Saucy Thighs...

Here was my last practice cook before Nelsonville with chicken thighs.  I went with the standard grocery store value pack thighs instead of what my butcher offers since they are bigger.  I was looking for more skin on a bigger thigh.  While my butchers thighs taste better and are not steroided up, they are a bit on the smallish side...

I marinaded in Stubbs Chicken marinade, wrapped the scraped skins around the meat, and dusted with Butchers Honey Rub:

Onto a 250 F smoker with hickory and peach in the ash pan.  After 30 minutes, dunk in sauce, then I placed in a foil pan skin side down.  Then, after 30 more minutes, I placed on the rack, skin side up and re-sauced:

30 more minutes while ramping the temperature up to 350 F...

I got what I was looking for:  a bigger, more consistently sized thigh with bite through skin and good taste.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

There is more than One Way to Pull your Yardbird...

Last weekend, I had a taste for some smoked pulled chicken.  This is one of our favorite ways to eat chicken anymore.  Hope will even eat dark meat from a bird that has been brined and slow smoked.  So, here is how we did it...

First, make yourself a batch of Poultry Brine and cool it down:

BOS's Chicken Brine:

Ingredients:

1 gallon Water
¾ cup Kosher Salt
¾ cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
¼ cup Orange Juice
⅛ cup Worcestershire Sauce

Mix and bring to boil.  Cool and place in frig overnight.

Two roasters, into the pool for an overnight swim:

After the overnight brine, I pulled the birds out of the pool and let them drip dry.  Don't rinse.  Then, I pulled the skin back on the breasts and seasoned with Weber Montreal Chicken Seasoning and put the skin back in place.  Then, the body cavity got a healthy dose of seasoning as well...

Then, I fired up the Baby and brought her to 250 F and put some apricot wood in the ash pan for smoke.  I placed the birds on the third rack down on a four rack Baby...

Two hours into the cook...

The birds were done after three hours of cooking time.  I pulled them off and covered with foil and let them rest for an hour...

After resting, Hope pulled them apart and we split into 3 equal portions...

Then, we made pulled chicken, three different ways...

On the left, we just drizzled some Pipers Pit BBQ sauce.  Nice and simple.  Good, smoky BBQ flavor.

In the middle, I made the Curried Chicken Salad that I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives...  The basic dressing for that is 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1/3 cup of mayo, and 1 tsp of curry powder.  I also added 1.5 ribs of celery and 1/2 of a small red onion.  Loved the curry flavor with the smokiness of the chicken.  Good stuff.

Finally, on the right, I made a traditional chicken salad with 1.5 ribs of celery and 1/2 of a small red onion.  I also used the yogurt/mayo mix.  This stuff puts deli chicken salad in second place for sure.  

We will definitely be making any of these again.  The smoky flavor was great with all three salads.  Just be sure to use a mild wood such as apricot or peach.  I think hickory would overpower these salads.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Old School Chicken on the Weber Kettle

At the beach, I was happy that our house had a Weber Kettle grill as well as a gas grill.  I hate gas grills, especially those that are provided at rental houses.  They are never taken care of and always a bottom of the line model.

So, I took a whole chicken and slow smoked on the Weber for sandwiches.  First, I brined the bird in poultry brine overnight.  Then, I started on the grill the next day...

Webers are fairly easy to regulate.  With the top and bottom damper, air flow is easy to regulate.   I started 20 briquettes and let them burn until they were very ashed over to ensure the lighter fluid was burnt off and would not leave a taste.  Then, I added 10 more fresh briquettes and my wood box full of Stubbs Oak, Hickory, and Apple chip blend.  Then the bird went on the rack, with a liberal coating of Weber Beer Can Chicken rub under the skin, off to the side...

Make sure you put the open handles over your charcoal pile so your fresh briquettes are easy to add.  You will need to add about 10 an hour.

Here is the bird after 2 hours at about 250 F...

Here is the bird after 3.5 hours.  A perfect 165 F internal, pulled off the Weber with a nice crispy brown skin...

As you can see from the drippings, nice a moist.  Here is the final product being pulled for sandwiches. It also made a nice chicken salad...

I must say, everyone needs to learn how to smoke old school so that you can use any equipment that you have available.  Don't get me wrong, Stumps are great cookers, but you can't take one everywhere.

Hope you enjoy the pics.  Thanks for stopping by...

Bill