Advice on smokin some chicken

[dcecil]

I am looking to smoke some chicken for Tacos. I would like to do some pulled and some chopped. Looking for cook temp and IT temps specifically. Any method or advice anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

[trillo15]

I usually do hot and fast for chicken. Keeps the skin from turning into rubber. I have seen people use boneless chicken thighs, as they tend to be the juiciest. Take it to 170. Thighs have more fat to keep it from drying out and easier to pull. Time would be about 2.5 hours on 275 I would say, but someone may correct me.

 

[trillo15]

If you sign up for Jeff's free letter email, he just did a walk through on it. Great recipes.

 

[dcecil]

I’ll check that out. Thanks for the response

 

[normanaj]

I do a lot of chicken but I'm a low&slow guy,225-230 and crisp it up on the grill at the end.If its got a bone 170,boneless 165.Then I foil it and let it rest 1/2-1hr.

 

[dcecil]

Thanks Norman, I appreciate the advice.

 

[SmokinAl]

If your going to pull it I would use thighs, & take them to 175 IT.
They need to be cooked to a higher IT, than breast meat does.
They also pull real well, I would forget about crispy skin.
Just discard the skin & pull the meat.
Al

 

[hardcookin]

I have done a lot of pulled chicken. Usually I use boneless,skinless breasts and thighs.
70% thigh meat and 30% breast meat. Smoke breast to 165, thigh to 175.
Pull and let set for about 10-15 minutes pull and sauce to taste.

 

[dcecil]

Thank you both, those are the temps I was looking for, Decided on beer can chicken today. Next time I’ll do pulled

 

[tallbm]

I do whole chickens.
One of the benefits is that a whole chicken takes longer than individual pieces to cook so you get more smoke flavor... even though a whole chicken still cooks quickly. I run double smoke with my AMNPS to get even more smoke flavor on the quick cook!

I smoke at 325F so the skin is edible. If you don't care about skin in your tacos I would suggest you remove the skin from the breast and thigh portions of the meat. This doesn't take long. I don't bother with the smaller more time consuming parts to remove skin from.

Finally, when I smoke whole chickens (and/or breast) I brine them with a simple salt and water brine. When done brining I season with Pepper, Onion, and Garlic for the smoke.

Finally, whole chicken is usually very inexpensive ($0.99/pound) so it works well for pulled chicken for tacos, soups, sandwiches, etc. I cook to 165F in the breast and about 8-10 pounds of whole chicken (2 birds) takes less than 4 hours at that temp.

Best of luck!

 

[dcecil]

I do whole chickens.
One of the benefits is that a whole chicken takes longer than individual pieces to cook so you get more smoke flavor... even though a whole chicken still cooks quickly. I run double smoke with my AMNPS to get even more smoke flavor on the quick cook!

I smoke at 325F so the skin is edible. If you don't care about skin in your tacos I would suggest you remove the skin from the breast and thigh portions of the meat. This doesn't take long. I don't bother with the smaller more time consuming parts to remove skin from.

Finally, when I smoke whole chickens (and/or breast) I brine them with a simple salt and water brine. When done brining I season with Pepper, Onion, and Garlic for the smoke.

Finally, whole chicken is usually very inexpensive ($0.99/pound) so it works well for pulled chicken for tacos, soups, sandwiches, etc. I cook to 165F in the breast and about 8-10 pounds of whole chicken (2 birds) takes less than 4 hours at that temp.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the tips and taking the time to write out such detailed response. Thanks for that, I really appreciate it

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for the tips and taking the time to write out such detailed response. Thanks for that, I really appreciate it

No problem! Just trying to pass on my little bit of knowledge so others can enjoy some good chicken. I am amazed at how few bbq joints get smoked chicken even close to being right. It's soooo good and really not hard to do correctly.
My guess is that holding the chicken is where things get botched for them.

Best of luck and get ready to really really enjoy amazing chicken and for such low low prices! :)

 

[dcecil]

I actually posted a chicken thread yesterday. Beer can chicken. Turned out awesome. Thanks for the help. Much more chicken in my future.

 

[HalfSmoked]

There you go the great thing about this SMF is you ask a question and you can bet on some reply's to help you through the project. We all do things different so you have a choice as to how you may want t proceed. Again a lot of the answers have been done and proven through trial and error although many are personal preference too.

Warren

 

[ReelFaster]

Hi folks, fairly new to smoking! Picked up a new smoker recently and going to start off nice an easy with some smoked whole chickens. Seems fairly straight forward, however for the folks that brine them. Most recipes call for a gallon or more of water. What are folks keeping the chickens in to bring them? Some are keeping them overnight in the brine. Thanks in advance, looking forward to cooking!

 

[gmc2003]

You can pick up food safe 5 gallon buckets at a few stores(sorry none come to mind at the moment) or you can go to your local grocer and ask the bakery dept. if they have any. Sometimes it's free other times it a small charge. You can also use a cooler, but they take up allot of fridge space.

Chris

 

[dcecil]

edit

 

[dcecil]

Hi folks, fairly new to smoking! Picked up a new smoker recently and going to start off nice an easy with some smoked whole chickens. Seems fairly straight forward, however for the folks that brine them. Most recipes call for a gallon or more of water. What are folks keeping the chickens in to bring them? Some are keeping them overnight in the brine. Thanks in advance, looking forward to cooking!

I used plastic Tupperware with lid and used Jeff’s brine recipe of Gallon of water, cup of kosher salt, cup brown sugar. Mixed until both dissolved and covered with lid. Placed in fridge for 3 hrs

 

[ReelFaster]

Thanks folks, much appreciated gonna give it a whirl.