Failure In flavour

[Simso]

Hi folks,

New to the forum, first I know my problems are all me.

I recieved for my birthday a Bradley 4 tray digital smoker, love it, love it, love it.

However my first cook was a disaster in flavour.

Clearly I need to understand things and how they work together, I cooked two chooks at 250 for 4.5 hrs using hickory chips, I smoked for two hrs, the chooks just fell apart, but flavour was bland tasteless, and the breast meat was almost rubbery, so clearly I need to learn things.

My first questions if someone is willing to help is understandi brines and cures, what are the purposes of each

Thanks

Steve

[TedEbear]

Hi and welcome to the forum.  I had to do a Google search to learn what a chook was, never heard of it.   :)

Anyway, you might find some ideas in the Poultry section of the forum if you haven't been there yet.  The Bradley doesn't get hot enough to crisp the skin of poultry. It usually leaves it with a rubbery texture.  Many people initially smoke it and then transfer it to their house oven to finish.

For brining and curing tips, check out the user recipe site.  There's a whole section on brining and curing.

Our Time Tested and Proven Recipes

[tskeeter]

Simso, poultry usually absorbs smoke pretty quickly.  That said, the conventional wisdom here is that after about four hours, what you are smoking doesn't absorb enough additional smoke flavor to invest more pucks in a longer smoke period. 

Checking my smoke plan for turkey breast, I see that I apply three hours of Apple smoke for a nine pound breast (I prefer a light smoke flavor).

You might want to consider increasing the duration of your smoke interval to develop the flavor you prefer.


Some comments on my smoke plan.  Before I smoke something, I take a few minutes to write up a smoke plan.  It includes smoker temp, wood type, duration of smoke, and duration of cook, as well as any other notes I think might be relevant.  This helps me duplicate successes, time after time, and helps keeps me from leaving out something important during a future smoke.  After my smoke has been completed, I might add comments, or change some of the information, such as anticipated cook time, smoke duration, etc.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Simso;

Welcome to the forum.

If the poultry was not already brined, you will find good information in the link TedEbear provided. Even if it was brined, there is a lot of helpful information there.

Your smoke time is about what most use, though I generally will use 1.5 hours, using a fruit wood. You didn't mention anything about seasoning. Even just salt and pepper will enhance the flavor of the chicken. I often will use just salt and pepper, when I'm hurrying. I'm not sure why the breast meat was rubbery, but if the other areas of the chickens were falling apart, it seems like you overcooked them. White meat usually gets dry when over cooked, but if it is cooked beyond that the breast may get rubbery (tough). I also find, when overcooking meat, it looses a lot of flavor.

I always go by internal temperature, and not time. With whole chicken I take the internal temperature to 165°F as measured in the thickest part of the thigh. Cook's Illustrated recommends cooking until the thigh meat is 175°F, or the breast meat is 165°F. They always start with a brined chicken. If you don't have one already, invest in a digital probe thermometer so you can monitor the meat's internal temperature.

[Simso]

Thanks folks.

Yes I went into this a bit blindly, excitement.

I have thermometer so that is good,

What is the purpose of brining something, no I did not brine these chooks to start with

Steve

[tskeeter]

Thanks folks.

Yes I went into this a bit blindly, excitement.

I have thermometer so that is good,

What is the purpose of brining something, no I did not brine these chooks to start with

Steve

The primary purpose of brining is two fold.  To add moisture, and to flavor.

As an example, most turkeys from large producers are injected with brine to help keep the breast meat moist during the roasting process.  The salt in the brine enhances flavor.

[Habanero Smoker]

First check to make sure the chooks have not already been brined. If the chooks where commercially produced, they may have been brined already. If commercially produced, the label must indicate if they have been injected with a brine (enhanced). If that is the case, any additional brining will not be very useful. The label will state something like; "Contains up to a 5% solution of water, salt, sodium phosphates, ...." etc.. If the label states; "Contains up to 3% added water"; and no other ingredients are listed, then a brine would be useful.

[Simso]

Okay, that means they likely were pre brined, they were in a sealed bag each, and the bag was wet and squishy inside.

When I cut them open after cooking and smoking, watery type liquid just pooled out from around the legs, I smoked them standing up.

I might try a red meat next time, just had a read on making pastrami, so may give that a go, or making some bacon

Steve