Boned Whole Chicken Stuffed and Rolled on the Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS)

My favorite way to pass a rainy weekend day -- Trying something new on the Ugly Drum Smoker.

The idea of having a chicken entirely free of bones intrigued me. I couldn't decide if the correct term is to "bone" or "debone" a chicken. It turns out there are entire debates on this. That made me laugh a little.

I stumbled upon this YouTube video that made it look so simple. I decided to give it a try.

We'll it was easy. I wasn't quite as efficient and no where near as pretty as the shown on the video, but I was able to manage it without much difficulty.

Here's my little chicken free of all bones.

Because this was entirely new to me, I wanted to keep it simple so I just used stove top stuffing. If I were to do this again, I would find something more "home made" to stuff into the chicken. Here's the stuffing (prepared according to instructions on package) in place.

"Rolled"

Topped with a few strips of bacon and tied

Lightly seasoned with a salt free spice mix and ready for the drum

After about 90 minutes on the Ugly Drum Smoker running at about 300 degrees F, I reached the target internal temp of 165 degrees.

I thought it turned out "OK". It's a little bland. The chicken skin under the bacon was rubbery. I probably should have given more thought to seasoning the outside of the chicken. Maybe with a rub that had some sweetness to it. I thought that it would have enough flavor from the bacon and the smoking process to taste good.

Wild Bill's Chicken Quarters on the Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS)

Rainy weekend project -- trying new things on the UDS.

I bought two whole chickens at Costco -- one to quarter, and one to bone (or is it, "de-bone"?) and stuff.

I found a YouTube video that showed me how to quarter a chicken. Pretty straight forward and not too difficult.

Here's what I did with the quartered chicken:

Found from the 'net
Wild Bill’s Chicken Quarters


Brine
1 quart water
4 tablespoons Kosher or Sea Salt (2 tablespoons if using regular Morton salt)
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Thoroughly mix all ingredients in a non-reactive container such as porcelain, plastic, glass or stainless steel.

BRINE CHART
Whole Chicken 4 to 8 hours
Half Chicken 3 to 6 hours
Bone-in Skin-on Breasts 1 to 2 hours
Boneless Skinless Breasts 30 to 60 minutes
Legs, Thighs, Skin-on 45 to 90 minutes
Legs, Thighs, Skinless 30 to 45 minutes

Remove chicken from brine and rinse under running cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub olive oil onto chicken quarters and sprinkle a heavy coat of Wild Bill's Meat Rub or rub of your choice on each chicken quarter and massage the rub into the pores of the chicken quarters.

WILD BILL'S MEAT RUB INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup paprika 1/4 cup ground black pepper
1/4 cup salt 1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder 2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon garlic powder


I brined the chicken quarters for about two hours while I worked on my other projects. When I was ready, I pulled them from the brine, then rinsed and patted dry. Hit them with a little olive oil and then a generous dose of the Wild Bill Meat Rub. Here they are right before going on the drum:

I ran them on the UDS for about 90 minutes at about 300 degrees. I thought that they would be done earlier, but I checked the internal temp beginning at about 60 minutes and they were not quite to the 165 internal temp I was looking for. At about 90 minutes they were within range and I pulled them.

Here they are all done:

The rub has a nice kick to it. I used a blend of dried peppers that I make up myself. I really think the rub has a nice mix that goes great with the smokey flavors and the meat.

An easy project that turned out well.

Beef Back Ribs and Chuck Roast on the UDS

More experimenting with beef ribs today.

Picked up a rack of beef back ribs this weekend, along with a small chuck roast to play around with on the Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS).

Ribs:

Chuck Roast:

Used my Lonesome Dove Rub I made a few weeks back:

Lonesome Dove Game Rub (courtesy of chef Tim Love):

1 cup Guajillo chili powder
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup cumin, ground
1/4 cup rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup thyme leaves, finely chopped
3/4 cup black pepper, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup garlic powder


Ribs and roast all rubbed up:

I thought I'd shoot for the 3-2-1 method on the ribs, with the drum running around 225-250 degrees. After about 3.5 hrs on the drum, I pulled both items and wrapped them in foil and stuck them back on the drum. After an additional 2 hours, I pulled the ribs, removed the foil, and stuck them back on for another hour.

I left the chuck roast in the foil. I was shooting for an internal temp just over 200 degrees -- where you get the connective tissue break-down.

At about 7.5 hours total time, the chuck roast probe "went in like buttah" and was at the 200+ mark I was shooting for. The ribs, on the otherhand where not quite there. I decided to pull them anyway as the back ribs don't have a lot of meat, and I was concerned they might be drying out.

So, here's everything after 7.5 hours of cooking on the Ugly Drum Smoker:

Crisp bark on the outside, nice and juicy on the inside:

All plated up with a few mini potatoes I threw on there for a short time:

Beef Short Ribs in the Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS)

This past summer we moved our daughter into TCU (Fort Worth, TX) to start her college life. While there, I had the pleasure of visiting Tim Love’s Woodshed Smokehouse on the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. Amazing place.

