First time chickens

[vetmp]

Hello all,

I have been smoking pretty regularly for the last 8 months or so and I have decided to branch out and do a couple of chickens in the ol' Smoke Hollow. This will be the first time that I have done chicken and I want some advice so that I can make sure that I do it right. Unfortunately, due to my current circumstances, I'm not going to be able to brine the chickens but I do have an injector so I can inject the breasts with something (I have the commercial Cajun Injector marinades and I could also do apple cider vinegar or maybe swing some apple juice if my wife will let me get it.) What do you guys recommend for a rub? I have Jeff's rub made and I have a few other made that are brown sugar based. What say you masters of the smoke??

 

[pgsmoker64]

I smoke my chickens at a higher temp to get crispy skin (or at least not rubbery).  Jeff's rub has brown sugar which will burn above 250, and I smoke chicken at 275 to 300 so I use a simple salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and a little poultry seasoning.

Does not take long to cook a chicken at 275, I think the last few I did took maybe about 2 hours.  Use your favorite wood for smoking, I did some with a little mesquite and surprisingly it did not over power the chicken.  Of course, I used just a little.

Injection is a good way to get flavor and juiciness.  Anything you mentioned is good or you can whip up a batch of the Slaughterhouse injection.  Recipe below.

Slaughterhouse Poultry Injection
½ Pkg Good Seasons Italian Dressing
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Celery Seed
2 TBS melted Butter (non salted)
2 C Apple Cider
 

Good luck.

Bill

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Hello , Vetmp

Bill has you going very well , a little tweek here and there if you want , but good advise. I always brine(poking holes in my meat is a Sin

) ,saying that , if the Injection recipe is as good as the Brine is , it'll be 'killer'.

Send Q-view of the other things you have been doing ... Enquiring people want to know

.

Have fun and ...

 

[vetmp]

I posted a q-view thread of some of the stuff that I have been making in the General Discussion forum called Ask And You Shall Receive. Hope you guys enjoy it.