Chicken breast

[kruizer]

I am going to smoke and cook some boneless skinless chicken breasts today and am looking for some tips or corrections in my method. The plan is to smoke for about an hour and then go to 350 until an IT of 165. Any corrections would be appreciated.

 

[SmokinAl]

I would not cook them at 350, if they are skinless, they will dry out.
I would just smoke them at 225 to an IT of 157. Then after a short rest on the counter, the carryover cooking will bring them up to 165.
Al

 

[kruizer]

Thanks. I will try that.

 

[tallbm]

Al has you on the right path.
Chicken cooks up fast so no need to cook at such a high temp.
It cooks so fast you may not get the desired smoke level you want.
I did 20 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast about 3 weeks ago at 225F and it still cooked up in like an 1 hour 45 minutes. I was applying double smoke with my AMNPS and it still needed twice the amount of smoke for my tastes.
It came out fine so no complains but I often find my chicken under smoked due to it's quick cook times.

Some day I'll foll around with smoking for like 1-2 hours with no heat and then crank it up so it finishes right around 4 hours and gets plenty of smoke :)

 

[kruizer]

today is too cold for an outdoor smoke so my wife has volunteered to do them in them oven. Thanks everybody.

 

[tallbm]

Oh one more thing. 99% of the time I brine my chicken breast and whole chickens in a simple salt and water brine for at least 2 hours.
This helps them remain juicy whether they are smoked, grilled, or even oven roasted.
Dark meat is plenty juicy enough without brining so no need there.

Enjoy your meal! :)

 

[kruizer]

Thanks for your help. They have been dry marinating with a citrus pepper seasoning so brining is kind of out the question

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for your help. They have been dry marinating with a citrus pepper seasoning so brining is kind of out the question

Yeah for sure.

I also failed to mention that after I brine mine I pat dry and season them. I just don't add any salt since they have already absorbed the salt. This way you get salt and juice but any seasoning flavor you like :)

 

[hardcookin]

I usually just smoke chicken at 300. I have done a lot of split chicken breasts and boneless skinless chicken. I pull breasts at 160. Always turns out moist on my offset.


Wings and split chicken breasts

 

[BigRig26]

Rookie question...how long (approx.) does it take you to do up a few chicken breasts at that temp? We've only done ribs & a roast so far so chicken will be a new attempt tomorrow #SundaysAreForSmoking. Thanks!

 

[gmc2003]

Roughly 45+ minutes.

Chris