Saturday, June 17, 2006

Smoking Chicken Breasts Delicious

Q: I want to smoke boneless chicken breast but cant find how long or any ideas on the net please help p.s. i tryed the meatloaf wow ty it was great

A: Chicken has a tendency to dry out and usually it is the skin that protects the meat and helps hold in some of the juices.

With boneless chicken breasts, you are going to have to be really careful to not let it dry out on you.

It is not common practice to smoke them for that reason however, with a few considerations you should be able to do ok with it.

I would definitely marinate it in some zesty italian dressing for at least a day before smoking and then sprinkle with some Zatarains blackened seasoning or some Cajun seasoning will work as well and some "lemon pepper with seasoning salt". During the smoking process you will need to drape a few pieces of fatty bacon over the top of the meat. The bacon will render (melt) and should keep the meat from drying out too much.

I would pull the chicken out of the smoker just as soon as it reaches 165 degrees and place it all together in a pan with foil covering the top of the pan. Let it sit in the pan in a 170 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour to allow the steam to do some magic on the meat.

With a little luck it will turn out pretty good..

Just a side note.. I would smoke the chicken at around 275 to 300 (a little hotter than normal) and it should not take more than about an hour to finish.

Let the temperature be your guide rather than the time and don't overcook it.

Visit Smoking-Meat.com for hundreds of great tutorials and guides on smoking meat.

The Technorati Tag for this post is

Jeff's Naked Rib Rub and BBQ Sauce Recipes.. a religious experience! Get them today by clicking here

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've managed to have some success here. I brined the chicken in a gallon of water, 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup sugar for a couple of hours.

Then sprinkled them liberally with curry and maple pepper.

Smoked them on the top rack on top of a plate setter at 250 for 2 hours, turning at one hour. The key is to have the chicken in the middle of the smoker so you're using as much indirect heat as possible. Otherwise, the edges will dry out or burn.

1:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh... forgot one thing. When I take them off the smoker, I wrap them in foil and let them rest in a 200-degree oven for 20 minutes.

6:42 PM  
Anonymous Brent said...

Brined overnight, wrapped in bacon after seasoning with a rosemary and garlic rub. Smoked for two and a half hours @ 200 degrees. Was delicious. Thanks Jeff.
Brent

9:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I followed this to a T, overnight marinade, topped with bacon, 275 for about an hour (used the thermometer as indicated), into the oven at 170 to steam. Only differences were that I did not use any seasoning, I put chicken broth in the steam pan, and it was in the oven longer than 45 minutes, probably a half hour longer. This was the best chicken we've ever eaten. Absolutely amazing. Thanks for the tips.

8:48 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home