To buy smoked chicken is so expensive.
There must be a way to smoke it.
Any ideas anyone?

cottagerose - 2019-03-17 16:06:00

I have a cheapie smoker, you can also smoke food as described here without one, although I have never tried that, but I have smoked a whole chicken on the rack in the lid of a hooded BBQ with a cast iron box full of wood chips of your choice ...available at Bunnings, M10, TWH or hunting/fishing type shops. I prefer apple wood mixed with Manuka but it's all OK.
https://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/easiest-way-smoke-
food-without-smoker-0162328/
I brine my chicken first for a few hours if it's the breast meat or overnight if it's a whole chicken. Drain & pat dry & then I use a rub of a small amount of brown sugar & Laphroiag whisky (I like this one as it's got a smoky/peaty taste) but other whisky would be fine if you wish to use it.
Soak the wood chips for an hour or so & then once the smoker/bbq charcoal is going well, pop the box of drained wood chips (in my case they go straight on the embers) & leave it until it's cooked ...long and slow.
I hope I haven't missed anything out, but there's bound to be plenty of info on google.
You might even become addicted ;o)
Hope that helps.

samanya - 2019-03-17 16:35:00

With a smoker. However hot smoking comes out like BBQ chicken. To cold smoke is harder and you need a large container for the smoke to permeate the meat in, small - you're back to hot smoking.
Most you can buy are in fact hot smokers.

lythande1 - 2019-03-17 18:07:00

lythande1 wrote:

With a smoker. However hot smoking comes out like BBQ chicken. To cold smoke is harder and you need a large container for the smoke to permeate the meat in, small - you're back to hot smoking.
Most you can buy are in fact hot smokers.

Yes.
I suspect that maybe you haven't smoked much food, lythande...true?

It comes out cooked, with a lovely smokey flavour & it's not like BBQed chicken at all & the same if you use the drop down rack on a lidded BBQ.
In my smoker the meat is way above the heat with a dish full of water between the heat & the meat.
It's cooked slowly not like on a BBQ.

samanya - 2019-03-18 11:15:00

I have a great idea, wrap the chicken in zig zak papers, and light the end. Tar dar, smoked chicken.

westward1 - 2019-03-18 13:19:00

I have a great idea, wrap the chicken in zig zag papers, and light the end. Tar dar, smoked chicken.

westward1 - 2019-03-18 13:20:00

westward1 wrote:

I have a great idea, wrap the chicken in zig zag papers, and light the end. Tar dar, smoked chicken.

Have to dry it our first???

samanya - 2019-03-18 13:38:00

Thankyou everyone. I’ll get my hubby to use his fish smoker and experiment with a chicken breast to start with

cottagerose - 2019-03-20 20:48:00

One thing to be aware of is that properly cold (low temp.) smoked foods have a pink tinge to them near the outer edge, even beef. This is evident even when the internal temp is correct. Being advised to avoid undercooked chicken this pinkness can be disconcerting.

nala2 - 2019-03-21 11:33:00

cottagerose wrote:

Thankyou everyone. I’ll get my hubby to use his fish smoker and experiment with a chicken breast to start with

Try brining a chicken breast ...I find that this seems to stop them drying out & despite what you may think, they are not over salty..
Re nala's post, I also find that apple wood can give a pinkish tinge to the fish/meat (tastes great though)
Good luck ...it's pretty simple & a learn by experience type thing.

samanya - 2019-03-21 12:27:00

A good brine for a chicken breast is 1 tbspn each of salt and sugar dissolved in a little boiling water and topped up with cold water. Soak a chicken breast over night. I do this for all chicken and easy to increase salt and sugar with more water. Chicken is lovely and succulent.

malcovy - 2019-03-21 17:55:00

You can smoke in your oven, or on your stove top with tea leaves.
You line your baking dish with tinfoil and sprinkle with tea leaves and (from memory) some sugar. This burns and smokes the chicken.
Then put a rack in the dish to put your chicken on so it is above the tea leaves.
Cover the whole tray and everything with tin foil so there is no where for the smoke to escape.
And bake.......
For the proper recipe google "How to smoke chicken with tea leaves."
Its ages since I have done it so I'm sure I have missed out something lol.

jallen2 - 2019-03-21 18:08:00

malcovy wrote:

A good brine for a chicken breast is 1 tbspn each of salt and sugar dissolved in a little boiling water and topped up with cold water. Soak a chicken breast over night. I do this for all chicken and easy to increase salt and sugar with more water. Chicken is lovely and succulent.

I brine all whole chickens for smoking or just cooking & the Christmas turkey. Succulent is the word!
I use more salt though ...no recipe, I just throw a good dollop in ;o)

samanya - 2019-03-21 18:12:00