Chicken Flock ~ Foamheart

[cecil]

Lookin" good Foam.

 

[foamheart]

 
Lookin" good Foam.

Thank you Cecil, Heck I thought you'd fallen off the edge of the earth. 

 

[cecil]

 
Thank you Cecil, Heck I thought you'd fallen off the edge of the earth. 

Haven't fallen off yet, Just been spending a lot of time with my sweet Livi our granddaughter. Went to Hymel's the other day, Passed in front of your house and blew the horn,did you hear it. Almost stopped in to see what was in your smoker. Was glad to see you didn't have any damage from the tornado a few weeks ago.

 

[remsr]

That looks really good nice color. Now I have questions.
I did chicken quarters a few days ago. Brined them for 4 hours in salt, brown sugar and water and smoked them at 225, I wanted to brin them using pink salt #1 but was not sure about the longer brine time producing to much salt taste. I haven't smoked a lot of checkin and expected these to take maybe an hour and a half, but they took around 6 hours to reach 165 itt, is that normal? They did turn out tender and juicy, but I wonder an
about the time they took and your brining compared to water, salt and brown sugar? Your right about the chicken prices, I got a 10 pound bag of quarters for $4.90. Brisket at Sam's is $2.49 a pound and so pairs $2.89 for prime brisket at Costco.
Randy,

 

[foamheart]

That looks really good nice color. Now I have questions.
I did chicken quarters a few days ago. Brined them for 4 hours in salt, brown sugar and water and smoked them at 225, I wanted to brin them using pink salt #1 but was not sure about the longer brine time producing to much salt taste. I haven't smoked a lot of checkin and expected these to take maybe an hour and a half, but they took around 6 hours to reach 165 itt, is that normal? They did turn out tender and juicy, but I wonder an
about the time they took and your brining compared to water, salt and brown sugar? Your right about the chicken prices, I got a 10 pound bag of quarters for $4.90. Brisket at Sam's is $2.49 a pound and so pairs $2.89 for prime brisket at Costco.
Randy,

Hi Randy and thank you.

I agree seems those little bits and pieces should cook faster but its just ain't so. You can speed it up while smoking by trying higher chamber temps, but if you are like me I like to stay in what I call my smokers sweet spot. You'll see folks here smoking at 220 one thing and 250 another, and 270 of yet another. Thats great. Me's I guess its old school but my smokers seem to have a temperature that they maintain with out any effort on my part, so if its within smoking safely guidelines I go with it. That way my variable is only time instead of adjusting for both with each smoke. Maybe I am just lazy.

Its all has additional varibles like weather, quantity of meat, size of meat, draft, etc etc etc....

6 hours to cook at 220? Doesn't sound too wrong to me. 

So just what I'd do, anytime I brine or cure, I do a dewater cycle. I find it doesn't affect the end result and it does speeed up the smoke. I always preheat to max. temp, its like when you lay a fire in a firebreather. It heats all the moisture which has taken residence in the metal, well the 275 preheat does the same on the electric. When I then insert the meat and leave the vent open and the door cracked at the high temp it allows the meats outer skin to give off its moisture without affecting the inner meat. Once the moisture is gone the meat is also preheated, more suseptible to accepting some as well and it has warmed faster. It might have cut 30/45 mins off your smoke.

Sometime when you brine/cure try it and see if its worth your time? Me I normally let the smoker settle in were its happy and it generally makes me happy.

 

[remsr]

Hi Foamheart! These quarters were new to me and I just didn't know what to expect. As a rule I cook to itt, when I hit that mark It's done. These quarters had me wondering if my probes were lying to me and I didn't want to dry the quarters out. I also skined them befor smoking them it worked out, but I don't think I will do that next time. I was just trying to avoid rubbery skin. Smoking isn't one of those things you hurry, so I am never in a hurry I just thought it was taking to long. Now I know what to expect.

 

[foamheart]

 

[remsr]

I brined and smoked some chicken legs in salt, brown sugar and water last year. Instructions were to brine for two hours but I got side tracked and didn't get them out of the brine for 12 hours. They turned out real salty. So win I contemplated using pink cure #1 and the indtructions were for days instead of hours I remembered how salty those legs were after 12 hours. These quarters actually turned out great. I gave some to my neighbor and they loved how tender and jucy it was and did't even realize their was no skin. But still I want to try a wet pink salt brine and leave the skin on next time. I do heat my smoker up to 275 then reset to 225 after it hits hits 225 with the meat in the smoker. Haven't tried leaving the door cracked yet but I trust your good advice and will give it a try. One might wonder why I would want to change what I did if it came out good, but isn't that what we all do, improve on perfection o just try something different for the curiosity in us?

