Bullseye Grilling Notes: Spatch-Cocked Sunday (Smoked) - 20 December 2020

[Sscottfitz]

This grill is VERY similar to the Spatch-Cocked chicken we did back in early November, but wanted to try it on the Bullseye vice the Trailblazer. The Bullseye performed with no problems, also configured with a water filled drip pan sitting on the heat diffuser - no problems at all.

• Grill Location: Hot Springs Village, AR.; 34 37 60.0N 92 54 55.4W - a very nice, last day of Fall 2020
• Weather at time of Grill: Sunny skies, ~slight breeze from the West (~4~7 mph) definitely a primo afternoon for grilling outside. Temp ~57F, Humidity 59%
• Total Grill Time: ~1 Hr. 21 Min (15:31 -16:52 CST)
• Total Event Time: ~4 Hr, 23 Min Includes Spatchcocking the Chicken, seasoning, plating, ready to eat, etc.
• Grill Plates: No
• Grill Matt: Yes (Note: Grill Matt we purchased for the Trailblazer works fine with the Bullseye from a size perspective)
• Temp Probes: Yes x 1 for the higher heat portion of the cook
• Pellets Used: Rec Tec Ultimate Blend

• Meat & Meat Prep
  • Meat: 1 ea. small whole “young” chicken - ~6.13 lbs listed on package - THIS whole chicken from the Kroger in Hot Springs - remember we went "into town" on Friday....<grin>
  • Total Meat Prep Time: ~15 min, Light coating of olive oil as a binding agent, Combination Mix of RecTeq's Jody's Asian Persuasion and Dizzy Pig's Raging River.….Chicken was purchased "unfrozen", so no thawing required.
  • Meat on at ~15:42 CST, Smoked for ~30 min (15:42 - 16:13 CST), Cooked for another 39 min to get it up to ~165 F target temp.
• Sides:
  • Yet another roasted veggie combo (Butterscotch Squash, Yellow Bell Peppers, Onions, & Zucchini) - Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, & Garlic Seasoning - oven at 350 F

Misc Grill Observations - all times are CST

• Grill configured with a water filled drip pan below the OEM grill grates. Chicken placed on a Grill Mat
• Grill Start to Target Temp Smoke: 66F to Smoke 200 F ~6 min (15:31 - 15:36 CST)
• Grill Smoke Setting (200 F) to 350F: ~8 min
• On the grill ~15:42 CST, (Chicken on a Grill Matt on top of OEM Grill Grate)
• Grill set to 350F to get Chicken temps up to 165 - temp probe introduced during this portion of the cook - temp probe set in one of the breasts

General Comments:

• At first we were going to do this cook on the Trailblazer, but since we're still learning the nuances of the Bullseye, we decided to do the entire cook on it, so this is the first time we’ve done a whole “anything” on the Bullseye. As long as the weather holds, we are planning to do a lot of Grilling this week leading up to Christmas!
• The Bullseye performed as expected and had no problems with the cook - did note that the low temp for smoking on the Bullseye is 20 F warmer than on the Trailblazer, but that really didn't impact this cook, just a noted delta.
• Overall I'd rate this cook as 4 stars out of 5. Significantly better than my last attempt at Ribeyes..... Really liked the Dizzy Pig Raging River & Asian Persuasion
• End of dinner transitioned nicely to some early pics of the Saturn-Jupiter alignment, although it was a bit nippy out on the boat dock after the sun goes down......

 

[Greg Jones]

Nice meal. Even nicer view!

 

[C. Keeper]

Very nice