jpollman
06-21-2003, 08:46 PM
Hi folks !
Well I know this isn't a "Game Bird" but I couldn't figure out where it fit better so I put it in here.
I was at Kroger yesterday and they had a pretty good price on cut-up whole chickens. I have never smoked any chicken so I figured it would be a good time to try it out since it was cheap. :)
Here's what I did.
I bought two whole cut up birds. I got them home and rinsed them off and set them aside. Then I got started on a VERY EASY brine.
I took a 3 qt bowl and added 1/2 cup non-iodized salt and 1/2 cup sugar. Then added 1 qt of Apple juice. (I wanted to use Cider but couldn't find any so juice had to do and it worked out fine) Mix it up until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Then I just put about 1/2 of the brine in another 3 qt glass bowl. Then just place one chicken in each bowl of brine. Then I added enough more apple juice just to cover the chicken. Then covered the bowls and put them in the fridge overnight.
In the morning I took the chicken out of the brine and rinsed it and dried it with paper towel and let it set on the counter for about an hour. Then I just preheated the electric smoker for about 15 minutes and placed the chicken on the rack and popped it into the smoker. I used two pans of hickory total (I usually get about 45 minutes of smoke from each pan). Then after about 2.5 hours of smoking I removed the chicken and placed it in foil and popped it in the fridge for a couple of hours. (I had something that I had to do and couldn't finish cooking it right then)
When I got home I just fired up the gas grill on about medium/low and popped the pieces on the grill. I just kept an eye on them and turned them a couple of times and after probably about 1/2 hour they all appeared to be fully cooked.
Well, it would have been GREAT right off the grill. (Actually, it was. I sampled a wing right away :)) But I let it cool down for about an hour and spent some time removing all of the skin and deboning it. Then I ended up using it in a FANTASTIC smoked chicken pasta salad ! It was AWESOME !
This is a very easy way to smoke chicken and I found the flavor was awesome. If anybody would be interested, I can post the recipe I came up with for the salad. My wife and son LOVED IT !
(Gee, maybe I should have been a chef)
This takes a little time to do but it's WELL WORTH IT !
Enjoy !
Well I know this isn't a "Game Bird" but I couldn't figure out where it fit better so I put it in here.
I was at Kroger yesterday and they had a pretty good price on cut-up whole chickens. I have never smoked any chicken so I figured it would be a good time to try it out since it was cheap. :)
Here's what I did.
I bought two whole cut up birds. I got them home and rinsed them off and set them aside. Then I got started on a VERY EASY brine.
I took a 3 qt bowl and added 1/2 cup non-iodized salt and 1/2 cup sugar. Then added 1 qt of Apple juice. (I wanted to use Cider but couldn't find any so juice had to do and it worked out fine) Mix it up until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Then I just put about 1/2 of the brine in another 3 qt glass bowl. Then just place one chicken in each bowl of brine. Then I added enough more apple juice just to cover the chicken. Then covered the bowls and put them in the fridge overnight.
In the morning I took the chicken out of the brine and rinsed it and dried it with paper towel and let it set on the counter for about an hour. Then I just preheated the electric smoker for about 15 minutes and placed the chicken on the rack and popped it into the smoker. I used two pans of hickory total (I usually get about 45 minutes of smoke from each pan). Then after about 2.5 hours of smoking I removed the chicken and placed it in foil and popped it in the fridge for a couple of hours. (I had something that I had to do and couldn't finish cooking it right then)
When I got home I just fired up the gas grill on about medium/low and popped the pieces on the grill. I just kept an eye on them and turned them a couple of times and after probably about 1/2 hour they all appeared to be fully cooked.
Well, it would have been GREAT right off the grill. (Actually, it was. I sampled a wing right away :)) But I let it cool down for about an hour and spent some time removing all of the skin and deboning it. Then I ended up using it in a FANTASTIC smoked chicken pasta salad ! It was AWESOME !
This is a very easy way to smoke chicken and I found the flavor was awesome. If anybody would be interested, I can post the recipe I came up with for the salad. My wife and son LOVED IT !
(Gee, maybe I should have been a chef)
This takes a little time to do but it's WELL WORTH IT !
Enjoy !