Smokin' Chicken

[q3131a]

Well, it's Monday and time for some smokin' BBQ. This is a follow up to my Smokin' Ribs post.
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=499815

My brother-in-law and family are coming over for dinner tonight. So, I thought we would do some smoked chicken. Winn Dixie has whole roasters on sale for .88/lb. So, yesterday I stopped and picked up two whole roasters. Last night I opened, cleaned and brined the two chickens. This morning I got them ready for the smoker.

Here are the chickens after brining overnight.

 

[q3131a]

Brine recipe:
1.5 gallons of water
1.5 cups kosher salt
1.5 cups regular white sugar
1/4 soy sauce
1 tbl dried rosemary
3 tbl black pepper
3 tbl red pepper flakes
1 tbl cumin
dash of this dash of that

After the brining, pull the chickens and wash inside and out (to remove excess salt). You only want the salt that the chicken absorbed.

Next step is to prepare the stuffing:

 

[q3131a]

Two limes, fresh rosemary, fresh time, 1/4 large red onion, missing from the picture are 6 cloves of smashed garlic.

Here the birds stuffed but not tied yet:

 

[q3131a]

Now it's time for the rub: Each bird will have a different rub. Bird 1: South West Chipotle; Bird 2: Rub recipe from Israel (made from scratch)
Bird Rub 2 spices being warmed to intensify flavor. They they are ground in a spice mill.

 

[q3131a]

Here are the spices used for the rubs:

 

[q3131a]

Rub 1: Prepackaged SW Chipotle - I am concerned about this rub since it has salt and I already brined the birds. We'll see if it is too salty.
Rub 2: Red Pepper flakes, Cardamom, Coriander, Paprika, Oregano and Cumin.

Here are the birds rubbed and ready for the smoker:

 

[q3131a]

Also, I am going to do some smoked sausage (seen at the right of the picture). These were left over after a recipe for dinner yesterday.

The birds are going to go on at noon. They should be ready sometime between 5 and 6 pm. Temperature will be 225 to 250 for 5-6 hours. They will be finished when the breasts are 162 on my digital thermometer. I will pull them an let them rest 15 minutes before serving.

Updates to follow.

 

[q3131a]

Ok, Update: Chicken's on. (12:30pm)

Temp needs to stay below 250:

 

[q3131a]

Place chicken on the smoker upside down for the first hour. This gives the breasts a head start and gets a little cook on the skin.

Sorry, you have reached your maximum Upload Quota Limit of 500 KB

Can anyone tell me how to hotlink pics in?

 

[gypc]

Sounds like a great recipe and looks awesome. I'm smokin lemmon chicken today but the next time, I'm tryin yours! :D

 

[q3131a]

Here is the full thread. My pic-fu is weak. I could not get the pics to hotlink.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=502629

Also, the prepackaged chipotle seasoning was too salty. If you brine, make sure your rub does not have any salt in it.

My home made rub was very good.

 

[bob-bqn]

I for one am glad you had a place you could upload the rest of those pictures. MAN, those looked fantastic! :D

Brine, rub, aeromatics, and smoke ... those had to have a lot of flavor. 8)

I agree about commercial rubs having a lot of salt. I cut the salt in half when making my own.

 

[smokemack]

The birds looked real good, nice food skills!! I have done many a yard bird, never brined. Is there a noticeable difference between brined and not? If so can you explain? GO CANES! :D

 

[q3131a]

Yes. I have found that brining makes the birds even more moist when done. It really prepares them for the long slow process. When I took the birds, they literally squirted juice in every direction.

I won't do any kind of bird without at least a 4 hour brine.

 

[prplptcrzr2003]

Q, your recipe/guide for smoking chicken rawks!!!! Beautiful pics - great instructions - I am going to try this next time I do some beer can chickens. Thanks for sharing, bro!

 

[prplptcrzr2003]

lol....beer can won't fit with all that stuffing!!! (mea culpa) But I wanna try your recipe, so we'll offer up a sacrifice of beer to the smoking god (uh...in this house, that would be me) to drink. ;)

 

[cajun_1]

Did you put your yard birds & brine in the fridge?

 

[q3131a]

Yes. Overnight in the fridge.