Author Topic: BASIC CHICKEN PART TWO  (Read 38534 times)

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Offline Hub

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BASIC CHICKEN PART TWO
« Reply #-1 on: November 13, 2015, 09:20:46 AM »
BASIC CHICKEN FOR THE BEGINNER

Part Two:  Let’s Cook Chicken

By

Gordon Hubbell, Ph.B.


Note:  This is part two of a two part article.  Part one addresses the quirks of chicken cooking and some of the many variations and treatments that exist for cooking it.

Since I’m of the persuasion that most chicken cooked outdoors (“burned in the backyard” in my favorite tongue-in-cheek parlance) is grilled, let’s go there first.  Since this is “basic” the goal is to turn out some really edible, well-cooked chicken, learn the ABC’s, and then leave the door open for lots of fun with experimentation in subsequent cooks to “kick it up a notch” in the words of Chef Emeril Legasse.

Recipe One:  Basic Grilled Chicken Pieces

What You’ll Need

1.   Your favorite chicken chunks
2.   One Gallon plastic bag(s)
3.   Grill, tongs, platter
4.   Marinade (commercial or home-made see Part One for a suggestion)
5.   Rub (commercial or home-made see Part One for a recipe)
6.   Sauce and sauce brush (optional)


The Method

•   Rinse the pieces in running tap water and remove any pinfeathers or leftovers from processing.  Shake off excess water.
•   Put enough pieces in bag to fill it, but not stack pieces on top of each other when bag is laid flat.
•   Pour in enough marinade to fully coat pieces plus a little – seal and shake bag to fully coat.
•   Follow marinade directions for amount of time, or if using my salad dressing marinade, allow at least four hours (always marinate in refrigerator).
•   Fire up grill to medium heat and stabilize.
•   Using tongs, move pieces directly from bag to grids.  Discard leftover marinade.

Cooking

•   Monitor pieces on grids to “tune” temperature seeking even, light browning in three or four minutes per side – adjust as necessary.
•   Turn pieces as they brown, seeking as much consistency in color as possible by moving more done pieces to cooler areas or sides of the grill and less done ones to the hotter area. 
•   Continue until all pieces have a darker medium brown color and juices are running clear (Insertable thermometer – if you have one -- in thickest part reads at least 160).
•   Sprinkle on rub to coat lightly, turning each piece as necessary to coat evenly.  Once fully coated, move to platter.
•   (Optional) Brush on light coat of sauce to coat evenly. 

The Results

Note that both the rub and the optional sauce in this recipe were applied very late in the grilling process.  This keeps the sugars in them from charring.  Your chicken will have a dark golden shininess augmented by the color of the rub and any sauce you use.

Serve immediately or store uncovered in oven on lowest (warm) setting.  150 to 170 degrees is good, “sets” the sauce if used, and will hold the pieces for up to an hour without overcooking.

Charcoal will typically produce more “woody” or grilled flavor, but if you don’t rush too much and have the knobs set right for “medium” you still get some “grill-ness” in the background even from a gas grill.  The flavor of the chicken will come from the grill, the bird itself (dark meat pieces will be stronger), the marinade (a tanginess that isn’t necessarily identifiable as any one flavor) and the rub (a savory, light sweet/salty/spicy blend of goodness, plus the sauce if you use it.  The goal is not to let any one flavor dominate the others and to achieve an overall distinctive flavor to the chicken that is balanced and memorable – one that is better than any ingredient and makes the folks eating it say, “I want more of that!”

Suggestions Going Forward

Once you are comfortable with this very basic approach and your results are consistent, there’s a lot more creativity if you wish.  Here are just a few suggestions, but feel free to conduct your own experiments (and post them to share!).

Try a low or no-sugar rub applied before the cook.  You’ll get a major flavor impact and it may change the way the skin cooks up, but if you like more “zing” this will do it.

Substitute brining for the marinating to see if you like the results better (brine recipe in Part One).

If you’d like the breasts and legs to be more moist, try injecting them with the simple injection I listed in Part One.

Try mixing some rub into the injection.  Usually, it doesn’t take a lot but the flavor impact can be impressive.

For extra-crisp skin, spray the outside of the pieces with Canola oil spray just before they go on the grill.  Touch them up a little at each turn being careful not to cause a flare-up (a little “spritz” will do it).  Don’t apply rub or sauce until the last minute.

Try some wood chips wrapped in foil pouches to add smokiness while grilling (gas grill) or add wood chips or chunks to the fire (charcoal).  This may take some trial and error to get the smoke production right.  Or, try a “reverse sear” by smoking the pieces in your smoker for about thirty minutes before you grill them.


Recipe Two:  Basic Smoked Chicken

What You’ll Need

1.   Whole chicken, five or six pounds, bigger chickens are easier to cook and turn out more evenly than small ones
2.   Injector and Injection (See Part One)
3.   Rub (See Part One)
4.   Parkay Margarine™ (squeeze bottle or spray)
5.   Sauce (optional)
6.   Smoker capable of sustained low temperature cooking while producing blue smoke.  A temperature of 250 to 275 degrees is recommended.
7.   Probe type thermometer for measuring food internal temperature (IT)
8.   Platter and large cooking fork (lift the bird by inserting the fork into the cavity)

The Method

Rinse the bird and remove any excess skin and any pinfeathers.  Discard the giblet packet or save and cook separately, using for soups or gravies.  Cut off and discard the wing tips.   Pat the bird dry with paper towels. 

