Fantastic Recipe for Bourbon Smoked Chicken
We have a beautiful and tasty chicken recipe for you to make. This will re-introduce the whiskey flavor and basting butter combo that defines the New Orlean’s cooking. The smoked chicken recipe is a wonderful and flavorful dish that your family and friends will be impressed with.
Ingredients
Before we do anything, it’s important to gather all the ingredients. Here are the ingredients that you will need:
- 2 quarts water
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- bourbon
- 3 tablespoons of salt
- 2 quarts of ice water
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon of the black pepper plant
- three garlic clothes
- one onion
- one Fuji apple
- one lemon
- 2 cups apple with chips
- 4-pound whole chicken
- cooking spray
- half tablespoon of ground pepper
- one melted butter
Bourbon Smoked Chicken
We will start by combining 2 quarts of water, half a cup of bourbon, kosher salt, and sugar in the Dutch oven. Then we will bring it to a boil, and stir it thoroughly until the sugar and salt dissolve. Then add the ice water and the next seven ingredients all the way through the lemon, and cool it to room temperature. Then we will add the chicken to the brine, and cover it. Afterward, put it in the refrigerator for 18 hours. In the meantime, you can soak the chips and water for an hour and then drain them.
The next step is to remove the chicken from the Brine, and pat it dry. You can drain the brine and discard it. Then grab two Apple cords, two lemons, two onions, and the garlic, and reserve them. Sprinkle the chicken cavity with pepper, make sure that you get the whole chicken filled with pepper. Then remove the grill rack, and put it aside. You want to prepare the grill by heating one side to the high-level heat and leaving the other side with little to no heat. Then penetrate the bottom of an aluminum foil pan with a bunch of holes. You can use the tip of the knife to do this easily. Afterward, place the pan in the heat and grill it from side to side. You can add 1 cup of wood chips to the pan, and place the aluminum foil pan on the unheated part of the grill. Let the chip stand there for 15 minutes or until it starts having a smokey smell to it. When that happens, you can reduce the heat to medium to low in order to maintain a temperature at 275°F.
Fill the grill rack with cooking spray, and place it on the grill. Now you can place the chicken on the grill but make sure it’s breast side up. Put the foil pan on the unheated side. Then combine 1 tablespoon of Bourbon and butter, and base the chicken with this amazing combo. After that, cover the lid, and cook for two hours at 275°F. Make sure to insert an internal thermometer to make sure that the internal part of the chicken is about 165°F. You don’t want to eat raw chicken; it will make you sick. After that, use the remaining 1 cup of wood ship halfway through, then place the chicken on a platter and cover it with tinfoil. Let it rest for about 15 minutes, and start cutting to serve your chicken to your friends and family.
Smoking Whole Chicken
We should start with a smoked chicken rub. After all, the whole process starts with the rub. The chicken is first rubbed with all the dry and simple spices. Then we slowly smoke the chicken with indirect heat. If time is a factor, you can use lemon pepper seasoning instead of combining all the complex spices. We can start with the classic smoke whole chicken rub that can impact all the flavors that will make you drooling for more. You can also adjust the recipe to your desire. The goal is to be creative with this. You can try these awesome recipes by mixing 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar with three tablespoons of salt, 1/4 cup of sweet paprika, 1 tablespoon of ground pepper, 1 tablespoon of onion powder, 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper, and one tablespoon of chili powder.
Let’s Prepare The Meat
Keep in mind that the chicken should always be kept in the refrigerator below 40°F. Then take the thawed chicken out of the refrigerator and clean it thoroughly. After that, make sure to pad it dry. Applied the rub all over the chicken. Make sure to get the sites under the skin. It’s best to do this at least a couple of hours and 1 to 3 days before cooking in order to get the optimal results. Make sure to keep the chicken in the refrigerator until you are ready to smoke it in the fire.
Get the Smoker Ready
The first thing to do is to fill the water pan with an inch of top. You can use hot water to avoid wasting fuel. For that gas or electric smoker, you can start by soaking the chips and water for 20 minutes to an hour. Then place it in a wood chip box. One full box of chips should last for many hours, which is enough to cook a whole chicken. Once you are done, you can start firing up the cooker and keep the temperature at 235°F. Make sure to keep it as steady as possible. Temperature fluctuation can negatively impact your chicken. The best range is to maintain the temperature between 200 to 235°F. If you are using a charcoal fire smoker, then soak the chips or chunks in water for an hour. Then drain and place them on the rack once the smoker has reached the ideal temperature. This will be enough time to cook an entire chicken with this method. If you have too much smoke, it can taste really bitter.
You can control the temperature by using the bottom vents. The top vents can remain open and avoid using them to control the oxygen intake. Each cooker is different, so it’s important to read the instruction manual thoroughly.
Let’s Start Cooking
During the cooking process, make sure to use tongs and heatproof gloves because these chickens can be very hot. Do not use forks, pokey, or anything sharp that appears to originate from your backyard barbecue tools. These sharp tools can penetrate the meat, and cause the moisture to run out. When that happens, your chicken will be dry and tasteless. This is not something you want.
Once the inside of the chicken has reached 235°F, you can place the chicken in the smoker. Make sure the breast side down and then start turning to have a thorough finishing touch. Do this for about an hour to two hours. Try not to open the door and peak. You can be tempted to keep checking on your chicken, but when you open the door you let the heat out which can increase the duration of your cooking time. Plus, the longer you keep your chicken in the cooker, the dryer It gets. This whole process would take around four hours, but it’s worth it. You want to check the temperature to make sure the internal part of the chicken is 160°F. Once it’s done, remove the bird and let it rest for 10 minutes. This will allow the juice to seep to the center to keep the bird moist.
Conclusion
With this fantastic Bourbon smoke chicken recipe, you are ready to bring New Orleans to your table. Get ready to impress everyone with this delicious juicy smoke chicken. Being able to create this masterpiece does show a lot of skills and patience. It means that you are the master chef and is ready to reveal your masterpiece. Each bite leaves everyone in awe and wonders. With our secret strategies, you are basically on top of the world.