Summer's here, and the time is right for cooking outside. One of the very best methods for that outside cookery is smoking. It's hard to describe the delicious succulence of brisket or pork shoulder cooked all day over a very small fire. I highly recommend the previous WFD diaries by zenbassoon and commonmass, who provide excellent recipes and techniques. Barbecue purists may not endorse my technique, but if, like me, you lack the patience to spend 12 or 14 hours tending a small charcoal fire, you might like this approach. Surprisingly good results can be obtained with a normal gas grill and some wood chips. Follow me below the puff of smoke to hear my favorite way to cook chicken.
A couple years ago I bought one of the R2-D2 style "wet" smokers at a garage sale, similar to the one commonmass wrote about. I got my taste buds all worked up and wanted smoke -- and upon reading the manual discovered the thing was missing some pieces. I found this suggestion on line and have never looked back. Start by brining the chicken. Brine can contain a variety of herbs and spices, but a good basic recipe is:
1 gallon water
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
Combine water, sugar and salt in a 2-gallon pot. Heat, stirring, until the sugar and salt dissolve. Add soy sauce and let cool. Immerse the bird and let stand for 3 to 4 hours. Meanwhile prepare your dry rub. I measure this by eyeball, so proportions are approximate.
1 tb Old Bay seasoning (or half paprika, half celery salt)
1/2 tb ground cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
And of course you need to buy wood chips ahead of time. My local "hardware" store has several kinds available in their bbq section; I like mesquite. OK, get ready to cook. Time between lighting the grill and eating is 3 hours or a little more.
iron box for wood chips
I've got one of the classic Weber gas grills, made in America out of a lot of steel. This design has side-to-side rails above the burners and below the grate, and the wood chips go on this middle level. The hardware store also sells these iron boxes to put the chips in, or you can wrap them in a foil pouch and poke a few holes in it to let smoke escape. Either way, use a couple of big handfuls of chips (1 to 1.5 cups?). Put in the chips, light the fire, and preheat the grill on high for maybe 15 minutes.
smoking box with wood chips
While preheating, remove your chicken from the brine, dry with paper towels, and apply the dry rub. By the time the previous meal's grease has burned off the grill, the wood chips should be starting to smolder. Turn the heat way down (back burner off, front burner almost to Low) and put in the chicken. I use a roasting rack. Leave the lid open a couple minutes to allow the grill to cool down.
smoking box on grill
This is the only part of the process that needs watching: getting it down to a constant 200F. For the next 10 minutes keep an eye on the thermometer, open the lid if it's still too hot, and tweak the burner setting. Once it settles in at 200, leave it alone for a couple hours and enjoy the aroma. At my local markets chickens are 4-1/2 to 5 lbs, which for me is 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours. I've never calibrated that thermometer; YMMV.
When the bird is done, take it inside to stand for 15 minutes before carving.
This is a good time to turn the heat back up and grill some vegetables or garlic bread. My garden has already been at the "more squash than I can eat" stage since early June and isn't slowing down. I like these "patty pan" squash for grilling, but zucchini is good too. Brush them with garlic oil and grill 5 minutes on each side.
If it suits you to cook chicken pieces (leg quarters are often on special), brine for maybe 2 hours and start checking for doneness after an hour.
I haven't tried this approach for anything other than chicken. Don't know how it would do if I tried to cook a big piece of meat all day. The box full of wood chips burns up before long. I think it would be suitable for ribs the way zenbassoon described last week and I'll try that soon. This is what I ate for dinner a week ago, since I wanted to be able to take pictures. I live alone, so a whole chicken is a couple of dinners, and a couple of lunches, and I save the bones for future soup. Not sure what I'm eating tonight. What's for dinner at your house?
What's For Dinner is a community diary on Saturday evenings about 7:30 pm EST where cyber friends get together and discuss food and share recipes. Pull your chair up to the table and leave politics at the door. Pour yourselves a drink and relax.
