Pulled Hickory Smoked Chicken Breasts
Pulled Hickory Smoked Chicken Breasts - Pulled Hickory Smoked Chicken Breast served with steamed broccoli and a green salad ... Succulent Low-Carb meal!!
The chicken breast meat was extremely moist and tender due to them having the bone-in and the skin-on when cooking. The meat does not dry out and turn to leather. Make sure to season under and on the skin. Many recipes call for seasoning the skin and forget to season under the skin. Wrap in plastic and place the seasoned chicken breasts in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours. This allows the seasonings to work their intended magic.
Rubbed two bone-in skin-on chicken breasts under/on the skin with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning and Pete's Western Rub. Wrapped breasts in plastic and refrigerated for 4 hours.
Preheated MAK 2 Star wood pellet smoker-grill with Cookinpellets.com Premium 100% Hickory pellets to 180ºF (Smoke setting). Smoked the breasts for 1¼ hours before bumping the pit temp to 350ºF. Pulled the Hickory smoked chicken breasts when they reached an internal temperature of 170ºF. Rested the breasts for 10 minutes under a foil tent ... Doesn't get any better than this!.
Tim
Definitely have to try this!! What do you do to get a heavier smoke flavor? I have the GMG DC after watching your recipes (they should definitely give you commission)
The only thing I would like is a more smokier presence on my ribs.. Would you say the pellets or maybe the “degree” number I have it set to will make the difference?
Thanks so much
smokerpete
As a general rule a wood pellet smoker-grill will not provide you with a heavy smoke flavor like you would get from a stick (wood) burner, charcoal, or electric smoker. It will however give you a nice mellow smoke flavor. There are 2 camps of people … one that I label as “smoke eaters” and the the ones who prefer a mellower moist product produced by a wood pellet grill. Needless to say, I belong to the second group of people. I used to be a smoke eater and found that it distracts too much from natural flavors of the meat.
Having said that, I have found that using Cookinpellets.com Premium Perfect Mix and/or Premium 100% Hickory wood pellets gives the best smoke – second to none. It gives you an ample amount of smoke on your proteins. The trick is to barbecue (cook low-and-slow) at optimum smoke ranges of approximately 170ºF to 250ºF depending on your grill. My MAK 2 Star is legendary when it comes to producing smoke and as I said before I highly recommend using Cookinpellets.com products. For a base wood the Premium Perfect Mix uses 100% Hickory mixed with 100% Cherry, 100% Maple, and %100 Apple woods. All other wood pellet manufacturers normally use 70-75% Alder or Oak as a base wood.
Depending on what I’m cooking I will smoke from 30 minutes to 3 hours before bumping the pit temperature to 325ºF – 450ºF until I reach my desired internal temperature. There are time when I’ll cook/smoke the protein the whole time at 225ºF to 250ºF. Have fun experimenting … have fun … after all, you can’t hurt the meat cause it’s already dead!!
Bottom line – pellets and pit temperature have the most influence on your smoke presence. Also make sure you always rest your meat to allow the natural juices to reconstitute and the smoke to further penetrate. As a general rule it commonly accepted that meat will not accept any more smoke after it reaches an internal temperature of 140ºF.
I used to own a Green Mountain Grill (GMG) Davy Crockett (DC) that I used on the road in my RV and at home to augment my MAK 2 Star. I cooked some great meals with my GMG DC on the road and at home. Alas, I don’t own it anymore. Why not? I gave it to my Son to use while visiting him last Summer in Rhode Island. He’s now providing succulent meals for his family. Me? I’m in the market for a new tailgate wood pellet smoker-grill. Looking hard at the REC TEC Mini. Now all I need is a few bucks!!
Tim
Thank you so much for this!! You’re the man and I love reading (and using) your recipes.. I was also eyeing the Rec mini.. Although I am now buying a stick burner and at some point my wife might sell some of my other grills..
I definitely might try smoking the meat at a lower temp until it can’t handle anymore, then bumping it up and cross fingers hoping the smoke flavor is a little more intense.. I’ve saw a post yesterday where someone stuck a piece of wood on the arm of the fire pot.. Could be good?
I will definitely grab a bag of the Cookinpellets and see what it does. I do enjoy the non babysitting of the cooker and the wife just downright makes me happy! I also put a Don Grodke downdraft on it and I think I might’ve eliminated the hot spots.. I haven’t done any testing to see..
Thanks so much for the great recipes and amazing advice.. Eat well and prosper!