Ran my first test Half chicken cook for a cookoff in late April. It is completely different when cooking not just for the family.
Problem 1: I put light dusting of cayenne which completely overpowered all of the other flavors. It wasnt TOO hot, but definitely masked the other flavors. I may give the cayenne another go, but layering FIRST instead of last to get more of a backburn than a covering burn.
Problem 2: Sauced too early. 30 mins after saucing the color was just about perfect. By the time it was done, i had more char on the sauce than i want. NO saucing till about 30 mins before chicken is ready.
Problem 3: I think the skin tore where I probed w/ the thermopop.
I learned a few lessons and I am going to have another testrun in a week or 2.
PS... the chicken was delicious. im being over critical