Amazing Grilled Chicken with the BBQ Dragon Smoking Stone

Do you have a fear of turning juicy and plump chicken breasts, assorted chicken cuts, or whole birds into dried out hunks of poultry jerky? Push those fears aside and start grilling up tender and juicy pieces of chicken every time with the BBQ Dragon Cooking and Smoking Stone. Instantly change your grill from a direct heat searing machine into a low and slow smoker! And, as if that was not enough, the stone can also be used for a crazy number of other grilling/cooking methods. More on that below, but let’s get back to dry chicken!

Dried out grilled chicken is a result of cooking over direct high heat for too long. Or, baking for too long and the moisture is sucked out! Sometimes this happens when a person is unsure if the chicken is done and can be safely served. Nobody wants to have a cookout that results in guests ending up at the hospital due to a food-related issue. So, the first thing you need to do is grab an instant-read digital thermometer. Secondly, convert your covered kettle grill into an indirect heat grilling machine like an offset smoker with the Cooking and Smoking Stone!

A Kettle Grill Smoker? Yep!

The original Weber style of kettle grill was designed for direct heat grilling of burgers, steaks, hotdogs, and items along those lines. But, leave it to the “smoke” folk in the community to devise ways of slowing down the process. Over the decades grilling gurus have perfected offset heat solutions known as zone grilling. Essentially, that means the charcoal is on one side, aka “zone”, while the meat is on another side, or “zone”.  Now you can make the process more efficient.

The BBQ Dragon Cooking and Smoking Stone will turn your kettle grill into a smoker or convection oven simply by placing the stone on your 22″ covered kettle grill. The specially designed heavy duty ceramic grill stone fits just under your grate and prevents radiant heat from burning your food. What happens is pretty amazing. When the grill is covered the heat wraps around the interior of the chamber but is deflected from the bottom to eliminate searing. The end result? Put your chicken on the stone, cover, and grill low and slow without having to turn!

• This is the easiest and best way to use your grill as a smoker.
• Cook chicken thighs without grease flare-ups.
• Control temperature perfectly for smoking ribs, by adjusting the vents in your smoker. The grill stone adds thermal mass to keep heat even.
• One pile of charcoal cooks at oven temps for 2 to 3 hours.
• Made from high-temperature resistant Cordierite. A 9-pound BEAST.
• Also use as a pizza stone, by placing on top of, instead of under, the grate.
• Works with all types of meat, cuts, and even veggies.

Now for some amazing chicken!

Seasoned Whole Chicken

Just in case you don’t think this is actually this easy, let’s start off with how to cook a whole chicken on a covered kettle grill using the BBQ Dragon Cooking and Smoking Stone.

1. Add charcoal and light grill.
2. Insert the grill stone.
3. Put the grate over the stone.
4. Place your seasoned bird on the grates.
5. Cover, grill at 350 degrees with your vents dialed down.
6. Wait an hour, check for doneness with your thermometer.
7. Optional, while the bird is cooking you can nap, mow grass, wash the dog or car, nap, entertain guests, do an interpretive dance based on your BBQ Dragon grill master inner feelings… or nap.

For the Seasoning

• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Mix the ingredients in a bowl saving olive oil for last as you may not need all of it. Drizzle in the oil until you have a thickened liquidy paste. Rub the mixture onto your whole chicken. Any remaining oil or seasoning mixture, also known as a wet rub, can be drizzled inside of the chicken. You can also insert chopped onions, peppers, or even orange slices into the chicken cavity before grilling. Grill to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Serve hot and start thinking about everything else you can cook with the BBQ Dragon Cookng and Smoking Stone. As mentioned above, the stone is versatile. Under grate serves as a drip rack for smoking and grilling while above grate the stone serves as an amazing cooking surface.

Author Bio: Kent Whitaker, also known as “The Deck Chef,” is an award-winning culinary writer and cookbook author. He’s also penned Young Reader, NASCAR and History titles. The former winner of the Emeril Live Food Network Barbecue Contest also covers football, motorsports, and bass fishing. Kent currently lives in East Tennessee with his wife, son, and a couple of dogs that love when he fires up the smoker or grill. You can reach out to Kent at www.thedeckchef.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.