Simple smoking chicken at home - a few recipes. The best recipes for homemade smoking chickens

Chicken meat is much more tender than others, so if the chicken in the smokehouse is cooked correctly, then even an ordinary dinner will turn into a real holiday.

Experienced chefs know that smoking chicken is possible in two ways: hot and cold. The first option is the fastest, it will take several hours, while the chicken will turn out to be tender, juicy, since the processing process takes place at a high temperature, more than one hundred degrees.

If there is a desire to cook a chicken in the second way, then you will have to tune in to a long wait. Because the recipe obliges you to observe a thirty-degree temperature regime for the entire smoking period, because to smoke the meat, in this case, you need to smoke from a long smoldering fire.

It turns out that it is the most profitable in terms of time costs and taste. Therefore, it is this cooking recipe that deserves attention in the first place.

Preparing inventory

The smoking chamber must be washed before starting the process. Extraneous flavors and burnt residues from the previous dish can greatly spoil the "reputation" of the product being prepared, and fat that has burned out more than once is harmful to health.

Foil should be placed at the bottom of the smokehouse, this will allow you to get a bright, rich aroma, and the processing time will be slightly reduced. Then wood chips are poured. Any type of wood will work, but alder, cherry or oak is the best choice. The dish will turn out to be unusually tasty if you use bird cherry chips.

A tray is installed on top, where the fat will drain, and then a grate, on which the chicken will be cooked.

You will definitely need a deep pickling vessel, a cutting board, and a sharp knife.

Food preparation

Defrosted chicken, or better if it is a chicken, should be free of feathers and entrails. The carcass must be rinsed in running water and pickled. It is worth noting that properly pickled chicken is a guarantee of success. Therefore, the preparation technology must be followed flawlessly.

The chicken is cut in half, lightly beaten with a special hammer. It is not necessary to beat the meat hard, crushing of bones is excluded. It is only necessary to beat off so that the meat fibers can be fully saturated with the marinade, then the smoked chicken will turn out to be tender, juicy.

The marinade recipe is simple. It is important that the meat is soaked in it for a longer time. It is better to keep the carcass in brine overnight, and smoke it in the morning. To prepare the marinade you will need:

• 3 liters of water;
• 2 cups salt
• a glass of granulated sugar;
• head of garlic;
• half a glass of vinegar 9%;
• Bay leaf;
• spices and herbs are added to taste.

To comply with the recipe, the water must be boiled; salt and sugar in warm water dissolve much better. Garlic and greens are finely crumbled, then, together with vinegar, are added to a solution cooled to room temperature. Further, as already mentioned, the chicken is dipped into the marinade and left overnight, preferably in a cool place.

After marinating, the carcass should be ventilated. You can hang it on the street, after filling it with cuts in the skin, small pieces of bacon and garlic.

Cooking process

Before putting the meat in the smokehouse, it is necessary to make a fire, then heat the chamber well to 250 ° C. Then the chicken “settles” inside the device with its belly down and cooks there for about 4 hours, or until the food thermometer shows a temperature of 180 ° C in the breast area. Dripping from above, they spoil the appetizing appearance of a golden crust with dark spots, and the recipe does not provide for this.

A shiny film on the surface of the skin indicates that the dish is ready, the chicken can be taken out.

Experienced culinary advice

Chicken Calorie and Nutrient Table for 1 Serving (approx. 600g):

Many people just love chicken. Chicken meat is inexpensive, it is dietary, and in addition, it contains a large amount of protein, which is so necessary for the normal functioning of the body. There are a great many options for cooking chicken. One of the most widespread methods nowadays is smoking. Moreover, I am glad that in order to cook a smoked chicken, it is not at all necessary to have high culinary talents, and if you have time and patience, it becomes completely subject to anyone who wishes. One of these recipes is chicken.

To enjoy the wonderful taste of smoked chicken, it is not necessary to smoke the whole carcass, it is enough to limit yourself to its individual parts, namely: thighs, legs or wings.