I ordered ala carte from their traditional smoke menu: 1 pound of beef ribs, an order of brisket, and a smoked / stuffed potato.
Everything was what I consider absolutely fantastic. Best brisket I’ve ever had. And the ribs – amazing.

Returning home from Texas, I couldn’t stop thinking about those ribs!

I looked up some beef rib rubs, and discovered a recipe from Tim Love for his Lonesome Dove Game Rub. I’m not sure this is what he uses at the Woodshed Smokehouse, but I figured I’d give it a go…

Here’s the recipe exactly as I found it (when I made it, I cut all the volumes by ½):

Lonesome Dove Game Rub:
1 cup Guajillo chili powder
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup cumin, ground
1/4 cup rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup thyme leaves, finely chopped
3/4 cup black pepper, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup garlic powder

Here’s the package of meat I started with (purchased at Costco). I'm pretty sure this is not the exact cut of meat I was served at the Woodshed, but these were the beef ribs I could find.

Here’s the meat trimmed up. See that pile of fat?

Since there were two “plates” of ribs, each with about 4 bones, I decided to experiment by cutting one into serving pieces before cooking to allow more surface exposed to the rub and the smoke, and then leave the second plate whole.

Here’s the meat all rubbed with the Lonesome Dove rub.

Just before loading up the drum:

The ribs loaded onto the Ugly Drum Smoker – along with three potatoes and two sweet onions. I carved a hole in one onion and stuffed it with two cloves of garlic, a little butter, and some bullion. The other onion I left whole.

Here’s what everything looked like at 3.5 hours at about 220-225 degrees F.

I pulled the ribs, wrapped them in foil, and sent them back to the drum for another 2 hrs. I decided to wrap the onions too.

The potatoes seem like they’re taking forever. Still not soft enough – even after 5.5 hrs.


Oh yeah… remember that pile of trimmed fat? I rendered it down on the stove (on low). I pulled the solid bits out for the dog. Not sure yet what I plan to do with the tallow.

Here are the ribs after 3.5 hrs on the drum naked, plus 2 hrs in foil (5.5 hrs total). They’re ready to go back on to finish up for another 1.5 – 2 hours. I’m looking for that internal temp of 203 degrees F.

I ended up stuffing two of the potatoes with sour cream and fresh basil, and topped with shredded cheddar cheese. Not certain my wife will like those, so I stuffed the third potato with sour cream and cheddar, also topped with cheddar.
Here they are ready to go back on the drum.

Getting close

After about 7.5 hours total time on the drum, I pulled everything in. (I think I brought the onions in after about 6.5 hrs).

The outside was nice and dark and crispy. The inside was tender and juicy. The rub, that I initially thought was too salty, was actually perfect. Over all, I was really pleased with the effort.

Apple and Cherry Stuffed Pork Loin on the UDS!

Another first for me on the Ugly Drum Smoker -- an apple and cherry stuffed pork loin.

The idea just sounded good. So I googled a couple of "apple stuffed pork loin" recipes and landed on this YouTube video.

Seemed simple, short and sweet. Just the way I like my recipes! I modified it a little for cooking on the drum -- but not much. It's pretty fun because nothing is measured.

Ingredient list
Boneless pork loin

Stuffing
Prosciutto
Bread crumbs
Apple
Dried cherries
Goat cheese

Topping
Coarse mustard
Balsamic Vinegar
Rosemary


I started with a boneless pork loin roast from Costco. I thought it was a single piece of meat. It looked like one 5.86 pound log. When I got it home, I was initially bummed that it was cut into two pieces (lengthwise). Then I realized I could still work with what I had. I would just end up with two stuffed pork loins.

I read a few tips on butter-flying a pork loin. Pretty easy. Just like you would expect. Start cutting, trying to keep an even thickness as you "unroll" it.

Here are my two boneless pork loins butterflied. I'm guessing that they're each between 2.5 - 3 pounds.

Once laid out flat, you salt and pepper the pork. Put down a layer of prosciutto, and then cover it with bread crumbs.

Heating up the apples in a skillet with butter just to soften them up a bit. For my two pork loins I needed about 1.5 apples.

Add the apples, dried cherries, and crumbled goat cheese

Roll it up and tie it with butcher's string

Salt and pepper the outside

Make the topping. Again, don't measure anything.

Coarse mustard (whatever we had in the fridge), with balsamic vinegar, and some rosemary from the backyard

Topping mixed up

Stuffed pork loin, with mustard / balsamic vinegar topping ready for the drum

Loaded on the drum

When I dropped the pork loins on the grill it was about 320 degrees. I slowly dropped the temp down to about 275. At about 1.5 hrs the internal temp was between 140 and 160 degrees. At that point I pulled them from the drum, wrapped them in foil and put them in a cooler (for heat insulation) with a couple of towels to "rest" (it was still early in the day, and I want them warm for later in the afternoon). (I should have pulled them a little sooner, or cooked at a lower temp. The meat was good, but ever so slightly on the dry side. Still, very acceptable according to my wife, who pulls no punches in her critique)

Before wrapping and stashing for later

Finally! Time to eat!

Plated up

And lastly, something to wash it down