Chicken in a bullet smoker – Let’s go HOT & FAST

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The purpose of this post isn’t to share a great recipe for chicken thighs / legs . . . but to discuss the actual cooking method I use.

When I first got my bullet smoker I was naive to think that a single method would do just fine, but oh how wrong was i!

Cooking chicken pieces ‘low and slow’ produced the most rubbery skin imaginable. Although I didn’t try . . . I’m pretty sure I could have torn off a strip and used as a replacement elastic band to fire across the garden . . . it was disgusting!

Now I’m sure that you could produce some great chicken this way . . . but it wasn’t for me. Instead I adopt the ‘Hot and Fast – Long Range Direct’ method.

. . . let me explain:

You’ll be glad to know there’s no snake or anything involved in this setup . . . simply fill your chimney starter up with your fuel of choice and light.

Let the chimney starter do its ‘thing’ until the fuel is burning nicely . . . around 15-20 minutes for me.

Once the fuel is burning nicely simply chuck them all in the basket and spread them around a little to ensure the entire area is covered.

P.S Is this anyone else’s favourite step? I just love pouring the fuel in when you get embers flying around . . .

No deflector needed, no water pan . . . just a shelf on the highest point possible within your bullet smoker . . . remember, we’re going for:

Long Range – – – so for me this means using two stacks on the ProQ
Direct – – – no water pan . . . just the coal, flames and chicken

That’s everything set up, now just to wait for a few minutes until the bullet is up to temperature . . . for me that’s around 325f to 350f.

Once the oven is hot enough its time to put that chicken on the top shelf.

For me, I just have a selection of thighs . . . some in a Chinese marinade and others in a rich garlic butter . . . simples!

I start off with skin side up.

Once the chicken is around 125f I flip them over to be skin side down . . . as you can clearly see, the colour / skin is already looking nice on the underside.