As it turns out, Sunday Grilling has sort of been replaced in the Young house. We have started up a new tradition (though we still grill) of Smokin' Sundays around here. If you haven't heard, a few weeks ago we purchased an electric smoker. We (read: Steven) have been looking a while and finally decided to pull the plug and purchase a smoker. We elected to go with an electric smoker due to ease of cooking and price was reasonable.
Today we smoked our second chicken. A friend advised that we should start with chicken because it is the easiest to smoke and would ease us into our new roles as smoke-masters. We figured today we would document the process. That's definitely what true smoking is... a process. This starts the night before but it is well worth the time and effort.
Last night we made the brine for the chicken. It needs to cool completely and be chilled before putting the chicken in it, so we make it the night before so we can refrigerate it over night. Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of the brine making process, but I can explain it. You put water, salt, sugar, and a salt free spice (we used a "chicken" one this time but last time we used a southwestern chipotle) in a pot and heat to boiling. You basically are trying to dissolve the sugar and salt. Then you cool it, add more water, and refrigerate. Easy peasy.
This morning we didn't go to church due to Will's fever last night and continued iffy mood so we weren't as rushed as last time getting everything together. First, Steven made himself a schedule. We are schedule oriented people in this family... so this is nothing new. You should see me prep Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (or a party).
With the brine prep handled already, we set about chicken prep right around 9:15 this morning. We had to wash the chicken and get it into the brine. That is always interesting. We use 2 gallon ziploc bags and pour very slowly. Then, put the back in a bowl and refrigerate it. Then... we wait.
Right about 1pm today, we took the chicken out of the brine (it smelled awesome already), dried it off, and seasoned it up. We made a seasoning for the last chicken and kept the seasoning we didn't use so if we liked it, we could use it again. I was smart enough to save the recipe too because it was yummy!
While we were prepping the chicken, we were also preheating the smoker and soaking the first batch of wood chips. We smoke the chicken on 250 degrees. The wood chips have to soak to create more smoke (which is essentially what flavors whatever is inside).
Right on time we put Mr. Chicken into the smoker. We set the timer for 4.5 hours and let it go.
It has to be monitored to make sure that it continues to smoke for the duration of the cooking time. Any time the smoke ceases, we add more wood chips. That happens about every hour or so (as needed). It didn't take long before we had quite a bit of smoke going. Yum!
Steven was very diligent about keeping up with how much smoke was going throughout the afternoon and pretty soon... okay about 4.5 hours later, we were ready to remove the chicken. Once you remove it, you have to let it rest. So, we wrapped the chicken in tin foil and put it in a cooler for the next 1/2 hour or so.
After about 30 minutes we remove the chicken, cut it open and reveled in the awesomeness. As usual, we MIGHT have stood at the counter for a few minutes just eating chicken right off the cutting board before we finally served dinner.
We also made some other yummy food to go along with tonight's dinner. We have gotten really into sweet potatoes with cumin, brown sugar, and coconut oil. So yummy! We roasted some green beans and made yeast rolls (not from scratch... I'm not that good... yet).
We definitely managed to have an awesome dinner. Now, since we have made two successful chickens, we are ready to move on. Next stop... pork!
Today we smoked our second chicken. A friend advised that we should start with chicken because it is the easiest to smoke and would ease us into our new roles as smoke-masters. We figured today we would document the process. That's definitely what true smoking is... a process. This starts the night before but it is well worth the time and effort.
Last night we made the brine for the chicken. It needs to cool completely and be chilled before putting the chicken in it, so we make it the night before so we can refrigerate it over night. Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of the brine making process, but I can explain it. You put water, salt, sugar, and a salt free spice (we used a "chicken" one this time but last time we used a southwestern chipotle) in a pot and heat to boiling. You basically are trying to dissolve the sugar and salt. Then you cool it, add more water, and refrigerate. Easy peasy.
This morning we didn't go to church due to Will's fever last night and continued iffy mood so we weren't as rushed as last time getting everything together. First, Steven made himself a schedule. We are schedule oriented people in this family... so this is nothing new. You should see me prep Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (or a party).
With the brine prep handled already, we set about chicken prep right around 9:15 this morning. We had to wash the chicken and get it into the brine. That is always interesting. We use 2 gallon ziploc bags and pour very slowly. Then, put the back in a bowl and refrigerate it. Then... we wait.
Right about 1pm today, we took the chicken out of the brine (it smelled awesome already), dried it off, and seasoned it up. We made a seasoning for the last chicken and kept the seasoning we didn't use so if we liked it, we could use it again. I was smart enough to save the recipe too because it was yummy!
While we were prepping the chicken, we were also preheating the smoker and soaking the first batch of wood chips. We smoke the chicken on 250 degrees. The wood chips have to soak to create more smoke (which is essentially what flavors whatever is inside).
Right on time we put Mr. Chicken into the smoker. We set the timer for 4.5 hours and let it go.
It has to be monitored to make sure that it continues to smoke for the duration of the cooking time. Any time the smoke ceases, we add more wood chips. That happens about every hour or so (as needed). It didn't take long before we had quite a bit of smoke going. Yum!
Steven was very diligent about keeping up with how much smoke was going throughout the afternoon and pretty soon... okay about 4.5 hours later, we were ready to remove the chicken. Once you remove it, you have to let it rest. So, we wrapped the chicken in tin foil and put it in a cooler for the next 1/2 hour or so.
After about 30 minutes we remove the chicken, cut it open and reveled in the awesomeness. As usual, we MIGHT have stood at the counter for a few minutes just eating chicken right off the cutting board before we finally served dinner.
We also made some other yummy food to go along with tonight's dinner. We have gotten really into sweet potatoes with cumin, brown sugar, and coconut oil. So yummy! We roasted some green beans and made yeast rolls (not from scratch... I'm not that good... yet).
We definitely managed to have an awesome dinner. Now, since we have made two successful chickens, we are ready to move on. Next stop... pork!
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