OK. I've got two unrelated questions.

Tuesday night I cooked some chicken quarters in my gas grill. I cooked
them on low with the lid on most of the time. The big pieces never
seemed to get fully cooked even after about an hour and a half. We
think that they were not fully thawed. So, my question is, how long
to thaw a pack of chicken quarters? Also, do you have any tricks to
deal with things that are frozen and you forgot to take them out of the
freezer far enough in advance?

I had gotten away from cooking bigger pieces of chicken for this very
reason. I usually just cook boneless chicken breasts. But with the
gas grill I can keep the heat on longer than with my charcoal grill, so
I thought I would try it. It worked great with fresh chicken.

Saturday I want to try smoking with lump charcoal for the first time.
I have a WSM. I've used the minion method with kingsford charcoal
prior to this. I want to try lump because I think it will work better
for larger pieces of meat. It doesn't seem to create much ash at all
and it seems to light so much easier.

Anyway, my plan is to fill the charcoal ring with lump and maybe some
smoke wood. Then I'll throw half a chimney of lighted charcoal on top
and try the minion method that way.

Do you think this will work in terms of keeping a constant temperature?
Should I use less lighted lump than I would kingsford since lump
lights so well?

I'm going to try ribs this time. If I can get the temperature to stay
pretty constant and all I want to do a big overnight smoking and make a
bunch of pulled pork.

Anyway, thanks for any advice.

- Bobby

On 16 Mar 2006 04:42:38 -0800, wrote:

>So, my question is, how long
>to thaw a pack of chicken quarters? Also, do you have any tricks to
>deal with things that are frozen and you forgot to take them out of the
>freezer far enough in advance?

The safest way to thaw meat -- and the slowest -- is to thaw it in the
fridge. When you're in a hurry, though, fill the sink or a bucket with
very cold water and dump the whole package in. Change the water every
now and then. If you have more time, add ice to the water. You'd be
surprised at how fast chicken and other meat thaws that way.

wrote:
>
OK. I've got two unrelated questions.
>
> Tuesday night I cooked some chicken quarters in my gas grill. I
> cooked them on low with the lid on most of the time. The big pieces
> never seemed to get fully cooked even after about an hour and a half.
> We think that they were not fully thawed. So, my question is, how
> long to thaw a pack of chicken quarters? Also, do you have any
> tricks to deal with things that are frozen and you forgot to take
> them out of the freezer far enough in advance?

Submerge in cold water for a quicker thaw. How long? Maybe an hour or two.
You can also just leave the chicken longer on the grill. Use a thermometer
and cook until they reach 156F when measured in the middle of the meatiest
spot ( don't touch bone).


--
Dave
www.davebbq.com

> wrote in message

> So, my question is, how long
> to thaw a pack of chicken quarters? Also, do you have any tricks to
> deal with things that are frozen and you forgot to take them out of the
> freezer far enough in advance?

Overnight in the fridge, but a few hours on the counter. Best is to either
put them in a pot of cold water or nuke them, but do that with care or you
start cooking the outside.