Smoking Chicken for 75 people

[DeadHeadHorn]

I'm going to do some catering for a friend's wedding and she wants to do some grilled chicken. In addition to being a total pain in the *** to grill for that many people, I also feel that these Californians need some Texas-style smoked BBQ in their lives, and she's down.

I've looked into renting a smoker, but of course that's damn near impossible (unless anyone here knows of a good Bay Area connection...?) outside of Texas. I did find one place that has a 2'x5' tow-able "slow cooker", but it doesn't have an open flame, rather propane. He said there's a lid on top of the propane where I could probably put chips, but I'm just not sure.

Here's a pic:

Anyone have any experience with these types of smokers? I want to make sure we impart enough smoky flavor into the chickens (I'll be smoking 15-20 whole chickens for the 75 people). Think I'll be able to pull off some decent Q?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[alden]

Wow. Good luck with that.
I've tried using wood chips with my (much smaller) Weber gas grill, and it doesn't really do anything. It wasn't worth the hassle, so I got a real smoker instead.

 

[brntorng]

Actually, it would probably work. Just supplement the gas heat with water-soaked wood chunks inside a good-sized smoker box that can set somewhat over the flame so it gets hot enough to burn/smolder slowly. If you can't find a couple of typical cast iron smoker boxes, just use a basic aluminum cake pan or cast iron skillet with heavy duty aluminum foil over it. Poke a bunch of holes in the foil and you'll be good. BTW, a lot of commercial Texas BBQ gets done in gas-fired smokers with some wood added to provide the smoke.

 

[DeadHeadHorn]

Ok, that's reassuring. Thanks to both of you for the replies.

I'm not all that worried about getting a ton of smoky flavor in the chicken (though that would be nice), as the bride at first just wanted to do grilled chicken. Being the smoker advocate that I am, I insisted upon smoking 'em.

Thanks again, I really do appreciate the advice.