First things first. I have to apologize for the poor photo quality. We had been at our daughters horse show yesterday, and noticed almost all of the pictures came out blurry. We're needing a new camera. So, I took the pics for this post with my camera phone, and they didn't really come out any better. Sorry.
Anyway, for Mother's day I decided to do up a country style chicken dinner for the wife; she did give me two beautiful daughters after all. A couple of birds is the least I could do. This was my first attempt at whole chickens, and I decided to do them beer can stlye. The menu included smoked chickens, country style green beans, garlic buttered corn, baked beans, and King's Hawaiian rolls. For the appetizer I stole an idea I saw on a post about a week ago and smoked some bacon wrapped teriyaki mushrooms. Here's the appetizer, they were delicious:
I brined the birds in a modified Slaughterhouse brine. I didn't have celery seed, so I used celery salt, and I added about 1/4 cup of lemon juice. After about four hours in the brine I drained, rinsed and patted them dry. Then rubbed them down real good on top of the skin and under it with a slurry of canola oil and lemon pepper seasoning. I added two cloves of crushed garlic and a generous splash of orange juice and Worcestershire sauce to each beer can before violating the hens with them. Here they are going into the smoker:
While maintaining a temp between 250 and 275 using cherry and hickory chunks I spritzed them about every 30 to 45 minutes with a mix of Cap'n Morgan's, apple juice, teriyaki sauce, water, and a splash of cider vinegar. Here they are about half way through:
When I pulled them from the smoker they were at 163 degrees and 168 degrees. Here is the finished product:
And here is a plate of good eatin':
The skin didn't crisp up, but me and wifey didn't really care. My girls were really bummed out; they loves them some crispy chicken skin. The meat was delicious. Moist and tender with a wonderful smoky flavor. I will definitely be putting smoked beer can chicken into the regular menu rotation at our house.
Thanks for looking.
P.S. Any hints on how to produce a crispy skin when smoking beer can chicken would be hugely appreciated. Thanks.
Anyway, for Mother's day I decided to do up a country style chicken dinner for the wife; she did give me two beautiful daughters after all. A couple of birds is the least I could do. This was my first attempt at whole chickens, and I decided to do them beer can stlye. The menu included smoked chickens, country style green beans, garlic buttered corn, baked beans, and King's Hawaiian rolls. For the appetizer I stole an idea I saw on a post about a week ago and smoked some bacon wrapped teriyaki mushrooms. Here's the appetizer, they were delicious:
I brined the birds in a modified Slaughterhouse brine. I didn't have celery seed, so I used celery salt, and I added about 1/4 cup of lemon juice. After about four hours in the brine I drained, rinsed and patted them dry. Then rubbed them down real good on top of the skin and under it with a slurry of canola oil and lemon pepper seasoning. I added two cloves of crushed garlic and a generous splash of orange juice and Worcestershire sauce to each beer can before violating the hens with them. Here they are going into the smoker:
While maintaining a temp between 250 and 275 using cherry and hickory chunks I spritzed them about every 30 to 45 minutes with a mix of Cap'n Morgan's, apple juice, teriyaki sauce, water, and a splash of cider vinegar. Here they are about half way through:
When I pulled them from the smoker they were at 163 degrees and 168 degrees. Here is the finished product:
And here is a plate of good eatin':
The skin didn't crisp up, but me and wifey didn't really care. My girls were really bummed out; they loves them some crispy chicken skin. The meat was delicious. Moist and tender with a wonderful smoky flavor. I will definitely be putting smoked beer can chicken into the regular menu rotation at our house.
Thanks for looking.
P.S. Any hints on how to produce a crispy skin when smoking beer can chicken would be hugely appreciated. Thanks.
