First Smoke!!!!

[JeffPorter]

It was simple chicken, and a very small batch too (four breasts), but worked pretty well...I have a couple pics, but they're nothing special, but here's what I did...

Four bone in, skin on breasts

Made a simple brine this morning, brined chicken for about 5 hours...

Started smoking at about two...just put pepper and evoo on it. I was worried a little b/c it was taking a long time to get up to temp and it's going to take a while to get used to the temp adjustments...I smoked with half maple half alder

About half way though, put a sauce on that was Brooklyn Lager, grainy mustard, honey, brown sugar, chilis, and some fresh herbs...

After I pulled them out and tasted them (they didn't dry out at all, though the brine may have been a bit stong - haven't made one in a long time) and I realized...hey...this is smoked chicken...one of the most versatile ingredients there is!

So I shredding the chicken, whipped up some crepes, and stuffed them with the the chicken,  Blarney Castle cheese, and jalepenos...

AWESOME!!! So friggin good...both wife and kids loved it...

While I'm really looking forward to doing different kinds of pork, smoked chicken really is a thing of beauty. I realized that I can just load that thing with chicken on Sunday and have a half-dozen ways to make it during the week: BBQ Chicken pizza, chili, quesedillas,  stew, even grilled cheese...

I love this thing...Also, I've only been on this forum for a day and I really like it...thanks everyone...this may have been a success, but I'm sure I'll need your help at some point...

[mikecorn.1]

Hey you forgot something.  >:(    WHERE'S THE PICS?  Doesnt matter how small the smoke was. We like pics.  ;D  Cograts on the first smoke.  :)

[ghost9mm]

Glad everything worked out for you Jeff, always glad to here when things go well...

[KyNola]

Jeff, nice job!  Here's a tip if you don't know already.  You can load the Bradley with chicken and when it is done if you don't have a reason to use it all you can vac seal it and freeze it.  It comes out of the vac seal just like you cooked it today.  Warming them out of the freezer is easy.  Take a pan of water, bring it to a boil anf turn it down so it is not boiling any more and put the frozen vac sealed bag of chicken in the pan of hot water for around 20-25 minutes making sure not to get the seal in the water.  It may open the seal and you have soggy wet chicken. 

One other thing, doing chicken means open the vent on your Bradley 100%.  Poultry has a ton of moisture that you want to escape the tower.

[ArnieM]

Happy to hear it worked well Jeff.  Nothing like some positive reinforcement!

[DTAggie]

Looks like we hooked another.  Welcome Jeff.  Glad it all went well!

[Habanero Smoker]

If the chicken was too salty, there could be a few reasons. The strength of the salt (salinity) in the brine, the brining times, and if the chicken had already been brine injected by the processor.

The more salt you put in the brine solution, the shorter the brine time should be. For something like bone-in chicken breast should be brined 1 - 2 hours (depending on the salinity). Most poultry is already brined, so if you have kosher chicken or one that was injected with a brine solution of 5% or more there is not need to brine.