Yesterday, I decided to play around with some chicken recipes.  I wanted to try a new rub for competition as well as make some wings to take into work and fix a BCC (Beer Can Chicken) for dinner at home, and the carcass from a smoked chicken makes GREAT stock!

For competition, I like to brine using a simple brine with some added sweetness in the form of cane sugar and bourbon, with some peppercorns and coriander seeds mixed in.  I usually only brine for a couple hours, but, due to me getting started later than I anticipated, the chicken legs I was using brined longer.  The result wasn’t much different in texture, but seemed a little saltier than usual.

I think
the next time I do it, I will use very little salt in the rub, as I already cut it in half when I mixed it up.  The rub I used was a very basic barbecue rub, with paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of cayenne and celery seed. 

When making a brine, I like to use a whisk, as it seems to get things dissolved faster.  Make sure the brine is cold before putting chicken in it, though, as you want to ensure the chicken doesn’t sit in the ‘danger zone’ while it’s brining.  Make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge.  Make sure the chicken is covered, then store either in the frige or in a cooler with ice.  When I take chicken out of its brine, I rinse it thoroughly and pat it dry, then apply the rub to the chicken.

I set a low fire this time to see if directly grilling the chicken would work well, with the fire set down as far from the chicken as I could get it.  The results were
mixed, as some pieces got too dark, but others came out looking good, and the skin was good.  I think indirectly grilling using a higher temp is what I’m going to try next.  The end result tasted great, but was just a bit salty. 

I also did wings, as I stated earlier.  These were smo-fried wings, done with a sweet bourbon sauce on some and others done as cajun wings. 

I fried the wings at 350 for 4 minutes first.  This allows the skin to get done a bit before smoking, which can leave the skin rubbery.  I put the wings in ziplock bags and sprinkled with the cajun rub I used (blackened seasoning, actually… any blackened seasoning should work there).  Then I shook the bag like a Shake-n-Bake chicken to spread the rub around.  The wings then went into a foil pan and onto the smoker.

Since wings are white meat, I cook them until they reach 165 degrees or so, and remove them.

For wings that I sauce instead of rub, I have tried a couple of things: putting sa
uce on at the end, putting it on during the cook and putting it on after frying and before smoking.  So far, I think putting it on before smoking is my favorite way, though some wing sauces need to be put on at the end.  With the bourbecue sauce I used, I liked how they taste, but I think having the sauce on for a while during the cook would have looked nicer and maybe added more flavor.

The last chicken I did was a BCC.  This is so easy to do, if you haven’t tried it, you need to!  It’s also some of the best chicken you’ll ever cook.  Simply open up a pop/soda/softdrink of your choice can with a can or church key opener until the top is pretty wide open, then fill halfway with the hot liquid of your choice, whether beer, cider, wine, juice, Mt Dew, Dr. Pepper, whatever.  There’s not a huge
difference in most liquids in the end, though I want to try Mt Dew, as I’m told it adds more sweetness. 

Spray just a bit of olive oil on the bird to help the skin crips up, then rub the chicken with your favorite spices and herbs, and make sure you get it rubbed inside, too, as the flavor will steam inside a bit.  Set the chicken on the can as though it’s sitting up, then put it all on the smoker.  I use a stand that the can sets in, but it’s doable with no
stand; I think it’s just easier to get the bird off the can later when I use a stand.

A big bird like I did yesterday will take a while on a smoker (I think mine went about 3 1/2 hours), but indirectly grilling will help it go faster.  The end result is worth it.  I took the bird off when it was 170 degrees in the thigh, then tented with aluminum to allow some carry over.  Great eats!

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