Chicken Breast Prep

[kandl]

Got some boneless skinless breasts in the freezer I was going to smoke up this weekend.  I know bone in skin on would be better but I'm working with what i got.  I plan to brine them, and I have a rub I'm going to try out on them as well.  My question is should I inject them also or would that be overkill (I'm good at overkill).  I'll probably use the slaughterhouse brine and the rub is one I've concocted from several recipes on here.  I thought of injecting them with some butter and maybe some hot sauce or some of the rub mixed in with it. Thoughts?

 

[tonybel]

I never injected but it would be cool if you did half brine and half injected and report back the results.... Let us know what you decide and post some pics...

 

[bruno994]

Won't need to have the breasts in the brine long, maybe smoke for an hour, then on to a hot grill to finish with some grill marks.  Too long on the smoker, you'll have rubber....I wouldn't inject and brine, but maybe do some of each as Tony stated and see which one you prefer.  Brining will get a lot of flavor into the meat, with no need for injection.

 

[redneck69]

i agree with Tonybel...try 1/2 and 1/2 and let us know...or do 1/3rds and wrap some with bacon 

..bacon makes every thing better..don't forget the q-view 

 

[kandl]

I was thinking I'd brine them for about an hour also. Or do you think that would be too long?  Switching from Smoke to Grill is REAL easy for me so that won't be a problem.

 

[kandl]

I agree you can't go wrong with Bacon! and I'll try to get some QViews up too.  Probably doing these Sunday for supper.

 

[bruno994]

Yeah, an hour or 2 should work well.  Since redneck mentioned bacon wrapped, here is a pic of my recent entry into the Open category at my last comp...bacon wrapped, boudin stuffed, chicken breasts.  Yum!   Smoked for 2 hours at 275 until the IT reached 165-170.  Got 5th place with them, but no $...

2013 Masonic Lodge Cook Off 017.jpg

• bruno994
• Jul 25, 2013

2013 Masonic Lodge Cook Off 019.jpg

• bruno994
• Jul 25, 2013

 

[redneck69]

nice looking entry there bruno...have you tried marinating the chicken in italian dressing overnight for your cordon bleu?  also try sprinkling some brown sugar or coconut palm sugar on the bacon for a sweet crunch to go along with the other flavors

 

[kandl]

Wow Bruno! Those look DELICIOUS! 

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Kandl, I wouldn't call it "overkill" bit Redundant maybe, but anything goes, if it works, 'Bravo' , if not...record it your BBQ logbook (which should be a required tool among Smokers).

Have fun and . . .

 

[kandl]

Well I guess we will mark this one down as an experiment.  

  Turns out what I thought we had in the freezer was Full Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts because thats what we usually have.  Well they turned out to be breast TENDERLOINs aka Chicken Strips! LOL.  So I figured eh what the hell lets see what happens.  I brined them and then rubbed them, and smoked them for a little while and finished them on the grill.  The result was a flaming HOT tough chicken strip. 

  We did manage to eat them but did not save any leftovers LOL.  As far as the heat I can only assume it was the cayenne I put in the brine.  The rub I mixed up does have some but isn't THAT spicy.  The toughness I'm sure is due to me overcooking the tiny little strips of chicken. Oh well you live and you learn, and you try again.  Thats how the game is played.  So as I promised here is a picture for you to enjoy/snicker at I didn't bother with any more as I didn't feel these were worth the time.  

IMG_20130728_190158_141[1].jpg

• kandl
• Jul 29, 2013