bring along smoked chicken

[Mr_Yan]

So smoking gurus, I need advice.

This summer my family is hosting / providing the meat for a get together at someone else's house. Chicken drumsticks are on sale this week, and I am thinking about buying several pounds and smoking these and grilling bratwurst.

I have an electric smoker here and then we would have to move the cooked chicken to their house (call it 15 minute drive). I think I can just put the smoked chicken in a foil roasting pan to transport and shove it in the oven to keep heated between when we get there and eating starts. Any holes or problems you see with this?

Any suggested dry rubs for chicken drumsticks? I think @w_r_ranch listed a general rub a few threads back.

 

[w_r_ranch]

We transport BBQ in foil roasting pans all the time.

Rubs are a highly personal thing for the most part... One person may like a particular spice combination & the next person won't. If your family is 'picky', I'd just go with salt & pepper. If they are adventuresome, use this:

1/2 Cup of paprika
1/3 Cup of dark brown sugar
3 Tablespoons of garlic power
3 Tablespoons of onion powder
2 Tablespoons of black pepper
2 Tablespoons of oregano
1 Tablespoon of sea salt
1 Tablespoon of cumin

Coat the drumsticks with a light coat of oil & the sprinkle with the above rub & then refrigerate them in zip-lock bags for 4-6 hrs before smoking.

I suggest trying it prior to your get together.

 

[majorcatfish]

couple times a year we will do legs in kc masterpiece caribbean jerk marinate..
will do about 4 family packs at a time on the smoker.
3 lbs legs/ thighs/ breasts
1 bottle of marinate
1/2 bottle of water
cover in marinate place a plastic bag over the top to keep everything covered, mix a couple times during the day.
marinate overnight.........
*make extra sauce to mop on it during cooking and to serve with....


also you might want to try chinese chicken marinate it's the same as you would do chicken wings..
3 lbs chicken wings/ legs/ thighs
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
cover in marinate place a plastic bag over the top to keep everything covered, mix a couple times during the day.
marinate overnight.........
*make extra sauce to mop on it during cooking and to serve with....

* you can re-use the marinate if you boil it, i mean a hard rolling boil for 5 minutes...
but theres a small chance that all the bacteria has not been killed and should only be kept for about a hour after boiling,
also after that marinate has been boiled theres a good possibility that marinate will have a different<off> flavor.
thats why i recommend making extra on the side......

the only reason i brought this up, have seen a few people getting sick for not paying attention while cooking with poultry/ seafood/ pork.

 

[w_r_ranch]

I can also recommend another option for your get together that will put a smile on their faces: Bourbon Chicken

 

[majorcatfish]

that sounds good as well...

 

[w_r_ranch]

Smoke is like candy, but liquor's quicker... LOL!

 

[majorcatfish]

Smoke is like candy, but liquor's quicker... LOL!

hum 1/3 cup of bourbon , how much for the chef while smoking.......?
the wife likes this told her it would go great with her macaroni salad

 

[w_r_ranch]

The other 2/3's of the coffee cup... more or less, LOL!!! I like to drink (now that I'm retired) & not prohibited by responsibility. I've been known to do more on occasion...

 

[majorcatfish]

The other 2/3's of the coffee cup... more or less, LOL!!! I like to drink (now that I'm retired) & not prohibited by responsibility. I've been known to do more on occasion...

for some reason employers frown on putting Irish whiskey in your morning coffee as a eye opener
before starting work...

 

[Mr_Yan]

I have ten pounds of drumsticks in my smoker using the rub suggested by @w_r_ranch.

I'll need to devise some more racks for my smoker. I've read about several people making grates from expanded metal but I don't yet know how to weld. I think I'll be stuck with standard grill grates and cutting them to size.

 

[whistech]

Mr Yan, be sure and post some pictures and tell us how you liked the rub.

 

[w_r_ranch]

I'll need to devise some more racks for my smoker. I've read about several people making grates from expanded metal but I don't yet know how to weld. I think I'll be stuck with standard grill grates and cutting them to size.

When 'yankee ingenuity' fails, you need to start thinking like a 'redneck'... no welding or cutting required... LOL!!!

​

Two grates can be fastened together using electrical conduit, bolts & washers. Cut 3 spacers 2 3/4" long from electrical conduit. Choose three bolts that are about 1/2" longer than the length of the spacers, 3 matching nuts & 6 matching washers large enough to prevent the bolts & nuts from passing through the grate. Place a washer on a bolt & pass it through the top side of the top grate. Slide a spacer over the bolt from below, then fasten with a washer & a nut on the bottom. Repeat this process for the remaining spacers. This unit when complete will then sit on top of the 'original' grate giving you twice the smoking capacity.

 

[Mr_Yan]

The chicken turned out great but after a little over two hours in the smoker we finished it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I mis-estimated the tastes of the people in our small group and only about 13 of the 20 drum sticks were eaten. I'm still learning that I grew up eating "weird". Most of the Italian sausages were eaten and all the cheap preformed frozen burgers were eaten.

I used mesquite pellets in foil pouches for the smoke.When I ran out of chips I was talked into these pellets by the local fireplace / grill shop owner. I don't like them and will get real chipped wood next time. I just need to figure out how to chip the apple logs I have.

When 'yankee ingenuity' fails, you need to start thinking like a 'redneck'... no welding or cutting required... LOL!!

​

Yeah. I'm from the midwest - neither yankee nor redneck. My smoker is a rectangular box. The one rack I have in it is actually from a Samsung microwave and measures 12.5" x 20". I filled that rack then I used some of the sticks that the previous owner used to hang bratwurst from to support some baking racks I have.

This is an Epco Products electric smoker that my neighbor was throwing out and I grabbed a few years ago. He just didn't have space for it nor did he think they would use it.
​

​

 

[w_r_ranch]

Sorry, I thought you were doing them on your Weber...

The mesquite is normally only used on beef here...

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well some low life scavenger scumbag relieved me of my need to make some more grates for my smoker. Yesterday while I was at work my smoker disappeared from the garage. I've had it for 3 or 4 years now and have to say I am not too surprised it was stolen. I got it for free and never really took measures to protect it. By this I mean it has lived in the back corner of my garage and my garage door does not close right now. But still some jack wad stole my smoker.

All of this after @w_r_ranch shared his great rub for chicken and I was really learning how to use it.

Now I have three real options:
1) do without a smoker
2) buy or make a smoker
3) learn how to really use my Weber kettle such that I can smoke chicken with it

 

[w_r_ranch]

Sorry to hear that... I hate thieves.

Using the Weber kettle is a no-brainer, I use ours frequently to smoke chicken & ribs.

In the longer term, consider building a UDS (some people call them an 'Upright Drum Smoker', others call them an "Ugly Drum Smoker') like I recommended to slowgreen. Here is the link to that thread.

 

[whistech]

Mr. Yan, I would learn how to use your weber kettle. They are really good smokers for chicken and almost everything else. I hope whoever stole your smoker gets food poison and dies a long slow, painful death.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I read some on kettles as smokers in the last few hours and looks like what I'll do.

We have a bunch of metal scavengers around here but I think this guy knew what he was going for. There were shovels and other metal things around that are still in the garage. I had a 80 pound bag of quick-crete on top of the smoker that was moved to the floor next to where the smoker was.

At least the scumbag didn't get any grates for inside of it.

 

[Rahab222]

I hate thieves.