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Chicken in the smoker

kenn1320

kenn1320

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2015
Messages
2,753
Picked up 4 good size boneless chicken breast today. Cut a pocket in the side and sprinkled seasoning in there. I then stuffed some hot pepper jack cheese in the pocket and seasoned the outside(top and bottom). They are in the smoker with apple wood. The smoker temp is at 192 and climbing, looking for around 250. They will cook till the internal temp hits 165(75 right now). :cool:
 
Nice! Sounds delicious! I have some drumsticks I plan on smoking tomorrow afternoon. I took off to go bear hunting tomorrow but I think I might just end up scouting for winter bow season instead and then relax. I did a pork shoulder last weekend and that came out really good. I might try another one of those later this weekend :cool:
 
This took longer than expected, temps stayed around 200 till I got home and cranked it up to 250 for the last 15 deg on the internal temp. They arent very dark, but this was dry seasoning and not much smoke since I wasnt home to watch it. You can see some of the cheese oozed out and dripped. Getting ready to eat, see ya.

 
Taste was great, but the outer layer turned leather/dry. These were skinless. Any tips for cooking skinless, or should I avoid skinless? Should I have coated them with mustard and then seasoned like red meat?
 
kenn1320 said:
Taste was great, but the outer layer turned leather/dry. These were skinless. Any tips for cooking skinless, or should I avoid skinless? Should I have coated them with mustard and then seasoned like red meat?
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I would smoke the breast on the bone and with the skin. Two huge moisture traps to help your chicken. If I only had skinless available then I would either wrap it in bacon (can't lose) or do a coat of olive oil before my seasoning to help form a moisture trap.
 
Maustypsu said:
kenn1320 said:
Taste was great, but the outer layer turned leather/dry. These were skinless. Any tips for cooking skinless, or should I avoid skinless? Should I have coated them with mustard and then seasoned like red meat?
Click to expand...

I would smoke the breast on the bone and with the skin. Two huge moisture traps to help your chicken. If I only had skinless available then I would either wrap it in bacon (can't lose) or do a coat of olive oil before my seasoning to help form a moisture trap.
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Olive oil, why didnt I think of that. Thats what I used on turkey, but it had skin.
 
Nope. Sous vide is french for "under vacuum". The chicken is smoked for 2 hours, vacuum sealed, then cooked in a water bath to finish. I prefer this method over sous vide followed by cold smoke. You can make a sous video cooker using a slow cooker and a temperature control module for under $50. Commercial units are a little more expensive, but have considerably come down in price over the last few years. You can pick up an Anova culinary unit for about $120 now. That is what I use now.

I finish many of my sous vide creations with a torch to give a slight crust. I use a searzall torch head. Its really nice if you get into this type of cooking.
 
BassBoysLLP said:
Nope. Sous vide is french for "under vacuum". The chicken is smoked for 2 hours, vacuum sealed, then cooked in a water bath to finish. I prefer this method over sous vide followed by cold smoke. You can make a sous video cooker using a slow cooker and a temperature control module for under $50. Commercial units are a little more expensive, but have considerably come down in price over the last few years. You can pick up an Anova culinary unit for about $120 now. That is what I use now.

I finish many of my sous vide creations with a torch to give a slight crust. I use a searzall torch head. Its really nice if you get into this type of cooking.
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Wow, way over my head. :lol:
 
Never done skinless. What temps was your smoker and what internal temp did you stop at and how long?
Maybe slower and lower will help. Heard of putting in a pan of water to bring up the humidity in smoker. Don't know if that will help. You will get it. Keep having fun trying!
 
kenn1320 said:
Taste was great, but the outer layer turned leather/dry. These were skinless. Any tips for cooking skinless, or should I avoid skinless? Should I have coated them with mustard and then seasoned like red meat?
Click to expand...

How about brining them first?
 
Chicken should be cooked at a higher temp - even when smoked. It should be cooked around 325-350. Otherwise it will be rubbery.

Check out amazing ribs.com you will learn everything you need to know about smoking meat there .


-Sent from d_mobile
 
Also invest In a meat thermometer. You only want to cook chicken to an internal temp of 165F. Any higher and it will become very dry and tough.


-Sent from d_mobile
 
Red, you can marinate them but that wont help the outside surface.

D_rek, not all smokers will get that hot. The site I frequent on occasion suggested 250f for 2hrs, but lower temps would be fine, just take longer. I cooked this at 200 for about 4hrs, and it was at 151f internal temp. I then cranked it up to 250ish and left it till it hit 165f internal temp. The outside tasted fine, but was tough to put a fork through it. Were talking about the thickness of 2 sheets of paper. Inside was moist, perfect actually.

Swamp, total cook time was about 4.5hrs, 4 of which was at 200. I would have cooked it at higher temp, but knew I had to leave and didnt want the temps raising out of control. My wife got home about 30min later and kept an eye on the temp, but doesnt know how to raise/lower the smoker temp. Heck Im still fighting with it at times. :lol:

I use a maverick ET-733 which is a wireless transmitter type (2) channel thermometer. I monitor the meat with one and the inside smoker temps with the other. This allows me to know if I run out of gas or the temps climb. I surf the net or watch tv, have the monitor right there in view. :cool:
 
Wish I had one of those. I bought 2 cheap $12 ones from academy. Use one for smoke house temp and one for internal meat temp. Then I have a analog one on the door that I use my wireless binoculars to look out the window at! Lol
 
swampsnyper said:
Wish I had one of those. I bought 2 cheap $12 ones from academy. Use one for smoke house temp and one for internal meat temp. Then I have a analog one on the door that I use my wireless binoculars to look out the window at! Lol
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I have one in the door from walmart. First time using the smoker, I sat there watching it out the window. :lol: That was thanksgiving and my wife wasnt happy I had to sit there and ignore everybody. I said I need a Maverick and she got it for me for Christmas. :cool: Also with 3 different probes, you learn heat isnt the same everywhere in the smoker.
 
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