Yet another perfect bird

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big-fokker

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jul 25, 2007
148
11
Raleigh, NC
First off, for those that have not yet embraced the technique of brining, let me say that you have to try it at least once! I still can't believe that after 20+ years of roasting, grilling, baking and frying chicken, I'm just finding out that brining yields an incredibly juicy bird!
Last night's menu was chopped/pulled chicken, colby-jack stuffed fatty and some turkey bacon wrapped ABT's stuffed with cajun crab dip and shrimp.
The turkey bacon suffered from the higher heat and cooked pretty fast, in turn burning the bacon a bit. The fatty came out great and of course the bird was excellent!

Here are a few pics:
The first is about 30 mins into the smoke. I forgot to get a pic before everything went in...oops.

Next is after the bird rested for a bit...there are a few less ABT's and half the fatty is gone because I got a leeetle hungry
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and the last of course is after the pulling/chopping took place.

I made up a sauce that consisted of:
Prepared Barbecue sauce
Ketchup
Mustard
Molasses
Brown Sugar
Beer
Minced Onion
Garlic Powder

Yummy!
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Looks good..
Your not kidding about the brine... I brined my first Yard Bird a week or so ago and I'll NEVER smoke or cook another one unless its been brined.
Just smoked 2 more this weekend and the left overs are going fast, even in the fridge for a week the left overs are moist and taste great.
Gonna brine a Turkey and deep fry that soon..
 
Just be careful when lowering the turkey into hot grease after brining. The extra moisture will cause the hot grease to boil and splatter very quickly.
 
Hey Big-Fokker thanks for this post. I've been thinking about doing my first brine soon and now I have even more incentive! That yardbird looks incredible! Would you be kind enough to share your technique?

Thanks!
 
Thanks for the kind words Placebo
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My technique isn't really "mine" but rather just some swift moves that I learned from the best here on SMF
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For the brine I did:
1 Gal water
1 Cup Kosher salt
1 Cup sugar
1 TBS Garlic Powder
1 TBS Onion Powder
1/2 TBS cracked black pepper
Be sure to use cool water (warm will start to cook your meat) and stir it up to dissolve as much of the seasonings as you can. Let your bird rest in this solution for at least 4 hours (mine brine for 12 hours). I brine in a stew pot and stick it in the fridge.
After you're done brining, pull out your birds and wash them off pretty good. Pat them dry with some paper towels and apply your rub/seasoning. Remember that your brine had some salt in it, so I'd say go easy on the salt while seasoning, at least for your first time so you can see if it's too salty, not enough.
Once you're seasoned up you can go in the smoker. I put a probe in the breast BTW. Smoke between 300-350 until your temps reach 167-168 and once there, I pull the bird, put it in a baking pan, cover the pan with foil and stick it in the oven (un-heated) for about 1.5 hours.
That's it!

Check out Debi's website for her write up on bird (that's where I learned) and she also has a time-temp chart as well.

This last bird came out a little darker than my first, but was equally as juicy. Check out my first attempt here
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ead.php?t=7104
 
Just q'd 3 whole BRINED split chickens and WOW. you would have thought it was raining in there. The chickens were so wet. Brining is the answer
 
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