tekobo Posted March 8, 2023 Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 I'm hoping to get one soon. I can imagine doing tandoori skewers on it. At least that is my excuse for having yet another BBQ accessory. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 Today is the day. I have had this meat hanger for at least six months and am finally going to use it. There used to be a great South African butcher in Leeds Market. He "retired" but was forced to continue making and selling sausages and smoked chickens from his home because his customers demanded it. I no longer work in Leeds and so I wrote to him to ask him if I was on the right track with my plans to brine and then smoke some whole chickens. This is five years after he was meant to have retired (he is now 74) and he was up bright and early this morning to continue our email conversation. It seems like I am on the right track. I aged the chickens in the dry ager for a week to build flavour. Then I wet brined them for 18 hours. One of them in a lemony coriander and fennel brine and the other in a beery, hot sauce brine. They have just gone into the heat soaked KK at about 140C. Smoking over a mix of apple and a little pecan. Photos to follow.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Chang Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 2 hours ago, tekobo said: Today is the day. I have had this meat hanger for at least six months and am finally going to use it. ohhh, you got the kk accessory. i thought you got one of these.., 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 Smoked whole chicken on the meat hanger is a GOOD thing. About 2.5 hours at 250F/120C in the end. Start drooling now... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qundoy Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 Beautiful birds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 Gorgeous! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remi Posted April 29 Report Share Posted April 29 Wow- they look divine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted April 29 Report Share Posted April 29 Stunning! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C6Bill Posted April 30 Report Share Posted April 30 (edited) @tekobo How did the skin render ? They look good. Edited April 30 by C6Bill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted May 1 Report Share Posted May 1 22 hours ago, C6Bill said: @tekobo How did the skin render ? They look good. The skin on the smoked chicken rendered beautifully. I did not eat the chicken immediately and I think that helped. Cooling the chickens down slowly and then refrigerating them meant that the moisture was retained and when we cut into them to make sandwiches for supper, the breasts were moist and delicious. You also got that "chicken jelly" near the bones and beneath the skin which added to the taste. The smoke flavour was good but I might try this again without extra smoke. Also plan to try tandoori and suya whole chicken. Options abound! 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C6Bill Posted May 1 Report Share Posted May 1 I bet they tasted as good as they looked and they looked really good 😊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PVPAUL Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 @tekobo just a couple of questions relating to using the Meat Hangers for the chickens. Did you put a drip pan under the chickens to avoid flare ups / messy clean up? I’m guessing you also own a rotisserie set up. Do you like the ease of the meat hanger over the rotisserie? It looks like the clean up and set up of the meat hanger would simpler. I’ve been on the fence on the meat hanger but may have to pull the trigger soon. All the best, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 (edited) 44 minutes ago, PVPAUL said: @tekobo just a couple of questions relating to using the Meat Hangers for the chickens. Did you put a drip pan under the chickens to avoid flare ups / messy clean up? I’m guessing you also own a rotisserie set up. Do you like the ease of the meat hanger over the rotisserie? It looks like the clean up and set up of the meat hanger would simpler. I’ve been on the fence on the meat hanger but may have to pull the trigger soon. All the best, Paul Hi Paul. No, I did not use a drip pan. The set up is as per the photos - I didn't move or remove anything for the chickens' photo shoot. On low and slow cooks I put the smoke pot directly over the fire. That acts as my shield and I rarely use a drip pan for such cooks. No flare ups at all. I like rotisserie chicken for the crisp skin and the fact that the meat is "rarer" than it is for the low and slow smoked chicken. That said, I think you could cook hot and fast with the meat hanger, e.g. for a tandoori cook, but I have not tried that yet. Chances are you will need a drip pan for that but it depends on whether or not the longitudinal splitter could be used to keep the fire away from the drips. It is relatively easy to move the hook on the hanger to turn the chicken if you want a bit of the kiss of the fire on both sides. And yes, set up and clean up with the meat hanger is easier. No motor to haul out, attach and plug in. That said, I have no problem with cleaning the spit rotisserie. I just put the prongs in the dishwasher and run a sponge down the spit itself. Edited May 2 by tekobo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 I know that I sound like a broken record but don't forget about our "friend", Powdered Brewers Wash (PBW), for cleaning stainless steel gear, like rotisserie parts and I'm sure that it would do a similar job on the hanger. