I mixed up the brine last night and refrigerated it, so it was chilled and ready to brine my leg quarters this morning. I brined for three hours, then took the chicken out and let it come to room temp before starting my smoke.
While I was taking the chill off the chicken, I got the smoker going. I've sort of lost exact count, but I think this is about my 6th smoke (ribs, ribs, butt, beercan chicken, nuts). Only in the last two smokes have I come close to getting things right.
My first few smokes were fun, but stressful. Today's smoke was only marginally stressful. I'm getting a lot more confident, and enjoying myself a lot more.
Here's the leg quarters pre-rub:
Add some rub:
I calibrated my thermometers before starting today and resisted the urge to peek in the cooking chamber until about 90 minutes in. Here's that peek:
Can you tell that piece in the upper left hand corner is going to be done first? It came off about 30 minutes before the next one that hit 180. Then it was another 30 min for the stragglers.
Here's that first piece:
Here are some of the others:
MMMmmmmMMMMmmmmmmm!
It was probably the most tender, succulent, incredible chicken I've ever cooked. I owe a big THANK YOU to all of SMF for the inspiration and guidance.
I managed to finish in the money in a little poker freeroll tourney while I was doing my smoke. Made the day even more enjoyable!
Thanks for looking in! Hope you enjoyed the Q view!
While I was taking the chill off the chicken, I got the smoker going. I've sort of lost exact count, but I think this is about my 6th smoke (ribs, ribs, butt, beercan chicken, nuts). Only in the last two smokes have I come close to getting things right.
My first few smokes were fun, but stressful. Today's smoke was only marginally stressful. I'm getting a lot more confident, and enjoying myself a lot more.
Here's the leg quarters pre-rub:
Add some rub:
I calibrated my thermometers before starting today and resisted the urge to peek in the cooking chamber until about 90 minutes in. Here's that peek:
Can you tell that piece in the upper left hand corner is going to be done first? It came off about 30 minutes before the next one that hit 180. Then it was another 30 min for the stragglers.
Here's that first piece:
Here are some of the others:
MMMmmmmMMMMmmmmmmm!
It was probably the most tender, succulent, incredible chicken I've ever cooked. I owe a big THANK YOU to all of SMF for the inspiration and guidance.
I managed to finish in the money in a little poker freeroll tourney while I was doing my smoke. Made the day even more enjoyable!
Thanks for looking in! Hope you enjoyed the Q view!