Smoked Chicken w/Honey Mustard Sauce

The T-Bone family has heretofore been leary of me preparing chicken in any way other than grilling boneless, skinless breasts. With the new smoker, I wanted to give smoked chicken a try (especially after Andakin's family raved over his). Taking Andakin's advice, I headed to the Hartford Walmart to pick up a couple of packages of pre-cut chicken pieces. I rubbed them before lunch on Saturday to prepare for a 3pm Sunday smoking session.

After reading from several sources, a common flaw with smoked chicken is the possibility of rubbery skin. Being a two apparatus man now, I figured I could get a second fire going on the kettle to crisp up the skin before serving. Instead of a traditional tomato based sauce, Mrs. T suggested we go with my mustard sauce. When the pieces were about 165 degrees, I transferred them to the kettle for direct heat and a little char. The result? Winner, Winner - Chicken Dinner.

T-Bone Bites the Bullet

Last Saturday was the maiden voyage of my new Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker (WSM). I have been searching far and wide for a smoker that met my precise and picky needs. My previous look at the WSM impressed me but I felt the 18 inch grates would be too small for doing a substantial amount of ribs without weaving them onto a rib rack.
In 2009, Weber came out with a larger 22.5 inch version or the same size as their standard kettle grills. After reading a lot of reviews and watching video this anal guy who runs the website the virtual weber bullet, I decided to go for it. The cooker did not disappoint.

The WSM held its heat really well for about 3 hours on the first load of charcoal. Since my total session was about 6.5 hours, I added a few handfulls of briquettes each hour during the remaining time. Being used to smoking on my kettle, I felt pretty useless as I normally would add wood or charcoal every 45 minutes. And don't get me started on the added Greal Estate !! (I should trademark that term).