Before you start smoking, you need to choose a quality product. Of course, it is better to buy fresh chickens, not frozen ones, but, unfortunately, on the shelves of modern supermarkets, sometimes there are no fresh carcasses. In this case, of course, you have to be content with what you have. Even so, you should always pay attention to the freshness of the product. If it seems that the chicken is stale, or stains, mucus and an unpleasant odor are visible on it, it is best to refuse to buy such a product. And by the way, it is believed that the softest and most delicate taste is hens, not roosters, so it is better to choose them. And of course, the younger the chickens, the softer they taste.

After the chicken has been purchased, it must be rinsed thoroughly under cold water. Almost all cold smoked chicken recipes involve some form of preparation of the carcass. For example, there are three ways:

1. Before smoking, the chicken will need to be boiled in boiling salted water for a few minutes. Then it will need to be dried and sent to the smoking cabinet.
2. Prepare a saline solution at the rate of 1 cup of salt per 1 liter of water. Place the chicken in a saucepan, cover with brine and leave in a cool place for 2.5-3 days.
3. Prepare the marinade. A typical marinade includes water, salt, pepper, and vinegar, but you can add ginger, thyme, coriander, and other spices to taste to add variety to the marinade. Leave the chicken in the marinade for 10-12 hours and then start smoking.

Recipe number 1: Dry salting

Smoked chicken meat is a truly unique product. Such chicken can be used as the main ingredient for salads or soups, and as cold appetizers for a festive table, and even as an independent dish. In addition, cold smoked chicken is an ideal option for those who go on a long journey and choose what to take with them from their food. Unlike the hot method, cold-smoked chicken is stored much longer, so even for several days without a refrigerator, nothing will happen to it.

First, the chicken carcass must be washed very well under cold water, then let it dry. To dry the chicken, you can put it on ordinary kitchen towels, since they have a denser structure than napkins and perfectly absorb excess liquid. The chicken is usually cut in the center, with a longitudinal cut. The two halves of the chicken must be rubbed well with coarse salt (rock salt can be used), black pepper, and then put under heavy oppression. As oppression, you can use heavy elements of kitchen utensils, or you can use a simple jar of water.

The chicken will be under the oppression for a day. After a day, pull the chicken out of the oppression and dry it in a draft for 2-3 hours. Dried chicken can be sent to the smokehouse. In this way, you can cook not only whole chicken carcasses, but also thighs, loins, legs, etc.

Hang the dried chicken on the hooks of the smokehouse, make a fire and close the lid of the smokehouse. During smoking, it is very important to ensure that less air gets inside the smoking cabinet. That is, it is undesirable to often open the smokehouse and release smoke. Often, by the way, stationary smoking cabinets are equipped with glass doors.

Cold smoking chicken takes about a day and a half, after which it can be pulled out, cut into pieces or cut at your discretion and served.

Recipe number 2: Classic marinade

Cold smoking chicken involves smoking the chicken at a lower temperature when compared to the hot smoking method. Smoked chicken has a pronounced aroma, delicate smoky taste and a beautiful reddish-golden color. Before sending the chicken to the smokehouse, it is recommended to pre-marinate it.

To prepare the marinade, the following ingredients are required:

• 2 liters of water;
• 1.5-2 tablespoons of coarse salt;
• 1.5 tablespoons of 9% vinegar essence;
• 2 bay leaves;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• a few peas of black pepper;
• 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Cooking method:

Put a pot of water on a high heat, add salt and wait until the water boils. After boiling, add vinegar, bay leaves, sugar and black pepper to the water, reduce the heat. If you want to feel exactly the spicy taste, you can add coriander, ginger or a little cinnamon to the brine. Let the marinade simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and cool.

When the marinade has cooled, put chicken carcasses in it, cover it with a lid on top, put the load and send it to the refrigerator. Thus, the chicken should be marinated for 1.5 days, and only then will it be ready for smoking.

After the chicken carcasses are removed from the marinade, they need to be dried. This is done in order to remove all excess moisture from the chicken. Chicken should be allowed to dry in a well-ventilated area for 4-5 hours.

