I have mentioned before that She Who Must Be Obeyed likes boneless skinless chicken breasts while I find them a difficult piece of meat to keep moist and tender. Well, orders were given so I went to work.
One of the things you can do to keep the breast moist is to brine it. However, I don’t like the texture of brined chicken. I find it a little pasty. I have discovered that if you use a little less salt and limt your time in the brine to 2 to 4 hours it is better to my taste.
The next thing is to cook it at a relatively high heat.
Lastly, I cook it in my Traeger Timberline pellet smoker. Pellet smokers move a lot of air around the food like a convection oven and this seems to give a moister more tender result in my opinion.
I started by making a brine of:
I put the chicken in the brine, covered and refrigerated for about three hours. Two to four hours is fine. Turn the chicken in the brine occassionally.
While the chicken is marinating, take the zest from a medium orange and divide in two.
Juice the orange and mix:
Make a rub with 15 ml (1 tbsp) of your favourite chicken bbq rub with the remaining 1/2 of the orange zest and set it aside.
Take the chicken out of the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. spread the rub mixture over the chicken.
Preheat your smoker to 400 F (205 C). You can also do this over indirect heat in a gas or charcoal barbecue but the times will vary depending your set up. Just cook it to the temperatures noted.
Put the chicken in and cook it to an iternal temperature of 150 F (65 C). That took 25 minutes in my pellet smoker but each varies in the amount of direct heat so it may take more or less in yours.
When the chicken gets to 150 F, brush it with the sauce mixture on both sides and cook for 5 minutes. Brush with the sauce and cook for 5 minutes 3 more times for four brushings in all.
The internal temperature should be over 165 F (73 C) which is minimum for food safety. I prefer my chicken with an internal temperature of 170 F (77 C) but remember the internal temperature will continue to climb a few degrees while the chicken rests.
Bring the chicken in and let it rest for 10 minutes and serve.
The Verdict
As usual, the pellet smoker made a great boneless skinless chicken breast. It was moist and tender. The rub and glaze have a nice hit of orange flavour, sweet/spicy from the bbq sauce, and some Oriental notes from the Hoisin.
She Who Must Be Obeyed was pleased as was I!
Disco
One of the things you can do to keep the breast moist is to brine it. However, I don’t like the texture of brined chicken. I find it a little pasty. I have discovered that if you use a little less salt and limt your time in the brine to 2 to 4 hours it is better to my taste.
The next thing is to cook it at a relatively high heat.
Lastly, I cook it in my Traeger Timberline pellet smoker. Pellet smokers move a lot of air around the food like a convection oven and this seems to give a moister more tender result in my opinion.
I started by making a brine of:
- 250 ml (1 cup) of cold water
- 75 ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) brown sugar
I put the chicken in the brine, covered and refrigerated for about three hours. Two to four hours is fine. Turn the chicken in the brine occassionally.
While the chicken is marinating, take the zest from a medium orange and divide in two.
Juice the orange and mix:
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) of the orange juice
- 1/2 of the orange zest
- 25 ml (2 tbsp) hoisin
- 25 ml (2 tbsp) bbq sauce
Make a rub with 15 ml (1 tbsp) of your favourite chicken bbq rub with the remaining 1/2 of the orange zest and set it aside.
Take the chicken out of the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. spread the rub mixture over the chicken.
Preheat your smoker to 400 F (205 C). You can also do this over indirect heat in a gas or charcoal barbecue but the times will vary depending your set up. Just cook it to the temperatures noted.
Put the chicken in and cook it to an iternal temperature of 150 F (65 C). That took 25 minutes in my pellet smoker but each varies in the amount of direct heat so it may take more or less in yours.
When the chicken gets to 150 F, brush it with the sauce mixture on both sides and cook for 5 minutes. Brush with the sauce and cook for 5 minutes 3 more times for four brushings in all.
The internal temperature should be over 165 F (73 C) which is minimum for food safety. I prefer my chicken with an internal temperature of 170 F (77 C) but remember the internal temperature will continue to climb a few degrees while the chicken rests.
Bring the chicken in and let it rest for 10 minutes and serve.
The Verdict
As usual, the pellet smoker made a great boneless skinless chicken breast. It was moist and tender. The rub and glaze have a nice hit of orange flavour, sweet/spicy from the bbq sauce, and some Oriental notes from the Hoisin.
She Who Must Be Obeyed was pleased as was I!
Disco