smoking chickens ??

[meat~smoker in n.j.]

Hey guys, this is gonna be my 1st time to do some chick`s.. after reading all kinds of post & know i have to brine 1st.... what do i do when my wife bought chicken leg quaters !! should i still brine them ,,,,for how long and how would i prep them to go in the smoker ...also how long should i keep them in the smoker......all advice is greatly appreaciate thanks
charlie

 

[smokin stang]

Meatsmokerin NJ,
I would brine them for 4 hours and then coat them down with your favorite rub. I would then place them in the smoker between 300-350* and smoke them for roughly 1 hour or maybe less. Check the internal temperature and pull them at around 165* Skin will not be rubbery.

 

[johnny]

Hi, I'm just starting to smoke chicken.. i see wher you brine them first, what are the ingredients for brining, & would or should I brine all or most meats, turkey,beef., pork, roasts, etc?
Thanks.. Johnny

 

[johnny]

 

[gunslinger]

300 to 350 is way too hot for them birds. Smoke them at 225 to 250 and will probably take about 4 hours, but check the temp to make sure. When you smoke, it's low and slow. IF you can even get your smoker to those high temps, it won't allow enough time for proper smoke penetration. That's what grill is for anyway.

 

[smokin stang]

Gunslinger,
This is how Dutch suggested I do the chickens. I smoked some boneless skinless chicken breasts the other evening at 300-350 for 1 hour and they turned out good. Please see the thread that Dutch sent me below:


From: Dutch
To: Smokin Stang
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:46 pm
Subject: Re: Cooking Times and Temperature

Dave, my wife got a giggle about you wanting to know from the Master. She left the room really laughing and making a comment about me being a master pain in the butt at times But anyhoo, I pasted you questions below and gave you my answer in red.

If I remember correctly, you said to cook chickens at 300-350 for roughly 1 hr chicken breasts and 1 1/2 hours for a whole chicken taking the internal temperature to 162-165?
Yes, by cooking chickens at 300-350* will give you a crisper skin.

When smoking pork chops or a whole pork loin you want to slow smoke them at roughly 225 until the temperature is roughly 160?
There is new info out that states that you can now cointernal and be ok pork to 145* safe. Most folks are in a mindset that pork that is slightly pink in the center is not fully cooked. Cooking pork to 160* internal will still yield a somewhat moist product. For chops and loins you can bump the chamber temps to 300*. Pork butts and shoulder still need the low and slow of 225* to break down the connective tissue

Pork or beef ribs cook slowly roughly at 225 for 5-6 hours until the temp reaches 172 or so?
On ribs-pork or beef-I cook by sight and touch-I don't cook them to an internal cause there isn't a lot of meat to insert a probe into. If I grab the plate of ribs in the center with a pair of tongs and lift them off the rack and the meat begins to tear, then for me they are done. Most folks like their rib meat to fall off the bone. I prefer my rib meat to cling to the bone but will come off the bone with a slight tug. If you use this method instead of the 3-2-1 method-begin checking the ribs after 4 hours.

_________________
Dutch (aka Earl D-)
-----------
Grand Knight OTBS #003
The "Official" Welcome Guy (HEY! Someones gotta do it!! )
The Smoking Fanatic Fanatically Smoking
GOSM and ECB user

 

[gunslinger]

I won't argue with that. If crispier skin is what you want, and all you are after, then by all means. Considering you did skinless boneless chicken breast, this debate is moot anyway. No skin to crisp. IMO you could get the same results on a grill with lump charcoal. But if you want to SMOKE a chicken, and have a nice tender chicken with a nice smoky flavor, low and slow is the only way. And I am quite sure this is not an arguable point. And the skin will crisp. Trust me.

 

[cajunsmoker]

Or you can go with the best of both worlds and smoke low and slow for a couple of hours then kick up the heat for about the last 30 minutes or so to crisp up the skin. I have to do that cause the wife will not eat it if the skin is not crisp. :roll:

 

[cheech]

What she will not eat chicken if the skin is not crisp, has she had real smoked chicken? Around my house they will not leave smoked chicken alone. I have to leave some in the smoker and take it off later when they are not looking just to have some left overs

 

[up in smoke]

Someone a while back suggested deep frying chicken for just a minute when you were done smoking…sounds plausible :roll:
Probably a little oil in a saute pan would do it too!

 

[cajunsmoker]

She's been living with me for 30 years, so I imagine shes had her share of smoked chicken :D

 

[meat~smoker in n.j.]

hi guys,
thanks so much for all the input......you guy`s got my head really spinng..lol...well my wife made them on sunday being such a football fanatic !! i couldn`t miss the wild cards.. after reading ...both of 2-worlds sounds like a great idea !!! thanks again
Charlie

 

[q3131a]

Here are two of my threads on smoking chicken:

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

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2238