Inject using lots of small injections both shallow and deep, primarily into the breasts and legs.  These are the parts that will benefit most from the added moisture.  The injection also helps the bird’s various parts to cook more evenly – typically, the deep parts of the thigh take the longest time to cook – getting the whole bird done at the same time is the goal.

Brush or spray a light coat of Parkay™ on all exposed skin areas and into the gaps between the legs and body.

Apply rub moderately using a shaker, making sure to get rub into the cracks and crannies where the legs meet the body and the wings tuck in.  Different rubs will react differently to the heat depending on their makeup.  The higher the sugar content the more likely they are to turn dark.  Higher salt content rubs may make the skin leathery. 

Place the bird in the smoker cavity once it has reached the target temperature.  Monitor temperatures and fuel (depending on smoker type) as necessary to avoid deep swings.  Steady blue smoke production yields the best flavor.

Brush or spray on additional Parkay™ at the one hour and two hour points of the cook.

The best place to check for doneness is in the deep part of the thigh.  If you have a remote thermometer, set it to alert you when the IT there reaches 155-160 degrees.  If you have an insertable thermometer, you’ll need to start monitoring at about two hours.
If you’re going to use sauce, apply with a brush about five minutes before taking the bird out.  A light coat is recommended to avoid overpowering the other flavors.  Alternatively, take the bird out of the cooker and sauce it on the platter.  Most sauces will darken with heat due to their sugar content.

Once the bird is done, move it to the platter and either tent with foil to keep it warm or place it in a low temp oven to keep it warm while you get the rest of the meal ready.  Do not cut or slice the chicken until you’re ready to serve it in order to retain moisture.

The Results

Your smoked chicken should be done in all areas, relatively juicy (juices should run clear), and be a mixture of the meat’s natural flavor, the rub, the injection, and your sauce, if used. 

Because of the differences in smokers and in rubs you may or may not get “good skin”.  You won’t know until you try.  Because of the relatively low temperatures, smoked birds often come out with rubbery or tough skin but the Parkay™ will offset this when properly used.  If the skin is too dark, try using a lower sugar rub.

Sauces, particularly those that contain any liquid smoke (see bottle label for contents list), should be used sparingly or they’ll be all that you can taste.  A great smoked chicken will be juicy with an edible skin and a pleasant combination of smokiness and meaty, spicy flavors. 

Suggestions Going Forward

Smoking a bird takes more practice to perfect than grilling because of the nature of the cook – smoker strengths and weaknesses, the effects of the various things added, and learning the timing.  Again, though, there’s fun involved because you get to eat your experiments until you get it all tuned in.  Once you’ve mastered it, however, folks will be begging you to smoke a bird for them.

Individual pieces can be smoked just like a whole bird, so give it a go if you’d like.  Be prepared to do a lot of temperature checks, though, because they’ll finish at different times.  Thighs are very forgiving of overcooking and stay moist for longer times in the cooker.  Breasts are more accepting of smoke flavor but dry easily – always inject or brine them before smoking.  Legs fall somewhere in the middle but benefit from extra moisture from injection or brine.  Wings or wing pieces cook rather quickly but if you cook them skin-on they stay pretty moist.

Another technique for skin “crisping” is to start at low temperature for smoke infusion then complete the cook at a high temperature (325-350 degrees).  This takes practice and some smokers do it better than others.  To start, aim for at least 30 to 45 minutes at the higher temp.  If you’re cooking at home you can use your indoor oven for the last phase (makes the kitchen smell wonderful).

Smoking a chicken and smoking a turkey are the same process.  The timing is different due to the bird’s mass, but the techniques are identical.  One thing to watch for is the moisture agents added by the processor.  Butterball™ brand turkeys and many others have been pre-injected, while “fresh” birds from your butcher will likely have no treatment.  Wild birds, if you’re lucky enough to bag one, will need lots of help in the moisture and tenderness department but will have an intense meaty flavor.

Moisture can be added to a bird by placing butter pats underneath the skin covering the breast.  The problem with doing this while smoking is that most of the butter will be lost into the drip pan because the process of the cook is slow.  When roasting, though (350 temperature range), this will help with skin texture and breast meat moisture.



In Conclusion

These two “basic” grilling and smoking methods are by no means the only way to enjoy chicken (or other birds) as the subjects of outdoor cooks.  But, by taking the time to master them you’ll have the skills and experience necessary to tackle them with assurance and the knowledge that you can turn out great groceries and, more importantly, add your own touches to make them even better.

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Offline HighOnSmoke

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Re: BASIC CHICKEN PART TWO
« on: November 13, 2015, 11:24:21 AM »
Another excellent write Hub! I have used "blue bottle" on my ribs and never thought about it on
chicken. I am definitely going to give this a shot. It should also work on turkey I am guessing?
Mike

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Offline Smokin Don

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Re: BASIC CHICKEN PART TWO
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2015, 12:53:51 PM »
All great info on doing chicken Hub!!! Nice write up!!! Don
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Offline smokeasaurus

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Re: BASIC CHICKEN PART TWO
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2015, 01:33:28 PM »
Great write up  8)
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Offline Big Dawg

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Re: BASIC CHICKEN PART TWO
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2015, 05:01:49 PM »
Great job, Hub!  A lot of good info there for the beginners as well as those of us who've burnt a few ! !





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Offline ACW3

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Re: BASIC CHICKEN PART TWO
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2015, 11:35:08 PM »
Great follow-up article.  Funny, but I recognize a few of those "tricks of the trade".  Oh yeah, we were in the same class.

Good stuff everyone.  The Doctor knoweth what he speaks.

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