Chicken Cooker - May Idea of the Month

Chicken Cooker

Making slow-cooked, smoked meat/potato wedges etc. is nearly effortless with this method of cooking.

Meadow Creek, a barbecue website, crafts chicken cookers that make it possible to easily cook incredibly delicious chicken

To view these “BBQ Pits” go here: http://www.meadowcreekbbq.com/bbq-series.php

I decided to make a small version of their type of cooker for everyday home use and camping. It worked really well!

The concept:
·    The steel box encases the contents (briquettes, grates, food items). This serves to keep  
     heat inside the cooker and speed up the cooking process.
·    The food is heated by briquettes in the bottom of the box. Note: DO NOT use briquettes 
     with lighter fluid, use only plain briquettes. A briquette chimney is used to initially heat
     these.
·    Small vent holes feed briquettes oxygen, but you must be careful to not give it too much
     oxygen or your chicken will burn. I put six quarter-inch holes on the sides close to the
     bottom of the box.
·    The meat is sandwiched between two grates
·    The distance of the two grates is 18 inches from the briquettes (this measurement is very
      important!)

My box is 16x16 x22 H. The two racks are hinged together on one side.
I used an oven rack [the kind with the bars close together, then I cut it to the size I needed]. I used a slip ring ( just 2 little pipes welded together ) to hold the rack together but you could use wire or a hose clamp etc. I made the box by welding cut steel together. You could use 2 oven racks and some cinder blocks if you couldn't weld. You just need some type of fireproof box.   

How to:
1.   Obtain a 7 lbs pack of bone-in chicken, I prefer thighs. Lay them on one rack and close other rack on top of them, clamp the non-hinge side. This makes a “sandwich”, season both sides with your choice of spices.

2.    Light two chimney’s worth of briquettes
3.    After 30 minutes, dump them in the bottom of box/cooker.
4.    Level the briquettes out with a shovel
5.    Set rack of preloaded chicken in slots (located at the top of the cooker)

6.    Shut the lid of the cooker 
7.    For crispy chicken: Flip every 10 minutes for an hour and twenty minutes

8.     For less crispy chicken (regular): Flip every 10 minutes for an hour and ten minutes

9.     Remove chicken grates from cooker, set in a safe place

 Once the chicken is done, there is plenty of heat left over in the bottom of the cooker for use in Dutch oven cooking, or for cooking baked potatoes etc.