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted May 7 Report Share Posted May 7 @tony b this stainless steel comes up clean very easily in the dishwasher and also with a short soak in soapy water. PBW is worth the soaking time and cost when it comes to getting grill grates nice and clean but I don't find that I need it for things like rotisserie forks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted June 25 Report Share Posted June 25 Have meat hanger, will travel. My husband and I drove the 2.5 hours from our house to visit with @RokDok and his wife Helen this last weekend. I wanted to show him the hanger and I also wanted to try a hot and fast cook. I took one tandoori marinaded chicken and one suya marinaded chicken with me. The marinade from the Tandoor Cookbook by Ranjit Rai includes papaya and I remembered others' warnings that leaving meat too long with this tenderiser could make your meat soft and pappy. Sooo... on the first evening we tried the tandoori marinated chicken. @RokDok has exactly the same colour and tile(!!) 32 as I have at home so we didn't miss a beat. The book recommends 250C temperatures and a very quick cook after slashing and marinading the whole chicken. The recommendation was about 10 mins for the first cook, out to rest for 5 mins, baste with ghee and then cook for another 10 minutes. In practice the whole cook took about 45 minutes. The legs did get burned but the meat was generally juicy. We followed the chicken with duck legs gently cooked in fat in the KK with lovely roast potatoes. Ain't nothing wrong with double protein unless you object to being so full you can't fit in dessert! I wanted to improve on that chicken cook so, the next day for lunch, I positioned the suya marinaded chicken higher up on hook to get it further away from the fire. We also heat soaked the KK for longer so that the breasts would cook a bit faster. Main lesson learned? You need a shield to stop the lower extremities burning in a hot and fast cook for something that takes as long to cook as a chicken. I should have cooked the chicken away from the fire for the first 30 minutes and then moved it over the fire to crisp it up at the end. That said, this was a mighty yummy cook and between us we picked the carcass clean! Dinner was this yummy steak with more potatoes. We all had a lovely time and Paul has now ordered his very own duck/meat hanger. Hurrah! I suspect that skewers will be a really good use case for a hot and fast cook on the hanger so I will try that next. I hesitate to do this but hey... @RokDok got a local farmer to bring him a squirrel which he proceeded to skin, cut and cook on a skewer. I refused point blank to taste it but it did look good and he and my husband professed to enjoy it with their beer. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted June 25 Report Share Posted June 25 Wow, Tekobo was on a road trip pushing KK accessories. Mission accomplished. 👍👍 Sure sounds like the cooks were a tasty success, well that is until you mentioned someone cooking one of my squirrels. 🥹 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted June 25 Report Share Posted June 25 I'd almost be interested in the hanging rack, but back in the day, I had the blacksmiths down in the Amana Colonies craft me this rack and skewer set. I don't use it very often, but it does come in handy for some cooks. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrus Posted June 26 Report Share Posted June 26 (edited) 7 hours ago, tony b said: but back in the day, You have the original deflector in the pic...must be ancient days passed bye. Decorative piece, functional too....I like it. Edited June 26 by Tyrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RokDok Posted June 26 Report Share Posted June 26 On 6/25/2024 at 6:48 PM, MacKenzie said: Wow, Tekobo was on a road trip pushing KK accessories. Mission accomplished. 👍👍 Sure sounds like the cooks were a tasty success, well that is until you mentioned someone cooking one of my squirrels. 🥹 Really sorry about that @MacKenzie, but rest assured that @tekobo remains 100% squirrel-free. Not a morsel passed her lips. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...