Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Smoking Chicken



Last weekend I decided to go outside and play with my WSM. I was ready with a couple of whole chickens and some thighs. Enough to feed a whole mess of people, however my plans weren't organized enough to also include the sides or the invitations. So it was just me and my smoker.



I started by brining the chicken in a solution of salt, brown sugar and my seasoning blend. I left it in the brine for about two hours. (Later I found the thighs to be too salty and the hens just right. Shorter time in the brine for thighs next time.)





After removing from the brine, I patted the pieces off with paper towels and rubbed them with seasoning blend. Once again, I think I'll lighten up on the rub next time to minimize the saltiness.




My WSM was prepared as usual except this time I added a few stems of fresh rosemary to the water pan in addition to burning some directly on the coals with pecan wood.



I also did some experimenting with my BBQ sauce. To this batch I added a secret ingredient (Chocolate Kisses). The taste was actually quite good but more of a Mole flavor than traditional BBQ sauce.



The whole hens were moist and perfectly seasoned with the rich brown color highlighted by some basting with Dr. Pepper. The rosemary didn't come through very much in the taste. Next time I'll go back to stuffing the cavity with fresh sprigs. All in all I was happy with the whole hens but my thighs need some exercise.

4 comments:

BBQ Junkie said...

Looks great. That brine can be a bit tricky sometimes. I figured that you didn't get you invitations out because I couldn't find mine anywhere ;)

Anonymous said...

Missed my invite too. THat's ok because I'm selling chicken dinners today. Wonder if there will be any left for me?

WhiteTrashBBQ said...

Looks great. It's 11:00 at night and you just made me really hungry.

It's funny you should mention chocolate in BBQ sauce, I was experimenting with the same thing last weekend.

sylvie1950 said...

I signed up on the map for the WSM Day May 27th after reading about it on your site WTBBQ.

Maybe I'll have better results with my thighs this time.

Ok guys, we'll get back together soon.