Stuffed Roasted Chicken in Wood Pellet Grill

[smoker pete]

Stuffing Ingredients:

•     ½ lb Jimmy Dean Regular Pork Sausage
•     Stove Top Chicken Stuffing Mix (6 oz)
•     5 Baby Bella Mushrooms
•     2 Celery stalks
•     ½ Red Bell Pepper
•     ¼ small Red Onion

Directions:

•     Prepare Stove Top Chicken Stuffing Mix as per box directions
•     Cook the Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage
•     Sauté diced Mushrooms, Celery, Red Bell Pepper & Red Onion (seasoned to taste with garlic salt, seasoning salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic)
•     Mix stuffing, sausage, and vegetables
•     Stuff the chicken cavity loosely with an ample amount of stuffing.  Retain the remaining stuffing and cook separately
•     Tie the legs together and use Silicon Food Grade High Temperature Cooking Bands to bind the bird
•     Place Stuffed Chicken on a V-Rack over a foil pan to catch the drippings and keep your grill clean

       

Preheated the MAK 2 Star Wood Pellet BBQ Smoker-Grill to 325ºF using Alder wood BBQ pellets.  Pull when the breast IT reaches 170ºF and rest under a foil tent for 20 minutes before serving.  Even though all the stuffing ingredients were fully cooked you should still check the stuffing IT just to be safe and make sure it reaches 165ºF.

When roasting a stuffed Chicken you need to adjust your roasting time to compensate for the stuffing.  I knew it would take longer and quickly learned just how long.  My cooking logs, I document every cook, show that roasting a chicken at 325ºF in my MAK 2 Star normally takes 2 hours + or – 15 minutes for the thickest part of the breast to reach 170ºF but with the stuffing it took 3 hours and 10 minutes.  Roasting the stuffed chicken at 350º to 400ºF is an option to reduce the cooking time, produce crispier skin, and bring the stuffing temp to 165ºF sooner.

[Kora Smoker]

That's a great looking bird there, Pete.

[Pappymn]

Nice cook Pete. I pull my chicken at 165 degrees and then rest. I've been known to push it a little.

[Savannahsmoker]

That is one beautiful and appetizing looking bird.

Excellent presentation also.

[tatonka3a2]

That looks perfect!!

[smoker pete]

Thanks Guys

[mikecorn.1]

Looks great!


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[bbqchef]

Maybe I'm overly paranoid about poultry but I don't think it's a good idea to stuff any poultry before cooking... I don't even stuff holiday turkeys.

I think the stuffing would stay in the "danger zone" too long. Even though it's a cooked stuffing, it's still in contact with raw poultry.

But, as I said, maybe I'm just paranoid.

(It would be interesting to place a thermometer into the stuffing and log the temperature along with recording the meat temperature... might be a future project with the iGrill or ET-372.)

[TMB]

I think that looks GREAT!  But I have to ask about the stuffing a well.  Barry says not to stuff because of the danger zone and I kinda think the same way.  But  I have to addmit that looks good enough for me to try!

[sparky]

i think it a good looking bird.  i never stuff my birds.  i like using pyrex baking pans. 

[smoker pete]

The last thing I want is for someone to get sick or worse ...  That's why I posted that the stuffing IT must reach the save minimum internal temperature of 165ºF.  I roasted my chicken at 325ºF and stated that 350º to 400ºF would be a good temperature to roast at.

The USDA Stuffing and Food Safety information states the following:

The stuffed meat, poultry, or stuffing in a casserole should be placed immediately after preparation in an oven set no lower than 325 ºF. A food thermometer should be used to ensure that the stuffing reaches the safe minimum internal temperature of 165 ºF. If the stuffing is inside whole poultry, take the poultry out of the oven and let it stand 20 minutes before removing the stuffing.

You can read the USDA pdf file at:  www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Stuffing_and_Food_Safety.pdf

Who among us did NOT grow up eating Thanksgiving stuffing cooked inside the turkey by Mom or Grandma?

[bbqchef]

My main concern is not the actual cooking temperature of the bird but the amount of time the stuffing remains between 40 and 135 degrees F. My first thought is the stuffing will be pretty cool for quite a bit of time. I also tend to think if the stuffing gets to 165 degrees F., the bird will be much higher... to the point of being over-cooked.

I always cook stuffing (dressing) in a casserole dish (or hotel pan at work) instead of in the bird.