And finally, now, the chicken is completely ready to smoke. The chicken is wrapped with a string and hung in the smokehouse on small hooks, after which a fire is made. Immediately after the coals have burned out, chips of fruit trees or alder sawdust are placed on top of them and the lid of the smokehouse is closed. Air access to the smokehouse during smoking should be minimal, and it is better to exclude it altogether.

The peculiarity of cold smoking is its duration and continuity. So, a chicken, on average, will smoke for about a day, and maybe a little longer (depending on the size of the carcass). The readiness of the chicken is very easy to check - for this, a small incision is made on the side and a puncture in the center. If the meat inside is light, soft and there is no juice, then the smoking was a success and the chicken can be pulled out of the smokehouse.

You can serve smoked chicken as a cold snack, or you can immediately make it the centerpiece of the table. Bon Appetit!

Smoked chicken is a special delicacy for a festive table or a picnic in nature. You can prepare the marinade and smoke the chicken yourself - it will be safer and cheaper than a store product. How to marinate chicken before smoking, read the article.

There is a universal way to marinate chicken for both hot and cold smoking. The meat will turn out to be equally tasty and soft.

Ingredients:

• chicken weighing 1.5-2 kilograms;
• four liters of water;
• three tablespoons of coarse salt;
• five large cloves of garlic;
• two tablespoons of dried herbs (you can take any herbs: parsley, dill, basil, etc.);
• half a teaspoon of caraway seeds.

How to marinate:

1. Wash and dry the carcass;
2. The brine is cooked from the specified ingredients. To make it more saturated, let the liquid simmer for ten minutes, reducing the boil to a minimum;
3. When the brine has cooled down, pour the meat into it and put it in the cold for two days (a refrigerator, a cellar will do);
4. Remove the meat, blot excess marinade with paper towels and start smoking.

Marinate chicken for hot smoking

There are two main ways to smoke meat in a smokehouse: hot and cold. Hot smoking allows you to get a more tender, softer dish. If you expose chicken to such smoking, then it will turn out deliciously juicy, literally melting in your mouth. A vinegar marinade works best for this method. How to marinate smoked chicken in this way?

No special components are required, with the exception of spices and spices. The number of ingredients is given for marinating two chicken carcasses in the smokehouse.

Required Ingredients:

• one and a half liters of water;
• two tablespoons of 9% vinegar;
• a teaspoon of coarse salt with a slide;
• half a teaspoon of granulated sugar;
• one bay leaf;
• ground ginger, black, allspice, coriander to taste (you can take a pinch of each spice);
• a clove of garlic;
• a branch of a juniper or 3-4 fragrant berries.

1. The rate of water must be brought to a boil, add sugar, salt.
2. As soon as the water boils, throw in the spices, juniper, spices, pour in the vinegar. Let the broth boil for literally 1-2 minutes, remove from heat.
3. While the marinade is cooling, prepare the chicken: remove feathers and fluff, gut, wash, cut fat from the tail. How to properly marinate smoked chicken? To make the meat softer, you can chop the carcass into pieces, although with a hot method of smoking, well-marinated meat will turn out soft even in whole chicken.
4. When the marinade has cooled down, the chicken should be placed on the bottom of the pickling pan and covered with marinade. In order for the meat to be better saturated with the fragrant liquid, it is necessary to set oppression, then send the chicken to a cool place. The recipe assumes a long marinating period - four days.
5. Dry the prepared carcass or chicken parts by hanging in a draft, and then cook in a smokehouse.

How to marinate cold smoked chicken

Cold smoked chicken turns out to be denser, with a characteristic grain pattern on the cut. Such a product is stored longer compared to hot smoked meat, despite the fact that the marinade is prepared without vinegar.

Please note that this method of marinating takes longer. Before sending the meat to the smokehouse, it will have to be salted in a dry mixture, and then in brine for several days. The amount of curing ingredients in the recipe is indicated for 2.5-3 kilograms of chicken meat.

