Tuscan Rosemary-Smoked Whole Chicken

From Barbecue Addiction by Bobby Flay

Taste - 3 (of 5)
Difficulty - 3 (of 5 - because of the smoking in the charcoal grill--smoker might be easier)
Time - 5 of 5 (Took about 8 hours total, much of that was waiting)
Price - 2 (probably about $20 if you get a bargain chicken, probably could get cheaper)

So this recipe caught my eye because I was looking to improve my ability to cook chicken over charcoal.  I am notorious for ruining chicken breasts over charcoal.  It gets this thick tough crust that is unappetizing.  Instead of cooking chicken parts, the recipe encouraged me to cook the whole chicken on top of the grill, something I normally reserve for the oven.  However, the whole shtick of this recipe was to slow smoke the chicken and smother it with rosemary flavoring presumably to make you feel like you are eating chicken from some Italian villa in Tuscany, hence the name.

The recipe called for a ton of rosemary.  20 sprigs.  I have a small rosemary bush in my garden but it hasn't really grown enough to farm 20 sprigs from it, so I had to spend at least $5 on rosemary.  It also called for almond wood chips for smoking, I didn't have any, and could not find them at the local home depot, so I used cherry instead as suggested by the recipe as a backup.   It also said I could use apple.

The first thing the recipe called for was a brining in rosemary, chicken broth, and garlic.  This brine smelled aromatic and garlic-ey--like I was walking through a pine forest eating a meatball.  I know that doesn't sound good, but who wouldn't want to chomp on a meatball during a long hike through a pine forest?  After soaking for an hour in this concoction, I wanted to eat the chicken right then.  It smelled really good.

It then came time for the cooking after being air dried in the fridge for an hour.  So this was my first attempt at slow cooking something on the charcoal grill.  The instructions for slow cooking said to shut the top and bottom vents, pile the wood to the side, and the chicken on the other.   The recipe called to cook the chicken between 275 and 325 degrees.   I used a full chimney of lump charcoal.  I put a grill thermometer on the indirect heated side of the grill.

Once lit and covered with the vents, the grill quickly rose to 350 and higher.  I added rosemary and cherry wood chips to the fire, and it smelled unique like a sweet herb smell that almost a menthol quality to it.   I'm assuming that was the rosemary, because I added more cherry later and did not smell it.

The temperature maxed out around 375.  I closed the vents to allow the tiniest of air circulation, and it didn't seem to lower to the require temperature (325) until 40 minutes of the 45 minutes of cooking time.  I actually burn the skin off my hand adjusting the grill vents--something I will be more careful of next time.   I only touched the bottom of the grill where the charcoal for a split second -- enough to blister my skin.  Clearly, I was doing something wrong.   The chicken cooked too fast, and started to look burnt.  If I decided to slow cook something in the grill again, I will not use a full chimney's worth of charcoal. maybe a half.  If any charcoal experts are out there I'd love to hear from you.

The recipe said to measure the chicken doneness by checking the temperature of the thigh for 160 and the breast for 170.    The breast never made it to 170 before I decided to make the call to pull it off to prevent it from burning (it was 160).  I checked the thigh and and it as already at 180.

The chicken looked beautifully burnt in a pathetic way--like that quirky girl you were attracted too in highschool, but were too embarrassed to tell people because you weren't the only one sure if she was hot.  I'm not quite sure how it is supposed to look, but I thought the final product looked a bit..er over-done, but I couldn't help admire the color of it. It really did look seductive like a cartoon chicken from Tom and Jerry.  I loved how Tom would pick up a chicken and take a big bite out of it.   Cartoon chickens always look perfectly cooked.  The inside of the chicken was a different story--I knew when I cut into it that it was good.   The meat was succulent and juicy, the smokey rosemary flavor was prevalent throughout the meat.  My wife and I had a breast and a drumstick each.

We both agreed while juicy and delicious, it was in the end, just chicken, albeit smokey, fragrent delicious chicken.  As far as roasted chicken goes, this is how I want to eat it.  I just would rather have a pork chop.  We'd eat it again, but we are not in a hurry to try it.  Given the chicken takes all day to prepare, (2-4 hours brine, 1-2 hours to dry, 1/2 hour to warm, 1 hour to smoke) I wouldn't rush to make this again, unless I had some really good sides to go with it and I had the hanckerin' for slice or piece a chunka chicken.  This was fun to cook, and experiment with brining and trying to slow cook.  I know what to expect next time.