Hot smoked chicken in a smokehouse at home

8 servings
2 days 2 hours 30 min

The bird prepared according to this recipe turns out to be slightly salty. If you like more salt, then use 2-

2. 5 times more salt for the marinade. Also, if you smoke a homemade chicken, and not bought in a store, then increase the amount of salt by 2 times. Smoking time can decrease slightly, it depends on the weight of the bird and the data of your smoking machine. You can check your readiness by making a cut with a knife on the breast or hip, if clear juice is released, then the chicken is ready. I keep such a delicacy for about 5 days in the refrigerator. Have a pleasant appetite!

Hot smoked chicken in a smokehouse at home? Prepare the chicken carcasses. Of course, poultry will make the result much tastier and better than purchased. Pluck the bird, gut, scorch the remaining down and fine feathers, and then wash the bird thoroughly in clean water.

Remove the fat on the abdomen and neck, as well as cut off the hood. Why is this recommended? When smoking, the chicken is cooked at temperatures above 100 degrees, from which fat can drip and fall on coals, which will contribute to the appearance of fire.

Prepare everything you need for the marinade. Peel and rinse the garlic with the bay leaf.

Pour cold water into the pan, add salt, sugar and send everything to the stove.

After boiling, add the garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves and juniper berries. Any of these components can be excluded according to your taste preferences. Reduce the stove to a minimum and cook the brine for 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and send a bunch of fresh or a pinch of dry thyme to the marinade. Leave the brine to cool to room temperature.

Wash lemon and parsley. .

Cut half the lemon into circles.

Place the carcasses in a deep large cup or saucepan and pour over the marinade.

Squeeze the remaining lemon half over the top, add the hand-mashed parsley and chopped citrus wedges. Lemon can be cut into wedges and sent to the marinade, or squeeze juice from a whole lemon if desired (as you like and more convenient). Set the yoke so that the meat is completely in the brine. Cover the pan with a lid and send the bird to marinate in the refrigerator for a day or two (I usually stand for two days).

Remove the marinated chickens from the marinade, dry with paper napkins and leave to air for 3-4 hours on a draft. It is very convenient to use a special net for fish drying, if this is not available, then you can hang the chickens on harnesses by wrapping gauze carcasses (to prevent dust and insects from getting in).

Soak the chips in cold water. For smoking, it is better to use a pinch of alder or any fruit trees (I took cherry this time).

Cover the bottom of the smokehouse with foil. Melt the fire, wait for good coals to remain.

To evenly soak the meat of whole carcasses, install sticks in the abdomens, as in the photo. Wooden skewers can be used.

Squeeze the chips.

Distribute the chips on coals.

Put the chicken on the grill in the smokehouse and close the lid. Smoke chickens at a temperature of 100-120 degrees from one and a half to two hours.

So the chickens looked after 30 minutes of smoking.

An hour later, the carcasses were already more ruddy.

And that's what the bird looked like at the end of cooking.

Cool the finished chicken and send it to the refrigerator for a few hours, or better for the night. The meat will become even more fragrant and tasty. Enjoy your meal!

Note that the quality and taste of the finished dish largely depends on the correct defrosting of the ingredients. How to avoid mistakes and choose the best way to defrost chicken, read the article about the correct defrosting of products.

For cooking, it is better to use taste-neutral filtered or bottled water. If you use tap water, keep in mind that it can give the dish an unpleasant characteristic taste.

If you use ready-made spice mixes, be sure to read the formulation on the packaging. Often salt is already present in such mixtures, take this into account, otherwise you risk salting the dish.

Since the degree of salinity, sweetness, bitterness, sharpness, acid, burning is individual for everyone, always add spices, spices and seasonings, focusing on your taste! If you put some of the seasonings for the first time, then consider that there are spices that are especially important not to shift (for example, chili peppers).