What you'll need
Basic Brine
4 Cups Water
4 Tbs Salt
1.5 Tbs Sugar
Seasonings
American BBQ Project - Hotrod Honey
American BBQ Project - KC Rub
Sauce
We suggest whatever you like to use. If you would like some recommendations were partial to these two
-Scheigart's Sugar Shack Spicy Maple BBQ Sauce
-Meat Mitch Whomp sauce
** Juice, Honey, Apple Cider vinegar or maple syrup to thin it out. ( see instructions below )
4-6 Chicken Thighs -Trim skin and fat as needed.
Here's how to cook 'em
1) Start off with the brine
- mix together the cold water, salt and sugar until dissolved. (If you would like, you can improvise with the brine by adding some citrus fruit or fresh herbs. This is all preference but we tend to keep it simple.)
Put your chicken in a zip lock bag and at the brine. Make more brine if needed to make sure the chicken is completely submerged.
Place in the fridge for no more than 4 hours. Any longer and you risk it turning out too salty.
2) Fire up your smoker, grill, or oven to 375 degrees and let that stabilize. For poultry, we use fruit or maple wood for a subtle smoke flavor.
3) Pull the chicken out of the fridge, dump the brine out, and pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
4) Lets get to seasoning. Start with a layer of hotrod honey and follow up with a heaver application of KC rub. This is going to give you a sweet and savory flavor with a really pretty color.
5) Place your seasoned meat in the smoker for around 45 minutes skin side up. Occasionally spritzing the meat will help keep it moist.
6) While your chicken is cooking start getting your sauce ready. The key is to warm the sauce up so your not applying something cold to food your trying to get up to temperature. Warming it up also helps to thin it out a little, making it easier to brush on without ruining the crust you've built up.
**If your using a thick BBQ sauce, we suggest thinning it down with some juice, apple cider vinegar, honey or maple syrup to a consistency that works for you.
7) Apply the sauce with a silicone brush after 45 minutes and let the sauce tack up for roughly 10 minutes.
8) Using a meat thermometer, probe to verify the internal temperature of the thighs are at 165 degrees. When smoking chicken it is perfectly normal to run into a pinkish hue inside the chicken even as deep as the meat by the bone. As long as you verify the temperature is good there is nothing to worry about.
9) Bask in the glory of your accomplishment and enjoy the high praises of your friends and family. You just made some really good chicken.
