I have been smoking all sorts of meats, fish & cheeses for many years & other than the exception of fish, like salmon & trout where I use a brine before smoking, I have not ever brined any other meats before smoking. So, a couple of days ago I decided I wanted to try my hand at brining a whole chicken before smoking it.
I generally use a "dry rub" method & even though that has worked great for me in the past, I just wanted to try something different this time. I guess I am just feeling a bit adventurous & willing to gamble a perfectly good yardbird on a "new to me" style of prepping for smoking... LOL
I did a bit of research by looking through some books on smoking foods to see what I could find out, as well as on the internet for different recipes. I came up with just a simple recipe to use for the brine for this chicken & have made it this morning & it is now cooling before I put the chicken in it to soak overnight.
Water to cover chicken in pot,
3/4 cup pickling salt,
1 cup white sugar,
1 Tblspn cayenne pepper & 1 Tbspn black pepper
All brought to a rolling boil & stirred for a minute or so to dissolve everything into the brine & now cooling.
I think I may sprinkle & rub in my regular spice "rub" on this yardbird before it goes into the smoker, but have not made a firm decision on that yet.
Anyway.... While I wait for the brine mix to cool enough, I thought I would ask here if anyone who has experience doing a smoked "brined" chicken has any tips to share with me & others who might decide to try out this method.
Any tips or anecdotal stories about smoking brined chicken?
Thanks in advance!