Brined/cured and smoked a couple of whole chickens

crankybuzzard · Nov 22, 2015

I brined/cured 2 whole chickens for 3 days and smoked them today.

I usually only do the brine and cure, but on one of the birds I added fresh basil, oregano, and rosemary from my herb garden. This produced a noticeable color difference between the 2 birds, and it imparted a nice flavor.

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crankybuzzard
Nov 22, 2015

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crankybuzzard
Nov 22, 2015

After sitting in the buckets for 3 days, I took out the birds, rinsed them off, allowed them to dry for a while in the frig, and then stuck them in stockinettes, and put em in the smoker. Note the color difference of the bird on the right, that's the one with the herbs in the brine.

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crankybuzzard
Nov 22, 2015

I smoked these in my big electric at 225 degrees and used apple pellets in my new expanding A-MAZE-N pellet tube. The tube was still smoking when I pulled the birds out after 5 hours.

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crankybuzzard
Nov 22, 2015

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crankybuzzard
Nov 22, 2015

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crankybuzzard
Nov 22, 2015

Whipped up some mashed potatoes, mixed in some bacon bits, and caramelized onions, and served!

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crankybuzzard
Nov 22, 2015

The bride has been down for almost 2 weeks after back surgery, and she finally has an appetite again. I think she ate the entire breast!

chef jimmyj · Nov 22, 2015

Nice color on the birds. Wishing your Bride a full and speedy recovery...JJ

crankybuzzard · Nov 23, 2015

Chef JimmyJ said:
Nice color on the birds. Wishing your Bride a full and speedy recovery...JJ

Thank Chef J! She's on the mend, but it'll be quite a while before full recovery.

I love smoking birds after a brine/cure. The flavor is amazing!

pc farmer · Nov 23, 2015

Man they have great color to them.

Brine curing adds a whole new flavor to them.

Great job.

mowin · Nov 23, 2015

Cranky, when you say cured, did you use TQ or cure #1? Does it really change the flavor compared to a overnight brine without cure?

crankybuzzard · Nov 23, 2015

mowin said:
Cranky, when you say cured, did you use TQ or cure #1? Does it really change the flavor compared to a overnight brine without cure?

I used cure #1. Pop's brine is what I used actually. 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1 HEAPING tablespoon cure #1, and 1-gallon of water. Stir it all up, stir it some more, let it sit a few minutes, and stir one more time. You want all of the salts and sugars into suspension.

As for flavor change, oh yeah, daylight and dark difference! With Pop's brine/cure, you get some salt, some sweet, and a nice hammy flavor to the meat.

I've had folks tell me that they wouldn't like the flavor, but when invited over for a BBQ, they ate it, loved it, and asked what I did to the chicken. When I told them, they were amazed. Even the white meat tastes amazing.

Bearcarver · Nov 23, 2015

Awesome, CB !!!

-------------------

Anybody who never had a cured & smoked Chicken or Turkey doesn't know what they're missing.

I always use TQ, but if I was going to do a Chicken, I would do it just like you did, with Pops' Brine Cure!!

MMMMMmmmm..........

Bear

b-one · Nov 23, 2015

Great looking birds! Sorry to hear about her back surgery hopefully it pays off.

crankybuzzard · Nov 23, 2015

Bearcarver said:
Awesome, CB !!!:drool -------------------:points:

Anybody who never had a cured & smoked Chicken or Turkey doesn't know what they're missing.:drool

I always use TQ, but if I was going to do a Chicken, I would do it just like you did, with Pops' Brine Cure!!Thumbs Up

MMMMMmmmm..........:drool

Bear

Yeah Bear, it's good stuff fo sho!

I was digging in the pantry a day or so ago, and found a full, unopened, bag of TQ! For squirts and giggles, I may try a yard bird with that next time. When I buy my whole chickens, they are in a 2 pack (Sam's). One with TQ and one with cure #1.

You know me, love to experiment!

BTW, thanks for the points! Not really earned though, just a couple of smoked birds! :biggrin:

crankybuzzard · Nov 23, 2015

b-one said:
Great looking birds! Sorry to hear about her back surgery hopefully it pays off.

It already has sir! She has feeling in BOTH legs! That means she is on the mend! Most of the pain right now is from the surgery itself. Most of the mobility problems are from having to be stuck in a brace from butt to boobs, and relegated to a walker for 3 weeks.

Curious about your user name.... 2 B 1?

mowin · Nov 24, 2015

CrankyBuzzard said:
I used cure #1. Pop's brine is what I used actually. 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1 HEAPING tablespoon cure #1, and 1-gallon of water. Stir it all up, stir it some more, let it sit a few minutes, and stir one more time. You want all of the salts and sugars into suspension.

As for flavor change, oh yeah, daylight and dark difference! With Pop's brine/cure, you get some salt, some sweet, and a nice hammy flavor to the meat.

I've had folks tell me that they wouldn't like the flavor, but when invited over for a BBQ, they ate it, loved it, and asked what I did to the chicken. When I told them, they were amazed. Even the white meat tastes amazing.

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely try curing a chicken. I always use pops brine for a overnight soak, but never thought about curing a bird.

jfleming9232 · Nov 24, 2015

Those look great. I'm gonna have to try this now. Thanks for posting!

Bearcarver · Nov 24, 2015

CrankyBuzzard said:
Yeah Bear, it's good stuff fo sho!

I was digging in the pantry a day or so ago, and found a full, unopened, bag of TQ! For squirts and giggles, I may try a yard bird with that next time. When I buy my whole chickens, they are in a 2 pack (Sam's). One with TQ and one with cure #1.

You know me, love to experiment!

BTW, thanks for the points! Not really earned though, just a couple of smoked birds!

LOL----I wouldn't do that.

I don't even know the right amount of TQ to use in a Brine, and I surely wouldn't try to dry cure a whole Chicken.

For Chickens, I'd stick to Pops' formula.

But that's just me.

Also---Those Points were earned!!

Bear

crankybuzzard · Nov 24, 2015

Gracias, Bear!

Another thing I didn't mention, is what to do with the carcass when you've eaten all the chicken. The bones and residual meat makes for a killer stock!

Brined/cured and smoked a couple of whole chickens

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