Pulled chicken for tacos....

[pimpzilla]

Any words of wisdom for this?? I'm smoking some BBs this weekend, and the wifey wanted me to try to make pulled chicken for tacos next week. I smoked some wings a while back......not what you would call 'pullable'. Whole chicken? Brine? Rub? Heeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllppppppppppp!!!!

 

[isutroutbum]

Hi Pimp: I smoked a couple whole chickens the other night (here is the q-view and recipe link: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=76715). The first night, as you can see, we made pasta. Last night we had tacos. I just pulled the meat from the breast and the legs. Came out mighty tasty. My wife, who in the 20 years that I've known her, pretty much refused to eat chicken until we started smoking them and doing stuff like this. Last night she said, "We have to get you a bigger smoker so you can do 15 or 20 of those birds at a time." :)Good luck to ya. It will be good eats no matter how you do it!!Best,Trout

 

[fishawn]

I do chicken breasts quite often & pull them for taco's, nacho's, etc. I usually just give them a rub & smoke them until done. One thing I just found is I after I "pull" the breast meat, I will add some olive oil & mix it in good, then vacuum pack them & into the fridge for a day or two. It really seems to help re-distribute some moisture.

 

[desertlites]

spatchcock your chickens and smoke till temp and pull-and yes brine 24 hrs.and a spritz every hr.might wanna save the breasts for some good chicken sammies.I love tacos.

 

[fire it up]

I would do breast brined and then smoked.
When you brine the solution breaks down the fibers in the cut of meat and so your end product will not only be nice and tender but it shreds really easily.
You could do a whole bird as well, then you would have some dark meat which is great for tacos or just add a few thighs with the breasts.
You could rub them with some sort of "Mexican" type rub but personally I would leave them plain, assuming they are going in a sauce for the tacos you would want a nice pure smoke flavor that would impart itself throughout the dish. If you simmered the chicken in a sauce for 15-20 minutes the entire sauce itself should pick up some of the smoke flavor as well.
If you can save some of the drippings, skim the fat and include the juice in your sauce for an extra bit of deliciousness.

 

[tn_bbq]

I almost always put in some chicken parts when I fire up the smoker. Seems we always need some chicken for quick meals at home.

I don't think I'd worry too much about brining, seasoning, etc. Especially if you're adding chili powder, salsa and or other seasoning to the tacos.

My only tip is to simmer the smoked meat in salsa and chili powder (just before making tacos).

 

[creative rock]

I have shredded chicken many times for taco's... Smoked whole chickens, let cool to shred, mixed with my homemade taco seasonings in pan on stove to give a mexi taste.

I also have made a big batch of tortilla soup with smoked chicken, and the leftover chicken in the soup has the best flavors throughout the chicken, drain off most of the liquid and freeze the proportions you want, then vacuum bag for later. I have done up three whole chickens like this soup out of it for two days, then drain and packed up after freezing... Gives me enough meat for tacos or whatever for a lot of future meals.

Here is my recipe.... CLICK HERE

enjoy, although there are many ways to do up meat for chicken, this is one i get rave reviews every time.

Matt
aka Rocky