Look no further if you’re seeking a straightforward recipe for smoked chicken quarters. You can discover a step-by-step recipe for your favorite chicken meal right here. Because of the taste and texture of the chicken, smoking is the ideal preparation method. Chicken quarters will become so soft they will fall off the bone after smoking. If you’re unsure about the ingredients, try this dry rub before making the rub, which. May make a day in advance.
Ensure the chicken’s internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit before smoking chicken quarters. Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature. Ensure you’re using the proper smoker since they vary greatly in temperature. Chicken should be cooked for at least an hour when using indirect heat. Use a meat thermometer to ensure that your chicken is cooked to the appropriate internal temperature.
What are Smoke Chicken Quarters?
The warm, buttery texture and robust smoky taste of chicken quarters that have been slowly smoked make them almost melt in your mouth. Because of their exceptional capacity to take on the aromas of the smoke while retaining their natural moisture and juices, chicken quarters are a fantastic cut for this cooking method.
Quarters, one of the meat pieces that. May smoke with the least difficulty is great for backyard barbecues, large gatherings, summer picnics, and meals with the family. This recipe for smoked chicken quarters contains a multipurpose dry rub and all of the information you need to know to get chicken that is soft and juicy on the inside and has skin that is crispy and golden brown on the outside.
What does Smoke Chicken Quarters Taste Like?
May describe a flavor as bitter, sweet, salty, or sour. To fully appreciate the flavor of what we’re consuming, we depend on our taste buds and our other senses. The fragrance is the most obvious drawback in this situation. When you think about smoked meat, the odors of smoke quickly come to mind, even if you aren’t in the same room as the smoker.
Easy Way to Smoke Chicken Quarters
Ingredients
Usually, a package contains 3–5 chicken quarters. Just enough of the spice rub I use is produced to cover five quarters. My chicken rub is made of dried herbs and spices with a sweet and smoky barbecue taste.
It adds to the texture and improves the taste of using a teaspoon of coarse salts, such as kosher or Himalayan. I also like using freshly cracked ground black pepper for the same reasons. On a counter are three quartered chickens, spices, and oil.
I like using smoked paprika in my chicken spice rub when it comes to paprika type. However, I also used sweet paprika, and it was delicious. I add olive oil to the pieces to increase moisture while making the dry rub adhere to the chicken more effectively.
Prepare Smoke Chicken
You must have the wood ready and warm the smoker before adding the meat. How. You should prepare; it will depend on the kind of smoker you want to use. If you’re using a gas or charcoal smoker, you’ll also need to prepare the wood chips or chunks and prepare the water pan. In my recipe for Applewood Smoked Chicken, I detail how to set up a gas smoker. Visit this page for information on Step 4: Smoker Preparation.
I like to use a lighter wood, such as apple, cherry, or pecan, when smoking any fowl. Place the pellets in the chamber of a pellet smoker and wait for them to heat up. Put the wood in an electric smoker, plug it in, and let it warm up. Before putting the meat in the smoker for this recipe for smoked chicken quarters, ensure the smoker is heated to 225°F.
Step 1: The Rub
The problem—where do I even begin?! Firstly, let’s talk about the materials you’ll need. This rub contains:
- Brown Sugar, Dark
- Pepper Powder
- Powdered smoked paprika and onion
- Powdered garlic
- Oregano
- Salt
When preparing a rub, brown sugar is just a MUST. I’ve experimented with preparing a variety of rubs, but when smoking chicken, this one is my favorite. It has the ideal balance of smoke and sweetness.
Step 2: Cutting the Chicken
I either get a whole chicken from Costco or my neighborhood grocery shop. Normally, I purchase a 4 to 5-pound chicken. The internal organs, such as the neck and liver crammed in the chicken’s center, should be taken out and discarded. The chicken must then be rinsed both inside and out. After it is finished, use a paper towel to dry the chicken. On a chopping board, place the whole chicken.
NOTE: Rinsing is not required. Because water splashing from rinsing a whole chicken could include pathogens from the uncooked bird, some people prefer not to do it.
A whole uncooked chicken is on a wooden chopping board with a butcher knife nearby. Next, cut your chicken in half by cutting down the breast with a sharp butcher knife. To divide the bird, you must separate the sternum and pull the breasts apart. This process stage is what I refer to as “butterflying.” The spatchcock chicken technique is another option.
Step 3: Marinating the Chicken
Use that rub to cover the chicken completely. Make careful to massage the rub into the chicken while applying it fully. This improves the taste. . You should practically cover your chicken in the rub. Using a smoke rub, a man’s hands are sautéing an entire chicken.
After that, put your chicken in a glass Pyrex dish, wrap it in plastic, and put it in the fridge. I prefer to marinade it for the whole night.
Step 4: Preparing the Smoker
Before you start smoking your food, you should do a few things. I prefer to cover my water bowl with aluminum foil before adding the water if I use a water pan. You will avoid a great deal of mess by doing this, and always preferable is less cleaning!
