Well, in spite of yesterday's snow and sleet...

[The Polack MSgt]

Last edited Wed Apr 11, 2018, 01:03 PM - Edit history (2)

Or maybe because of it, I can't stop thinking about getting out back, building a fire in a barrel and cooking some chicken.

I have 2 different "go to" recipes for chicken that I usually make for picnics or cook outs or barbecues - whatever you call them where you’re from.

I smoke chicken which takes2.5 to 3.5 hours, and I dry rub whole wings and drumsticks to grill - which takes about 25 minutes per batch. Since anyone can grill chicken, here are some tips on how to smoke chicken.

You should dry season or brine (marinate) the chicken prior to cooking. I like to brine it for two reasons. First, because the moisture and seasoning in the meat makes it tasty. Just as important in my mind, it gives you larger margin of error between done and boot leather dry crap chicken.

You will need non-reactive containers. Tupperware, stainless steel glass or whatever is handy.I use one gallon zipper closed freezer bags. Do NOT use aluminum - the acids eat away at the metal, and that makes the chicken taste gross, It also etches the aluminum container.

Don’t use porous porcelain or stone ware either, it is almost impossible to get the smell and taste out of the container and the salmonella and e-coli may stick around in there too.
Really, ziplock freezer bags work great and fit in regular coolers for transport to the grill site.

Other than the chicken you will need:

Orange juice
Lemons
red pepper flake - I use Penzey's extra hot flakes, but any red pepper flake you'd shake onto a slice of pizza is fine
Adobo powder – I use regular Goya with pepper but any brand with or without pepper is fine. In a pinch, substitute equal portions of garlic salt, onion powder with a pinch each of cumin, chilli powder and powdered oregano. But seriously, buy some damn adobo powder. It should be a staple in every pantry…
Powdered savory – Savory leaves also work
Bay leaves
Black pepper corns

The night before or early in the morning of the cook out, brine the chicken.

A word of advice here – If you are using a citrus or vinegar based brine, do not brine for more than 10 hours. The brine I make is citrus based and that means it will start to cook the skin making it rubbery.

Nobody wants chicken Ceviche.

I will tell you that I almost never measure anything - It's why I can't bake worth a damn - so to get even flavor in each batch, this is what I do

Coat the chicken pieces with adobo powder on both sides and place in containers -I get about 6-8 pieces in a 1 gallon bag so these amounts are for that many pieces - adjust to fit

Put a bay leaf in each

Zest and juice 1 lemon into each

Give the red pepper 3 healthy shakes into each

Give the savory 2 healthy shakes into each

Toss a palm full of whole peppercorn into each (I counted, my level palm full is 21 peppercorns, but I don't think that level of precision is needed )

If you are marinating for less than 6 hours grind a butt load of black pepper into each batch instead of using whole peppercorns.

In fact, if you are only letting the chicken soak for a short time, bump the quantity of seasonings up across the board.

Fill with cheap orange juice and seal.

For Pete's sake, buy the cheepo jugs of orange juice (not orange DRINK such as Sunny D) in the dairy aisle. Unlike cooking almost anything else, using a “high quality ingredient” in this case won’t make a difference.

We just need the orange juice for the citrus and sugar flavor with enough liquid to hold the spices in suspension. We aren't putting a shot of Tito's in it... Don't waste your money. Cook outs cost enough as it is.

If you don't have a solid grasp of cooking times for the various pieces, make sure you don't set yourself up for dry, over cooked breasts. Either stagger the start times or choose large thighs and small breast so the cooking times match up and reserve the legs and wings for grilling.

You could of course just smoke thighs since they have a higher fat content and are much more forgiving if left in the heat for too long.

I do not advise this course of action for 2 reasons, just cooking thighs feels like cheating, first of all. Also, for big picnics, I buy chicken at a meat processing plant because it’s fresher and ordering 6 cut up whole chickens is cheaper than the buying "select pieces".

Any way… After they marinate, just smoke as usual, occasionally mopping the brine over the chicken and turning it at the halfway point

My rig sits around 220ish (as long as I pay a little attention to the fire) and it takes just over 3 hours for thighs and 3 hours and 30 minutes or so for breasts.

I use pecan or apple wood, pieces not chips when I cook with charcoal, and I only smoke during the first hour so that the birds don't get over whelmed with smoke flavor.

When I use logs alone it is not an issue since logs only smoke heavily until they become coals – DO NOT cook while the logs are burning down into coals. The wood flavor will still work into the meat even without visible smoke.

I also CAREFULLY finish over direct heat to crisp up the skin. Be VERY CAREFUL when you do this.

Remember that there is a good amount of sugar from the orange juice in the skin and it will burn to a crisp in a gnat's fart if you don't pay attention.

[saidsimplesimon]

1. I will pass this along.

I was raised on a poor woman's farm. We had no measuring devices, lucky to have forks and spoons. Not a lot of baking when you have wood and coal for fuel. Everything was cooked by watching the expert and by taste, pinch of this and that.