Friday, September 6, 2013

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Posting chicken Q here!

Update to this page 5 years later.

  These leg quarters were smoked indirectly for several hours using Hickory Wood.   In the past 5 years I know know the secret to making better smoked chicken.  Theres a hundred different ways on the internet but my favorite is to smoke it at high heat with clean smoke.
     What do I mean by clean smoke?  You will use more  wood, but your meat will not taste like ashes and dirty smoke.  Let the fire burn and maintain the heat with the firebox door open.  If you close the door it will produce dirty smoke or choked off smoke.  Let it burn clean.
     Higher heat and shorter cook time will also give you a crispy skin.  How many times have you smoked chicken and thrown away the skins because they turned into rubber?  The skin is the tastiest part and if you cook it at high heat with the right kind of wood it will turn out perfect.

The right kind of wood for me would be a mix of oak and hickory.  Oak is probably better because the smoke is a bit lighter than that of Hickory. Oak also burns slower and longer which allows you to keep a constant level heat in your pit.   Pecan and Mesquite are also popular in Texas, but they are very strong and if you do use them you will be burping up smoke for days.
     These little chickens below are covered in sauce because I was learning at the time.  Nowadays I usually put the sauce on the side allowing my family or visitors to taste the smoked chicken without the sauce.











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