Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons by Colleen Rush, Gary Wiviott Read Free Book Online Page A

thickest part of the breast with a fork. If the juice running out of the chicken is clear, it’s done. If the juice is still pinkish, or the meat isn’t registering the correct doneness. I don’t recommend using a meat or oven thermometer the first few cooks because you learn to rely on numbers instead of trusting your instincts. However, if you must, the meat is done when the breast reads 155°F and the thigh reads 165°F. To improve the likelihood of crisping the skin, squirt the chicken skin with cooking spray or canola oil and flip the chicken over, skin-side down.
    Check the water level in the water pan. Refill it if it’s low.
    Replace the lid and fork-test the chicken every 10 minutes until the juices run clear.
    IF YOU MUST KNOW WHY ...
     
    WHY CAN’T I JUST THROW THE CHICKEN ON THE GRATE? you ask. Because the breast is more susceptible to drying out. Arranging the chicken on the grate with the breast away from the hottest zone on the grate protects the breast, and the meat cooks more evenly. On a WSM, the perimeter of the grate is hotter because heat flows around the water pan and up the sides. The chicken breasts should face the middle of the grate on the WSM. On a kettle grill set up with a two-zone fire, the heat is more intense at the center of the grate. The chicken breasts should face “out” on a kettle. Offset smokers are hottest closest to the firebox, so the chicken breasts should face away from the firebox.
    Incidentally, we’re off to a bad start if you’re already thinking of and asking these types of questions. Just follow the directions and you’ll have your barbecue epiphany soon enough.
     
 
    THE SMOKE RING
     
    IN BARBECUE, THE SMOKE RING—the bright pink layer just under the surface of the meat—is one of the signs of a successful low and slow cook. But some people get nervous when their chicken is pink. If you fall into this category of people, rest assured, this pink does not mean your chicken is undercooked. The smoke ring is the result of a chemical reaction between the wood smoke and the meat, and you want it there.
 
     

DEAR STUDENT,
     
    CONGRATULATIONS! YOU SHOULD HAVE A PLATTER OF TASTY, PERFECTLY SMOKED Chicken Mojo Criollo in your hands. Now, do a little victory dance around your cooker in the backyard. Because you followed the instructions exactly, didn’t you?
    What’s that? You incorporated some tips you saw on the Virtual Weber site? You had a half bag of leftover charcoal briquettes and figured, Why not use it up? You smoked bologna instead of chicken?
    I have a stock letter for transgressors of my Program. It goes like this:
     
    Dear [Name of the Damned Withheld],
    Stop reading the Virtual Weber site. It’s a great resource, but if you pick up techniques and methods from Web sites and try to incorporate them into the Program, things get confusing and don’t work well. Virtual Weber and I have very different philosophies on barbecue. The site is populated by engineers who tend to put too much emphasis on things like time charts and ambient temperature. My Program cares about none of that. Start the fire, put the meat in the cooker, and leave it the hell alone.
     
    Now, go take that damn thermometer out of the vent. Not only is the thermometer blocking airflow, which causes smoldering (which leads to creosote-flavored food), but these thermometers are meant to be inserted in food. They don’t measure the air temperature in your cooker, so you’ll never get an accurate reading. Repeat after me: we don’t care about no stinking temperature. Remember, you’re learning to read fires and meat, not thermometers.
    Also, do not reuse charcoal. Ever. Charcoal is an absorbent. It drinks moisture and odor from the air, which is why it’s often used as a filter. Moist charcoal cooks slow and transfers off flavors to your food. And let me guess: you used regular briquettes instead of natural lump charcoal? Do I have to remind you that briquettes contain a witch’s