Chicken Question

[Cruzino]

Hi.

I'm going to be trying the "Chicken Italiano" recipe found on the BS website at http://www.bradleysmoker.com/recipes/collector/chicken/sb007.htm .  I've already rubbed it and will smoke it tomorrow night.  But I have 2 questions about this:

1.  The recipe says, "Baste the chicken with the remaining 1c of Italian dressing for the last hour."  Since this is a hot-smoke, I would assume opening the door is going to drop my temperature and may be a bad idea.  Any thoughts on this?

2.  The recipe called for 1/2 cup of Paprika.  I followed the recipe as it called but kept thinking this sounded like way too much paprika.  Has anyone made this recipe?  Is 1/2 cup a typo?  If so, what would be correct?

Thanks!

[Habanero Smoker]

Most on this forum, including myself have at least a remote thermometer to measure the internal meat temperature and we will avoid opening the door. Read the post by Kirt aka "Chez Bubba". http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=142&SearchTerms=opening,door . If you are only doing chicken; the recipe is stating baste once during the last hour of cooking, and you have no problem with the extra time; I guess it wouldn't hurt.

I have never tried this recipe, or rub. Looking at the ratio of paprika to the other spices and seasoning, and comparing that to other recipes that have paprika, that does seem high. Other recipes I have seen will use ratio of 1/4 Cup of paprika to the other amounts listed in the recipe for the other spices and seasonings. Keep us posted on how it turned out.

[Cruzino]

Thanks for the advice.  I'll let you know how it comes out.  I did end up only using 1/3 of a cup of Paprika since that's all I had.  So it was less than the 1/2 cup the recipe called for.  I did follow the rest of the recipe to the letter.  All of the quantities were so large that I was left with a bunch of leftover rub which was trashed.  If anyone else were to make this, I would suggest cutting all quantities in half if you're going to do just one 3lb bird.

[Habanero Smoker]

You should have put the rest in a ziplock bag for future use. That looked like a good all-purpose poultry seasoning. It may have gone good with fish also.

[BigSmoker]

If the paprika was the Spanish type it is mainly for color with little or no taste.  If you use Hungarian Paprika it has a sweet mildly hot flavor and could overpower a dish if you use to much, but either would cause the skin if used on top to become pretty dark.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[Cruzino]

So, here's the verdict on the "Chicken Italiano"...

This was my second smoking on the BS (my first was burgers which came out a little too strong).  I followed the recipe except that I used 1/3 cup of Paprika instead of the 1/2 the recipe called for since I didn't have enough.  AND IT WAS THE BEST CHICKEN I HAVE EVER HAD!  [:p]  

The flavor was amazing and the meat was so juicy and easy to cut!  I'd probably use the correct amount of Paprika next time but can't say that the missing 1/6 of a cup made a difference.

I had spent a couple of months thinking about getting a BS and my wife didn't understand why I wanted one.  Now that she's tasted this, she is completely convinced that smoking foods is the best way to go!  Even our two kids (5 and 2) ate every bite and wanted more.  Until tonight, I thought they'd only ask for seconds on food that was covered in chocolate.

I'm now hooked and am looking forward to not only trying other recipes but also to having our first smoked Thanksgiving turkey.  (And I'm a bit of a "glory chef" so I'm looking forward to inviting company over to enjoy a smokey evening!)

If anyone else decides to try this recipe, I'd enjoy hearing their thoughts on it.

Thanks everyone for your feedback and suggestions!  I'm now hooked on smoking with the BS!

[bsolomon]

As Habanero Smoker said, we generally try to avoid opening the door as much as possible.  For moisture purposes, you will find that basting and mopping sauces on is not really needed with the Bradley, but if you are doing it for flavoring purposes, then by all means go ahead, but keep in mind that every time the door is opened, you will generally need to add 30-40 minutes to the total cooking time.

[Cruzino]

The strange thing is that the recipe is from the BS website.  I figured if they say to do it, then they know best about it and I should just do it.  I didn't have much trouble getting the temp back up which was a nice surprise.

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[Oldman]

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