 

[daveomak]

I brined and smoked some chicken legs in salt, brown sugar and water last year. Instructions were to brine for two hours but I got side tracked and didn't get them out of the brine for 12 hours. They turned out real salty. So win I contemplated using pink cure #1 and the indtructions were for days instead of hours I remembered how salty those legs were after 12 hours. These quarters actually turned out great. I gave some to my neighbor and they loved how tender and jucy it was and did't even realize their was no skin. But still I want to try a wet pink salt brine and leave the skin on next time. I do heat my smoker up to 275 then reset to 225 after it hits hits 225 with the meat in the smoker. Haven't tried leaving the door cracked yet but I trust your good advice and will give it a try. One might wonder why I would want to change what I did if it came out good, but isn't that what we all do, improve on perfection o just try something different for the curiosity in us?

Below is a link to some hind quarters I recently did...   Cure #1 could be added to the brine...  Add at a rate of ~1 gram per pound of chicken ...  that will get you about 140ish Ppm nitrite...

I don't add the weight of the brine when figuring cure amounts because the water evaporates leaving the ingredients in the meat....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/246037/injecting-chicken-hind-quarters

 

[foamheart]

I brined and smoked some chicken legs in salt, brown sugar and water last year. Instructions were to brine for two hours but I got side tracked and didn't get them out of the brine for 12 hours. They turned out real salty. So win I contemplated using pink cure #1 and the indtructions were for days instead of hours I remembered how salty those legs were after 12 hours. These quarters actually turned out great. I gave some to my neighbor and they loved how tender and jucy it was and did't even realize their was no skin. But still I want to try a wet pink salt brine and leave the skin on next time. I do heat my smoker up to 275 then reset to 225 after it hits hits 225 with the meat in the smoker. Haven't tried leaving the door cracked yet but I trust your good advice and will give it a try. One might wonder why I would want to change what I did if it came out good, but isn't that what we all do, improve on perfection o just try something different for the curiosity in us?

To me when doing small items other than seafood I much prefer injection vice brining. A whole chicken just I occassional brine, its a nice deviation from my norm. But what I call bits & peices, I can inject and get for the most part the same flavor profile added as with a brine and in much less time and reefer space.

Here's some deboned, bacon wrapped, injected & pecan smoked Thighs I did this weekend. 

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• foamheart
• May 17, 2016

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• foamheart
• May 17, 2016

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• foamheart
• May 17, 2016

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• foamheart
• May 17, 2016

And look at those juices...... One thigh could have feed two grownup too, (I must be getting old.)

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• foamheart
• May 17, 2016

Nothing to making them and they required no foreplanning or prep except just before smoking.

Don't get all locked in on just one techique. This was a fast and easy smoke and was every bit as tender, juicy and flavorful as a brine which takes me three day of prep, a day in the brine, a day drying, and a day to smoke.

 

[remsr]

Those look great. I have been so involved in perfecting my ribs, butts and brisket over the years that I compleatly neglected chicken.
It's a whole new world with endless possibilities as I see it.
I have got to try those bacon warped thighs.
When you say you injected them what was the mixture and how much of what for what amount of chicken?
Randy,

 

[foamheart]

 
Below is a link to some hind quarters I recently did...   Cure #1 could be added to the brine...  Add at a rate of ~1 gram per pound of chicken ...  that will get you about 140ish Ppm nitrite...

I don't add the weight of the brine when figuring cure amounts because the water evaporates leaving the ingredients in the meat....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/246037/injecting-chicken-hind-quarters

Great minds think alike. 

 

[foamheart]

Those look great. I have been so involved in perfecting my ribs, butts and brisket over the years that I compleatly neglected chicken.
It's a whole new world with endless possibilities as I see it.
I have got to try those bacon warped thighs.
When you say you injected them what was the mixture and how much of what for what amount of chicken?
Randy,

I use what Pop always used for his Thanksgiving Turkeys.

Butter

liquid onion

liquid garlic

Dissolved salt

Lea & Perrins

Tabasco

just a cap of apple cider vinegar 

 

[smokingjamaican]

That was awesome. I need to try that cure.. 

 

[dukeburger]

Just caught this on the homepage. Beauty flock Kevin!! Points!!

 

[foamheart]

 
That was awesome. I need to try that cure.. 

Its really hard to screw up a chicken. Nearly have to go low and slow these days, chickens are too big to be tender. A 6lb fryer, oxymoron ??

 
Just caught this on the homepage. Beauty flock Kevin!! Points!!

Thank you..... but its hard to mess up a chicken.

 

[remsr]

I see a lot of recipes that I would like to try but they use grams and such instead of pounds and ounces. I don't understand metric measures, so I have no idea of how much is required of what? That makes me sound stupid right?

 

[daveomak]

REMSR, Morning....   spend $10 and you are in business....   1# - 454 grams....   1 oz. = 28.38 grams....  If a recipe is in grams, you do NOT need to know any of that stuff....

If you need help with a recipe, please PM me.....    Dave

 

[remsr]

Thanks Dave!

 

[briggy]

Absolutely beautiful Kevin, I hope mine turn out close to as good as yours look!  Points!