Need some tips on getting LSG to a higher temp.

[Playtoannoy]

Trying to get a feel for my new 24x60 LSG offset. She seems to purr right along at around 250-275 which is great for a lot of cooks, but I like to cook my chicken anywhere from 325-350.

Should I mess around with the tuning plates to get a hot zone one one of the sides?

Ditch the fire management basket? Works great for getting a small fire, keeping coal bed contained, and getting that 275 sweet spot, but is it holding me back from building a bigger fire with 2 splits one way and then another 2 Lincoln logged on top, and will that get me to over 300?

Or should I just get more aggressive with adding splits?

I run the pit with the stack and the intake wide open, preheat splits, and try to use smaller size splits to not have my fire smolder.

Smoke is clean and clear all the time.

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

I've never used an LSG before, but I do have a decent amount of experience with offsets. When I want to get my offset cooking hot and fast (325°+) then I do the lincoln logs method..works every time on every offset I've ever used. I have never used a basket so I'm not sure if that's holding you back or not, but in an offset as long as your fire is burning good then more fuel will usually equate to more BTU's and a higher temperature.

That being said I cook my chicken at 250° but I hit the skin Lawry's Seasoning Salt (which has corn starch in it) and that crisps up the skin better than any other method I've used. I'm doing 150 drumsticks right now and cook them for about 3 hours at 250° and they come out perfect every time.

Good luck but it sounds like you're doing everything correctly and just need to add more fuel to the fire.

 

[Playtoannoy]

I've never used an LSG before, but I do have a decent amount of experience with offsets. When I want to get my offset cooking hot and fast (325°+) then I do the lincoln logs method..works every time on every offset I've ever used. I have never used a basket so I'm not sure if that's holding you back or not, but in an offset as long as your fire is burning good then more fuel will usually equate to more BTU's and a higher temperature.

That being said I cook my chicken at 250° but I hit the skin Lawry's Seasoning Salt (which has corn starch in it) and that crisps up the skin better than any other method I've used. I'm doing 150 drumsticks right now and cook them for about 3 hours at 250° and they come out perfect every time.

Good luck but it sounds like you're doing everything correctly and just need to add more fuel to the fire.

I gotta say, I’ve never cooked chicken that long or low and slow. How is the texture of the meat? Usually, I cook wings hot and fast for about 30 min and they turn out great. Last night I had them on for an hour and felt like they spent too much time in the smoker and the meat was almost mushy. The skin wasn’t rubbery, but just very soft. I think I could’ve fixed the skin with a quick searing over the coals, but the meat was mushy.

I feel that there’s a small possibility that my chicken was bad due to us buying it, tossing it in the freezer and then we thawed one time but couldn’t cook for whatever reason and froze again, then thawed a second time yesterday.

This was my first wing cook on my new LSG and I’ve never cooked bad wings, so I was shocked. I’m going to get a fresh pack of wings from the store and try this again today.

I see all these recipes for smoking wings for 1, 2, and even 3 hours, but I’ve always finished in like half an hour and had great wings. So I thought my temp was too low and I took to long and the meat turned to mush.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Wings are very personal, but I smoke them so that means 250° on my cooker and this way I get a solid bark and the meat comes out amazing. I think you pinpointed the likely reason that your chicken was a tad mushy...that also happens when it's overcooked and that can happen so quickly when you're cooking at high temps.

I have cooked chicken at 400° on my old Yoder Cheyenne offset and the food came out great. It's really just a matter of how well you pay attention to the meat and how well you run your cooker. You'll get the hang of it and figure out what works best for you and your style of cooking.