Smoking Poultry recipe: Smoking Meat, Making Sausage, Making Cheese, Making Jerky, Brewing Beer, Canning, Dehydrating

Basic

Poultry Smoke

Turkeytray

There are many way to smoke poultry. The two most common are brining and injecting. I like to use a combination of the two.

Brining is simple soaking the bird in water with salt and maybe sugar and a few spices added. It could be simply water and salt. Here is my favorite brining solution:

1 gallon water
1/3 cup salt ( sea or kosher)
3/4 teaspoon Garlic Power

3/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

3/4 teaspoon Cajun Spice

* 1/3 cup Dextrose or sugar - optional

* Sugar is optional. Some people say it helps balance the salt but most recipes will suggest you use as much as a full cup of salt – that would be salty and need sugar to offset the saltiness. I choose to reduce the salt instead.

You soak the bird in this solution either over night or four to six hours before smoking. After the brining is complete rinse the bird in clear fresh water to rinse off any extra salt that may be on the bird. Rinse for about 5 minutes changing the water a few times. Don’t soak the bird just rinse!

Brine

Whole chicken brining in a cheese ball canister

Injecting is taking a solution of fluid and spices in a large syringe made for this purpose, filling it, then injecting the fluid into the meat. It’s a way of spicing up the meat o the inside and making it tastier and juicier in the process. The injector can be purchased at most department stores and cooking shops. Inject the bird in several spots all over it. I use a spacing of about two inches. Don’t forget the wings and legs! Rub it with a bit of olive oil and My favorite injection mixture and rub for poultry is below:

1 stick of margarine, butter or Butter Buds

3/4 teaspoon Garlic Power

3/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

** 3/4 teaspoon Cajun Spice

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

** Download my free eBook of 70 Ethnic, International and Regional Spice Blends to make your own Canjun Spice here!

Add a bit of your favorite rub and you can begin your smoke. Smoke a chicken for around 2 to 2.5 hours depending on weight at 300^o- 350^o F or until it reaches 168^o in the thickest part of the thigh or breast. Turkey is done the same way just for a longer period of time.

Poultry really doesn’t benefit from low and slow smoking so just crank it up like you cooking it in the oven. You can stop adding wood chips to the smoke when the internal temperature reaches 140°F. The chicken will be a deep golden brown when it is done. Let it rest for 20 minutes or so before carving to allow the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.

For more information about rubs download Deejay’s Book of Rubs from the Herbs and Spice Downloads page.

Can’t get any easier than that!

P2200701 chicken