To further enhance the Smokey taste, I add a Tablespoon of Liquid Smoke to my water. But it’s not required. Placed within a smoker is a water pan wrapped in aluminum foil. Will you be using wood chunks or chips? You’re going to soak them. Because chunks emit more smoke over a longer time, I like using them when I smoke chicken.
Must fill the wood pan with wood pieces or chips. Using chunks, you won’t need to replenish the pan for the full smoking period. By the conclusion of the smoking time, wood chips will burn out, so check them every two to three hours and add more if necessary.
I use aluminum foil to wrap my wood pieces and a knife to make holes in the foil. I believe that the smoke pouch makes the smoke release more reliable, which results in a wonderful taste. Aluminum foil with holes drilled in it covering a pan of smoked chunks. Before I put the meal on the trays, I heat my smoker. My smoker needs around 30 minutes to reach 225°F.
What you have achieved so far in the process is as follows:
- You coat your chicken with the rub,
- After marinating,
- The wood and water are prepared, and your smoker is ready.
- The time has come for you to smoke your chicken! Place the chicken that has been spiced on a rack in the smoker.
Step 5: Smoking Your Chicken
Let’s discuss the length of time and temperature. Should smoke your chicken. I smoke my chicken for 4 to 5 hours at 225°F. I usually put an inside thermometer toward the end of the smoking procedure to ensure the chicken is heated to 165°F. Expert Tip: I start monitoring the interior temperature at about the third hour after inserting the digital thermometer. You may insert the temperature gauge when putting it into the smoker.
Keep an eye on the temperature inside the smoker, and don’t allow it to get over 250°F. My buddies smoke this low and leisurely if you want to! More flavors may develop over a longer cooking period when food is smoked at a low temperature.
Tips
- Should smoke chicken with light wood. It works best with pecan, cherry, or apple wood.
- I prefer wood chunks over wood chips when using a propane gas smoker. They burn longer, provide more flavors, and produce more smoke. Chips work best when using a charcoal smoker. You must use pellets if you use a pellet smoker. If an electric smoker does not come with specialty wood, use wood chips instead.
- When grilling chicken, may apply the spice rub to any chicken. Reduce the ingredient measurements in half to produce a smaller batch.
- . should always insert a digital thermometer into the meat at an angle. Make sure your temperature gauge is not in contact with any bone.
- Maintain a smoker temperature of 225°F to 250°F. When cooking this dish, ensure your smoker’s temperature doesn’t drop below 225°F or rise past 250°F since it will vary a little.
- Please ensure the temperature gauge is inserted into the meat when placed on the rack since the idea is to maintain as much smoke in the smoker as possible. By doing this, you may check the meat’s internal temperature without having to open the door and let smoke escape.
- The chicken is prepared and ready to be removed after the internal temperature of the flesh reaches 165°F. You are free to take the gauge off and monitor the meat’s temperature in a different location. When doing this, you will lose some of the internal fluids, but smoked chicken is already quite juicy, so losing a little liquid won’t significantly impact.
How do I get Crispy Skin on Smoked Chicken?
You won’t get the desired level of crispy chicken skin by smoking low and slow. One strategy you may use is to start smoking at around 225°F and then, as the smoking process nears its conclusion, raise the smoker’s temperature to about 300°F.
If you employ this technique, you must be cautious and execute it perfectly to prevent the meat from drying out. To get crispy skin, you may also brine the chicken and smoke it for the whole cooking time at 325°F. You only need to modify the smoking procedure to make it work.
What is the Optimal Temperature for Smoking a Whole Chicken?
Because it is the way that produces chicken that is both juicy and soft, the low and slow procedure is one that I have a preference for. Smoke a whole chicken, a chicken that has been split in half, and chicken parts at a temperature between 225 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Do You have to Brine a Chicken before You Smoke it?
It is recommended that the chicken flesh be brined before it is smoked. . It may transform a naturally lean protein-like chicken into a succulent and flavor-packed delicacy by using an appropriate brining solution. It is a tried and reliable method for maintaining the moisture content of food while it is being cooked over the dry heat of a smoker.
How Long does it Take to Smoke Chicken in an Electric Smoker?
The entire chicken is smoked at 225 degrees Fahrenheit (107 degrees Celsius) for about 45 minutes per pound of flesh. This may take anywhere from two to four hours in total, but the doneness of the meat is gauged by when its internal temperature hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit or 75 degrees Celsius.
Conclusion
Chicken that has been smoked strikes the ideal balance between taste and ease of preparation. It has a fantastic Smokey taste and is juicy and tender at the same time. The fat content of smoked chicken contributes to the meat’s ability to retain its moisture.
After cooking the chicken, serve it with the barbecue sauce of your choice and enjoy the taste. There is, however, no reason you shouldn’t be able to appreciate the flavor of smoked chicken even if you don’t have access to a smoker. The chicken that comes out of this will become your go-to dish for supper.
