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.

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