Ingredients:

• 1.6 kilograms of coarse salt (half a glass for pre-salting, the rest for brine);
• 20 grams of ascorbic acid;
• three tablespoons of white sugar (one for pre-salting, two for brine);
• a tablespoon of black peppercorns;
• three bay leaves;
• nine liters of brine water.

Cooking sequence:

1. Grate the prepared chicken meat with the norm of salt, sugar for dry salting, sprinkle with peppercorns, shift with bay leaf.
2. Place the chicken in a high saucepan, cover with a lid, and put in a cold place for two days.
3. Cook the marinade according to the recipe from water, salt, sugar, ascorbic acid. Let the liquid boil, wait until the grains of sugar and salt are completely dissolved.
4. Pour chicken meat with cooled brine, leave to marinate for another 10-11 days.
5. Remove the meat from the brine, rinse with cold water, dry and dry on the refrigerator shelf for 6-7 hours.
6. Then, send the dried dried meat to the smokehouse, cook until it is separated from the carcass of a shiny, dense crust.

How to quickly marinate smoked chicken

If there is no time for long marinating, you can use the honey marinade recipe. The meat is quickly saturated with sweet juice, which is why it gets an excellent flavor. One thing, but - this option is more suitable for a hot smokehouse.

Ingredients:

• ½ glass of honey;
• two large lemons;
• half a glass of vegetable oil (it is especially tasty to use mustard or linseed oil);
• three tablespoons of any spices, spices to taste;
• three cloves of garlic;
• ground allspice, a mixture of bitter peppers (about a tablespoon).

Pickling sequence:

1. Chop the carcass into pieces - wings, thighs, back, breast.
2. Squeeze fresh juice from the lemons (you should get about 100 ml).
3. Mix the indicated ingredients well and rub each piece with a honey-spicy mixture.
4. Put the pieces of meat in a plastic bag, put them on the refrigerator shelf overnight.
5. In the morning, take out the meat, clean it of herbs, spices and send it to the smokehouse.

Experienced smokers have a secret to use when they are pressed for time. Before marinating, the chicken carcass must be boiled until half cooked, simmering over low heat for about 20 minutes.

You can add salt, onion, carrots, parsley and dill stalks to the water.

After cooking, the carcass will go to the smokehouse, and the broth can be used to make sauces or light first courses.

Chicken can be smoked in several ways: hot, cold and liquid smoke. Smoking chicken with the addition of "liquid smoke" is a simplified option that requires less attention and time in cooking, but the benefits of using a chemical concentrate that impart taste and smell is a minimum.

Cold-cooked meat takes time - sometimes several days, but it can be made at home, while there will be no carcinogens in the meat, and the taste and aroma will not be inferior to the results of other cooking methods.

Preparation for smoking

For you need to choose fresh chicken, and it is better if it is chilled than frozen. A good quality chicken should have white-pink skin without spots, scratches, fractures, and all feathers removed. When pressing on high-quality meat, deep dents cannot appear - the formed hole on a fresh carcass will tighten quickly. Also, a good product has no foreign unpleasant odors.

The substitute can be made by a saucepan that will fit the whole chicken. Its bottom should be thick so that the sawdust and meat do not burn during cooking. After smoking, it can be difficult to get rid of the smell of smoke and carbon deposits, so it is better to use a saucepan that will not be used for cooking other types of food.

Sawdust is used ready-made from wood of any species. If the sawdust is prepared on your own, then they should not be coniferous, otherwise the finished product will smell of resin, which will ruin the whole aroma and add bitterness to the meat.

Smoking chicken will require an aluminum chicken mold or foil sized enough to cover the bottom of the pot and make the sides. You will also need a small cotton towel.

Ingredients

To cook chicken you need to take:

• Chicken, weighing 1-1.5 kg, before cooking, you need to wash it, dry it and cut off excess fat;
• 5-6 tablespoons of table salt;
• 2 liters of water;

If you need to spice up the meat, then it is better to prepare a marinade for which you will need:

• Water - 1.5-2 liters;
• spices: red or black pepper, cinnamon or others, to your taste, or you can use ready-made spices for barbecue;
• garlic - 3-4 cloves;
• vinegar 9% - 1 tsp, or lemon or lime juice;
• sugar - 1 teaspoon;
• salt 3-4 tablespoons;
• Bay leaf.

