control the temperature. (Not the cheap supermarket briquettes which tend to burn too quickly.)

The porcelain coated (non stick) Weber poultry roaster costs more than a basic frame-holder but the benefits are worth the extra. It also works well for smoked chicken if you have a 22.5" grill.

For more flavour, season the chicken with a paste under the skin or a rub on the outside.

You guys must have different lumpwood from that which we get here in the US. I would use briquettes in the absence of proper charcoal, but only for "quick grilling". No way would I use them for a long smoke, especially in view of all the extra garbage in them. Perhaps the lumps are a different size or something.

Roadster

Although not impossible, it's not easy to obtain good quality lumpwood charcoal here.
Most bags sold at supermarkets, DIY centres, petrol stations etc contain some larger size pieces but mostly small pieces which burn quite quickly - too quickly for low slow cooking and smoking.
Better quality charcoal, sometimes called 'Restaurant Grade', is available but from far fewer outlets.

Briquettes burn more evenly. They create more ash but I've never found that to be a problem. The built-in ash container of the Weber is more than adequate for a long burn.

Smudge
 

This article might be of interest to you, with regards to the lack of detecting any distinct taste. :eek: Makes perfect sense.

Debunking Beer Can Chicken: A Waste Of Good Beer

Looking at the chook holder you have, it looks to me that you could put a cut-down beer can in the bottom so the top of it is just below the stop ring. Slide the chook to the stop-ring at the bottom, thus exposing the beer can to your heat source, and hopefully it will boil the beer/wine etc., and infuse the chook. Just a thought.

Edit: I'm currently doing a beer-can chook, on an infuser. I put some hickory wood chips in boiling water for half hour. Then put the hot water into the infuser. Let's see what happens.

Akrotiri 71,

Thanks for that, and the link. How interesting, I'm now convinced that the holder is a good idea, the beer inside not so good. I do hate the thought of wasting good ale. Perhaps more contributors would read that article and comment. I'm actually considering at our next attempt a beer can in one, and nothing in the other, might be a more relevant comparison. One thing I do know is that I must get good quality lumpwood charcoal, the briquettes are the pits for me.

Smudge:ok:

Smudge.

Did the beer-up-the-chuff-chook this evening. Filled up the dispenser in the bottom of the diffuser. After the chook was cooked there was a marginal reduction of fluid in the diffuser. No noticeable additional flavour. Which confirms that the fluid does not boil! Which debunks the whole beer-can chook flavouring myth in my opinion. Cased closed?

Very interesting. I have always enjoyed beer can chicken, but completely buy the debunking in the article. I will say that the Sittin' Chicken or Sittin' Turkey is mucho better than a can. The aperture is much bigger than a can, and much lower in the bird. But, it still can't get any hotter than the inside of the bird, and unless that's 212F or higher, it ain't gonna boil. Or can it? The thermal conductivity of water must be better than the organic mass of the bird, but again, I've never noticed much of a fluid loss in the can or Sittin Chicken. I do my birds at 375F, so maybe it does release a tiny bit of steam.

Perhaps the improvement over horizontal grilling is simply that the fat renders out into the drip tray under the bird. As it goes, I'll be doing one tomorrow, but using a beer can.

Having recently bought a gas chamber, perhaps I should get a rotisserie for it, and do one bird on the BGE and another on the rotisserie. That would be a fair comparison.

Watch this space in about a month...

... maybe that's why Bud was suggested ......... ;)

hat....coat ...etc

Precisely. If the fluid in the can doesn't reach 212F it aint gonna boil. But it may release a tad of vapour. Which lends itself that the fluid in the can doesn't reach the required temp to boil & infuse the chook. Buggah!

Anxiety About Wasting Beer
 

I have experimented over a good few years with 'chicken on a beer tin', and, indeed on a frame like Akrotiri 71 illustrated... and also with duck on a beer tin (recommended in a long-previous post, as the fat gently drips away, leaving one with a beautifully moist bird with that hint of smoky flavour). I even save small ginger ale tins and half fill them with amber brew before inserting into the chook frame.


And... I have not confined my experiments to beer, having tried a modest volume of a suitably robust red...


I am going to say that I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference what one uses, and I have now reverted to, guess what, water, and keep the beer for moi... it seems to me that the flavour in one's meat comes from the rub and the braai fire... and the main function of the beer tin is to provide a reservoir of steam which keeps the meat beautifully moist from inside.


Anyone else tried just using water and keeping the beer for one's own insides rather than those of the steaming bird over the fire?

Gem
I agree whole heatedly
Cold beer in me.........hot water in the bird of choice:ooh: