Smoked Grilled Chicken

By Foodiewife

Right out the gate, I'm going to say that this recipe (Cook's Illustrated July 2011) is one of the least fussy ways we've ever grilled chicken. The bonus is that it's juicy with a beautiful balance of smoky flavor. The science behind this recipe, simplified, is to brine the chicken in a sugar/salt solution for at least 30 minutes, and up to an hour. By using cut-up chicken, bone-in and skin on, the bigger pieces of meat can be placed in the most indirect heat location of your grill, and the smaller pieces (like thighs) can go closer to the heat source. This means the chicken is cooked at the same time, without drying out! The smoking comes from using a small amount of soaked wood chips over charcoal. Once you've got the chicken on the grill, with a pan of water (to create steam), you cover the grill and don't touch the chicken for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Our chicken turned out the most gorgeous golden color, and the chicken dripped moisture. I'm not kidding. Wow, was it ever moist. I'll include how to adapt this to cooking on a gas grill, but we made ours on our Weber grill. To see how we made this chicken, please click on the source blog link for "A Feast for the Eyes".

Ingredients

• BRINE:
• 1 1 1 cup salt
• 1 1 1 cup sugar
• CHICKEN:
• 6 6 6 pounds* bone-in chicken parts (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks), trimmed
• 3 3 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Pepper
• GRILL:
• 1 1 1 Large disposable Aluminum roasting pan (if using charcoal) or disposable aluminum pie plate (if using gas)
• 2 2 30 3 30 soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained (if using charcoal) or 3 cups wood chips, half of chips soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained (if using gas)
• 5 5 17 quarts briquettes (approximately 17 briquettes per quart)

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 120mins
Adapted from foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Recommended equipment:
A dependable instant read thermometer
Foil
Chimney starter (best way to start charcoal)

Brine:
Dissolve salt and sugar in 4 quarts cold water in large container. Submerge chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove chicken from brine (I dumped it into a large strainer) and set on a baking sheet, lined with paper towels. Pat dry with paper towels. NOTE: Do not rinse chicken, as it has been salted with the brine!

Brush both sides of chicken with oil and season with pepper.

Prepare the grill:

For a Charcoal Grill: Open bottom vent halfway.

Arrange disposable pan filled with 2 cups water on 1 side of grill and 2 quarts unlit charcoal briquettes (approx 34 briquettes) against empty side of grill.

Light large chimney starter filled halfway with charcoal briquettes (3-quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour on top of unlit briquettes, keeping coals steeply banked against side of grill.

Place wood chunks* on top of coals. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway.

Heat grill until hot and wood chunks begin to smoke, about 5 minutes.

*NOTES: We didn't use wood chunks, instead 1 cup of apple chips were soaked in water for 1/2 hour, then placed into a foil packet, punctured on the bottom and the top left open. The soaked wood chips were set on top of the hot briquettes right before adding the chicken.

For a gas grill:

Use large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil to wrap soaked chips into foil packet and cut several vent holes in top. Wrap unsoaked chips in second foil packet and cut several vent holes in top. Place wood chip packets directly on primary burner. Place disposable pie plate with 2 cups water on other burner(s). Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot and wood chips begin to smoke, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium-high and turn off other burner(s).

Clean and oil cooking grate. (We dip a clean paper towel in a small bowl of vegetable oil and use long tongs to do this.

Place chicken, skin side up, as far away from fire as possible with thighs closest to fire and breasts furthest away. Cover (positioning lid vent over chicken if using charcoal) and cook until breasts register 160°F and thighs/drumsticks register 175°F, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. NOTE: We never lifted the lid, or moved the chicken around. Just let the chicken grill nice and slow.

Transfer chicken to cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.