smoking chicken

[gfweb]

I'm smoking breasts on a Weber gas grill with indirect heat and a basket of chipped wet wood. 300 degrees for about 45 min gets them to 150 deg, but they are not as tender as I'd like and not very smokey.

Is brining in order? Too hot a temp? Bad choice of meat?

[Dave the Cook]

Your instincts are correct. I'd give them a nice soak and more leisurely smoke. On the other hand -- using charcoal -- I get a pleasant smoky flavor from the 300/45 combination, so you might look at a couple of other possibilities: you're not generating enough wood smoke from your basket; the location of meat, basket and vent aren't optimal for smoking; maybe you're anxious and opening the grill too often?

[klkruger]

What are you using for a thermometer? An analog bimetal thermometer won't give you an accurate reading in a chicken breast and is unsafe to boot.

If on the somewhat rubbery/less tender side, you are undercooking.

[gfweb]

Thanks!

It is at 150 digital degrees. I could probably generate more smoke. My big-a$$ Weber pours smoke out from every orafice.

[tim]

I'm smoking breasts on a Weber gas  grill with indirect heat and a basket of chipped wet wood.  300 degrees for about 45 min gets them to 150 deg, but they are not as tender as I'd like and not very smokey.

Is brining in order?  Too hot a temp? Bad choice of meat?

←

Hi,

Brining the breasts, and air drying to create a pellicle will make it much easier for the smoke to flavor the breasts.

You should also place the very cold breasts in the chamber after the smoke is flowing. Smoke penetrates cold meat much better than warm meat.

I would also cook the breasts to 160 degrees.

Good luck,

Tim

[Abra]

I smoke bone-in thighs, not breasts, which stay jucier with no need to brine. Keep the temp of the kettle at 150 and you'll get a much longer smoking period. I think of thighs as taking about 1 1/2 hours, depending on size.

At the end, if you feel the need to raise the temp of the meat itself, you can give it a little boost. This really depends on the source of your chicken. Here in France it's eaten pink and juicy, but if you're using battery chicken as opposed to something you got from a trusted source, I'd follow Tim's advice on temperature right at the end.

[victornet]

This is different enough to be a possibly irrelevant dish, but perhaps you could consider a full chicken. I smoke whole roasters in a 'beer can chicken' type pan (found it at Lowes I think), with white wine, tarragon, and garlic in the cup that holds the liquid. I give it about 2 hours at 250 in a big green egg with applewood chips. Super moist chicken results.

[lancastermike]

I do brine chicken for the smoker. Usually just spatchcocked and smoked in the WSM they come out fine.