All ingredients, except for garlic, are poured into water and boiled for 5 minutes. The marinade should be cooled to 20-30 degrees, and the chicken should be immersed in it for 10-12 hours, after which it can be removed from the brine, rinsed with clean water and left for 1.5-2 hours to get rid of excess moisture. Aged chicken is rubbed with garlic - now the meat can be smoked.

If the meat does not require marinating, then the chicken is cut, washed and salted. You can divide it into 2 parts and beat it off slightly. Then pour the chicken in a saucepan or other container with water and dissolved salt. The container must be placed in a cold place for 8 hours so that the meat has time to salty. You can speed up the process if you inject the carcass every 4-5 cm with a syringe with salt water. After that, rub the chicken with spices and garlic, although you can do without them.

Smoking process

Sawdust is poured into the pan chosen for, with a layer of about 2 cm. A form of aluminum is placed on top of the sawdust, you can replace it with foil folded several times, the edges will need to be raised so that the chicken fat does not get on the sawdust. The finished chicken or parts of it, wiped off with a dry towel, are placed on foil, and the pan is tightly covered with a lid wrapped in a towel, which must first be soaked in cold water.

We put sawdust on the bottom of the pan, put a foil container and a grill under the chicken on top

Meat in a makeshift smokehouse is put on the stove. The fire should be strong for half an hour, then the temperature is lowered, and the pan is kept on low heat for another 30 minutes. After that, the stove can be turned off, but the chicken must be allowed to cool without opening the lid.

After 20 minutes, the meat is completely ready, but if in doubt, you can pierce the carcass in the thickest place - clear juice - a guarantee of readiness. Chicken is eaten hot and cold, but the skin must be removed from it and not eaten, since it absorbs all the fumes from sawdust during the cooking process.

Smoked chicken can become an independent dish, or you can add it to salads and hodgepodge. As a side dish, for example, sour apples, fried in the fat left after smoking, are well suited. Peeled and chopped apples can be added to the chicken while smoking, 10 minutes before the end of the process.

Smoke aromatic ➤ chicken right on the fire and treat your family and friends with a unique delicacy.

Chicken is deservedly considered one of the most suitable products for smoking. Smoked chicken, properly cooked on a fire, is a wonderful delicacy that is consumed separately or as part of various dishes.

There are three types of smoking chicken:

• hotter
• cold
• roasting on a fire with smoking

Since cold smoking involves the construction of a large smoking chamber and the treatment of the product with smoke for a long time, this recipe is not suitable for cooking over a fire.

Hot smoking is what we need. It involves the thermal treatment of chicken with heated smoke and heat directly from the coals (cooking temperature is 90-150 ° C).

Option 1. Smoking on a fire in a smokehouse

What is needed

To get evenly cooked smoked chicken with a distinct smoke aroma, you can't do without a smokehouse.

The best option is to purchase an inexpensive solution made of ordinary steel without a water seal (you will not need it when cooking over a fire). For example, a compact travel model made of steel (0.8 mm) from the KEDR plus company or a similar solution from other manufacturers.

You will also need:

• hammer
• pot
• large cutting board
• hatchet for chopping meat

Chicken preparation

• Before cooking, the entrails must be removed from the carcass.
• Then it must be rinsed thoroughly.
• After that, cut the breast and gently beat the carcass with the back of a chopping hatchet (weaker than when cooking chops). This will make the product much softer, including by softening the cartilage.
• After that, we prepare a simple brine: add salt, garlic, bay leaf and other spices to taste to the heated water. You can add vinegar and some sugar to soften the meat. There is no strict recipe for marinating chicken, so your taste preferences decide everything.
• The chicken is placed in a saucepan, which is filled with brine so that the product is completely immersed in the liquid. If necessary, the carcass is pressed from above with an additional weight. In this form, the product is left for 2 days.
• After a specified time, the product is removed from the brine, stuffed with garlic or other spices and left on a wire rack or hung by a hook to allow excess moisture to drip through the glass.

