How to Smoke Chicken?
Chicken is one of the most popular meats to be grilled or smoked. You can use variety of spices, rubs when cooking it and get the best tasting meat. Different techniques and cooking methods can be used for chicken and each gives you a unique tasting meat. However, it is important to use the right methods and temperatures when smoking chicken. If the temperature of the chicken goes above a certain level, you will end up with very dry and chewy meat. In this article we will read about some tips and techniques on smoking the perfect chicken. Let us show you how to smoke chicken:
Selecting & Preparing the Chicken:
It is important that you buy fresh chicken whenever possible, so that you have juicy and tender meat. If you are buying frozen chicken, it is important that you thaw it well. Depending on the number of people you are cooking for, you should buy the chicken.
Once you have the chicken, it should be washed and any excess fat and skin should be trimmed off. You can choose to marinate the whole chicken in brine solution for around 4 hours. This solution can contain water, salt, sugar and any other liquid of your choice – wine, juice etc. Before smoking wash off the brine solution and rub the chicken with your choice of rub or Cajun spice. The spice should be rubbed in every part of the chicken including the cavity and under the skin as well. Some people choose to entirely skip the step of marinating in brine solution. It works well too.
How to Smoke Chicken:
Ensure that you have the smoker pre-heated to around 225 to 275°F. Use a drip pan to collect any fat that has dripped off. Place the chicken with the breast side down and smoke for around 1 to 1 ½ hour. Turn the chicken over and cook further on the other side. You can choose to baste the chicken with butter or olive oil around this time.
The best way to know whether is chicken is cooked is to use a cooking thermometer. Check the temperature where the meat is the thickest – the breast. It should be around 160°F. You can take out the chicken from the smoker just before it reaches this temperature, as it will continue to rise for some time. The chicken should be rested for about 20 minutes.
The chicken skin does not turn out crispy when smoked. To get a crispy skin, you can increase the temperature of the smoker to over 300 in the last half hour and finish it off in the grill. It is important to watch the chicken at this high temperature to avoid the skin from being burnt. If the rub or sauce used contains sugar, it will tend to burn quicker and turn the chicken black.
That’s all about How to Smoke Chicken! Enjoy the chicken piping hot with a smoky flavor & share this with your friends or family.
