First attempt at Smoked Chicken

[hallertau]

Hey all, store was having a good deal on chicken quarters do I decided to give it a shot!

Had about 4.5lbs, 5 leg quarters.

Brined each in its own ziploc with one quart of water, little under 1/4C kosher salt, 2ish tbsp of sugar and a nice dash of Szaged chicken rub. I let them soak for 4 hours, removed from brine and left in fridge for about 20 hours.

I coated each piece with extra virgin olive oil and rubbed with Stubbs Rosemary Ginger rub.

Into the WSM at about 275F using 3 chunks of Hickory and charcoal briquettes

Coated in BBQ sauce twice throughout the cooking time, they hit 175F in little over two hours. Took em inside under the broiler to attempt to crisp the skin (which didn't work as well as planned), they blackened a bit much, oh well.

Skin had an astrigent flavor that I've noticed on the skins of my other smokes (ribs, shoulder) what does this mean? Too much smoke too fast?

Anyway, the result was amazing, juicy and just the right hint of flavor from the smoke.

Cheers!

 

[meateater]

If you had thick white smoke that's creosote, what you want is Thin Blue Smoke TBS. If you smell it and don't see it that's what you want . Less is more. Click on the Thin Blue Smoke link in my signature for a short video. Other than that the chicken looks great. 

 

[hallertau]

Yep it was super thick and billowy and now that I think of it, I had white smoke during my other smokes as well. Is that from the wood or charcoal? How can I remedy it ...

 

[meateater]

What kind of smoker do you have? If I can't help you someone with that same smoker will come along and help. I need to try that Stubbs Rosemary Ginger rub, sounds darn good, thanks. 

 

[hallertau]

Weber Smokey Mountain.

As for the Stubbs yeah I was impressed, would go great on Turkey. It reminded me of stuffing, maybe it was the rosemary.

 

[scarbelly]

Yup - Mike nailed it - too much white smoke is what it sounds like to me too

 

[meateater]

I don't have a WSM myself but I do use UDS ugly drum smoker. I use chunks in my smokers and I soak them overnight. In my charcoal UDS I just place one chunk at a time on the coals since mine has a door. On my electric UDS I load it up and plug it in, it will take a good half hour before I start seeing smoke that's when I add the meat. There are a bunch of WSM user's here and one will come along and give better advice. 

 

[shiz-nit]

Thick white smoke = Dr visit the next day.... the stuff is toxic and makes the meat bitter...

THIN BLUE SMOKE is good!!!!

 

[fpnmf]

Have you looked at many of the WSM threads??

Sounds like ya had a bit toomuch wood for the smoke in there..

Also I am wondering how ya ran the vents...

Using the Weber therm???

etc etc....

  Craig

Here's some reading for ya!!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=WSM+  

 

[SmokinAl]

As the guys said it sounds like too much heavy smoke. Don't put the chunks right on top of hot coals. Use the minnion method & mix the chunks in with the unlit charcoal. That way only 1 chunk at a time will be smoking. Also keep the top vent open 100%.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I am Super Sorry that I missed your question on my Leg Quarter thread...What you got there looks good. The Broiler will generate 800+*F so you have to drop the rack down some. The position used to broil Steaks is too hot and will burn in 1 minute. There are TWO schools of thought here on using soaked wood, to each their own. Try both ways and see what works for your taste. When I first started smoking I used 24 hour soaked wood and would get tons of White smoke with an astringent taste. I have sense joined the ranks of the dry wood smokers and although I burn up wood faster and have to use a little more, I get Thin Blue Smoke almost immediately. With Charcoal Briquettes I use the Minion Method and get good results.

Once again I Apologize...JJ

 

[daddydon]

I'm not gonna beat a horse to death

because i have done the same and man my food tasted  terrible

i mean omg terrible.But yep what everyone else said too much smoke.We live  we learn ..Keep on cooking my friend and your smoker will be your friend..and you will have friends coming out of the wood work!

 

[sunman76]

been down that road...lol still learning my new smoker to get the TBS just right!