Smoking

• Make a fire before placing it in the smokehouse. The most convenient option is a fire in the grill. If it is not at hand, the smoker can be installed over the fire on bricks or blocks.
• After the fire has burned out a little, the smoker is placed over it and heated to a temperature of 250 ° C.
• The chicken is then placed in the smoking chamber breast-side down and smoked for 4 hours. You can determine readiness by the appearance of a golden crust.

The described method is suitable for preparing both whole chicken carcasses and their parts.

Option 2. A quick recipe for cooking chicken in a smokehouse

This recipe is suitable for those who want to prepare a tasty and aromatic dish in a minimum amount of time. This is perhaps the easiest way to smoke chicken over a fire. The very process of cooking meat in smoke takes no more than forty minutes.

What is needed

• one chicken carcass (you can cook more at the same time - it all depends on the size of the smokehouse)
• pepper
• other spices to choose from

Chicken preparation

• In order for the spices to better saturate the chicken, the carcass (or carcasses) must be placed in a dense polyethylene bag for 2-3 hours
• After the specified time, take out the product and hang it on a metal hook or lay it out on a wire rack to dry it.
• When the carcass dries up a little, you can put it in the smokehouse.

Smoking

• Pre-install the drip pan to collect dripping fat.
• The chicken can be smoked over high heat for about 40 minutes.
• It is recommended to remove the skin from the carcass prepared according to this recipe before eating. The fact is that it absorbs the main bitterness from smoldering chips or sawdust. But the meat is tender, tasty and aromatic.

Option 3. Smoked chicken "on the grill"

This simple recipe combines fire-roasting and smoking. Unlike chicken kebab, the carcass prepared in this way acquires a more pronounced aroma and taste of the smoked product.

What is needed

• one broiler chicken
• pepper and other spices (to taste)
• barbecue grill

Chicken preparation

• with a knife, carefully cut the breast in half
• rub the carcass with spices from the outside and from the inside (start with salt, then add pepper and seasonings)
• leave the product for a couple of hours to absorb the seasonings

Smoking

• We light a fire (or brazier). This recipe will require a lot of heat, so we do not regret the firewood.
• After the wood is burnt, the carcass is placed in a barbecue grill and fixed over the heat with bricks, stones or blocks - just like when frying a shish kebab.
• Fry the carcass on both sides for 5-7 minutes.
• Then we remove the grate from the fire and put thin apple or alder branches on the coals.
• After that, we return the chicken to the fire (if you are cooking on the grill, you can cover the chicken with the complete lid, leaving a small gap for oxygen access). The product is cooked in this way for 40 minutes. You can turn the wire rack once after 20 minutes for more even cooking.

Chicken prepared with this recipe is juicier and more flavorful than conventional grilling.

Useful tricks from experienced smokers

Natural smoking or liquid smoke?

The chemical additive "liquid smoke" allows you to quickly give poultry and other products the appearance of a smoked dish. However, this method does not allow obtaining the true taste and aroma of a naturally smoked delicacy. Some researchers equate the liquid smoke supplement with dangerous carcinogens that are strictly prohibited from ingestion. This is due to the phenolic and formaldehyde compounds included in the additive, which, accumulating in tissues, can lead to cancer.

Therefore, we warn you against using "liquid smoke" in any form, even in small quantities. In addition, there are a large number of recipes for preparing smoked delicacies using natural smoke, which do not require much time and money.

How to achieve a bright taste and aroma when smoking chicken?

The taste and smell of the finished product depend on the right choice as much as on compliance with the recipe. The opinion that old or not quite fresh chicken can be used for smoking, because the smoke supposedly masks product flaws, is fundamentally wrong.

So that the result does not disappoint you, use only fresh product that is sold chilled. At the same time, frozen chicken is initially less suitable for smoking than fresh.

Choose carcasses of chicken and broiler breeds whenever possible.