The brine you list is the brine I use for everything. Except I usually go with cup and a cup instead of 3/4 cup salt/brown sugar. If all I have for salt is fine table salt I use 3/4 cup. Catfish, Lake Trout, Salmon, Chicken, Beaver Jerky, all get the same brine. Started doing that years ago and it sure simplified things. For wood I almost always use punky/rotten Cottonwood or dead Cottonwood soaked overnight. I like to cut a 4"-6" Cottonwood log into 1" thick disks when I can find them. They soak up water fast and don't catch fire very easy, just smolder when laid on coals.

I brined them as you stated ADC. 1 was left whole the other was spatchcoked.
Used apple wood chips since they came with the smoker.
I made a rub abs stuffed the whole one half a Granny Smith 3 garlic cloves and a few chunks of carrot.
I just put them in the smoker a little bit ago

America's Test Kitchen is an off shoot of 'Cooks Illustrated' magazine. Good magazine. I subscribed for years. It is a no bs magazine. The format is similar to consumer reports , but dealing with cooking. Just like consumer reports , there is NO advertising at all in the magazine. This way they have a completely unbiased opinion. They have articles about recipes , kitchen techniques and kitchen equipment. I remember one article were they got 40 or different cake pans costing from a couple dollars to as much as a $100 cake pan. They tested them out a bunch of different ways with different recipes. The winner , a $4 Ecko pan.
Another article I remember was one where they got 120 or so turkeys. They bought them at cheap supermarkets , from farmers fresh , frozen, gourmet ones, all different. Tested out different ways , styles , methods of cooking them under different scenarios. One thing they found out , even with getting the best ones they could find there was a markedly improved turkey when you brined it. A cheap frozen supermarket turkey when brined was superior to a gourmet organic fresh turkey that was not brined.
Real results , no outside forces skewing the outcome , 100% unbiased. Great for improving your cooking and cutting down the learning curve of trial and error. They also spend a fair amount of time on the actual science of cooking. Understanding how fats and starches react when various chemical/thermal processes are taking place and why , broken down into layman's terms and how it effects you and the dish you are preparing.

I highly recommend this magazine/TV show. Encourage your spouse/kids learning to cook to take interest in it.

I like America's Test Kitchen/ cooks country.

Shortly after I put ther bird's in it started raining the meaning the smoker temp dropped. I moved it under the patio temp wouldn't come up more than 185ish moved it and blocked it better temps steady around 200 225 and that's with it turned all the way up. Never had an electric smoker so this is new to me.

I like to leave brinded birds in to 170 maybe 175 degrees internal temp. This will dry out a unbrined bird but not a brined one. Pay little attention to how long it takes.

Thanks I will take the internal temp in a bit. Even opening the door for a few seconds to add chips dramatically drops the smoker temp.

The whole bird which was on the bottom rack is now resting.

Finished whole. Fell apart taking it off the rack


Both together.

To hard to keep lit.... crack an egg???

???
What do you mean crack an egg?

A steady rain and light breeze made it hard to keep the temp but once I got moved it and "insulated" around the smoker it maintained temp.

Sides were jambalaya rice and red lobster biscuits.

I am going to smoke 2 this weekend. Good idea thanks

ROFL trapper234

let us know how they come out grapestomper.

Adam,

This is a quick way, but it is really good. I buy whole fryers at the grocery store and cut them in half. Then I put them in 2.5 gallon freezer bags in brine solution and put in fridge. I use 1 cup Fiesta brand chicken or pork rub, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup worcestershire sauce in the bag full of water.

Brine 6-8 hours and take out and pat dry. Rub the chickens well with olive oil and then liberally put your favorite rub all over them.

Put the chicken halves skin side up on the heated pit at 275-300 degrees. Mop every 30 minutes with sop. I use a can of beer and Italian dressing for the sop. Leave the halves on for two hours and then place them in a tin foil baking pan, mop once more and cover with foil and place back on pit for an hour pull it off and let rest 15-20 minutes.

Very good and only takes 3 hours to cook. Chicken is fall of the bone tender and always consistent. Works for me anyway.

Will Do

Decided to cook last night. Turned out real good.

Dang now Im ready for lunch!!!