When one thinks of smoked meat, pork tends to be the first thing that comes to mind. Unless you're from Texas, where beef, it's what's for dinner. But what about chicken? Low and slow, the BBQ mantra, seems overkill when dealing with humble poultry. I wanted the flavor and succulence of smoked meat, but I wanted it fast and easy so a chicken experiment seemed in order.

I made two foil packets heavy with hickory wood chips and poked a few holes in the top. I set them on top of the grates at opposite ends of the grill. I lit all four burners and let the grill heat up to 500 degrees. I prepared the chicken simply, just a whole roaster, rinsed and dried, sprinkled with salt and placed in a tin pan. By now the wood packets were smoking nicely. I turned off the two center burners and placed the chicken between the wood packets and quickly closed the cover, as not to let out too much of the heat and precious hickory smoke. The temperature hovered around 400 degrees and I set the timer for one hour and fifteen minutes.

It was hard not to peek as we poured a glass of wine and sat and set about enjoying the aroma of the hickory smoke as it filled the air. When it was time, we brought the chicken in and set in on a carving board to rest, it was a lovely golden brown and smelled amazing. The meat was perfectly cooked with a lovely pink smoke ring that dipped down into the top layers of the tender and juicy flesh. The joints came apart very easily and the meat pulled away from the bone in a most satisfying way. The flavor and texture was spot on, exactly what I was looking for. All the rich, smoky flavor and meaty yet melt in the mouth texture but without all the time and effort. Sublime.