Smoked Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Recipe by Jeff Phillips
www.Smoking-Meat.com
Brine Time: 3 hours | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours | Smoker Temp: 230 F | Meat Finish Temp: 170 F | Recommended Wood: Mesquite
What You'll Need
- 5 lbs of chicken thighs, about 24 pieces (I like
the boneless, skinless variety)
- Brine (recipe below)
- Yellow mustard or Olive Oil (optional)
- Jeff's Rub (purchase
recipe here)
- Large buns (for the sandwich)
- Creamy coleslaw
- Jeff's barbecue sauce recipe (purchase
recipe here)
Making the Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 TBS Louisiana hot sauce
Pour the salt into the water
Note: you might notice that the salt is not
"white" like normal. I used some smoked salt that I had made up a
while back which tends to be a light brown color.
Mix well until the salt is completely dissolved. Usually the water becomes
clear when the salt is dissolved but since this is smoked salt, the water
became a sort of pink color.
Brining the Chicken
24 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Note: I used the boneless, skinless chicken
thighs which is fine but if you do not protect them a bit, the outside will dry
out and get tough. I would say the regular thighs probably make a lot more
sense that way the skin protects the meat while it smokes. When you're done,
you simply remove the skin and you have nice tender chicken thighs for pulling.
Place the thighs into Ziploc bags inside of mixing bowls to prevent leakage.
I was able to get 12 thighs into a 1-gallon Ziploc. I used 2 bags to contain
the 24 thighs that I needed to brine.
Pour 1/2 of the brine (about 1 quart) over the chicken thighs and seal up
the Ziploc bag. Be sure to press all of the air out of the bag as you seal it
up.
Place the bowl(s) with the bags of thighs into the fridge to keep them nice
and cold while they brine.
Preparing the Chicken Thighs for Smoking
Once the thighs have brined for 3 hours, remove them from the fridge and
rinse them well under cold water. Drain well using a colander and place them
into a mixing bowl or another Ziploc bag for seasoning.
Add some mustard to the chicken and make sure all of the chicken is well
coated with the mustard
Add about 1/4 cup of rub (purchase my rub
recipe) and make sure the chicken is well coated with the rub/mustard
mixture.
Repeat the last step by adding in another 1/4 cup of
rub and stirring it in well.
You should end up using 1/2 cup of rub on the chicken thighs
The chicken is now ready to smoke.
Place them on Bradley racks for easy transport to and from the smoker.
Note: I use Bradley
racks with almost everything I cook regardless of what smoker I use.They
make it so easy to carry food to and from the smoker and it allows you to place
the food directly onto the smoker grate with absolutely no hindrance to
the flow of smoke. They make my cooking so much easier and you will see what I
mean once you have a set of you own to use.
Smoking the Chicken Thighs
Set up your smoker for cooking at about 230 degrees. I highly recommend a
robust wood like mesquite for that great smoke flavor that we all love and
enjoy. You can also use hickory, pecan or a fruit wood of your choice.
Once the smoker is preheated and maintaining 230 degrees, place the chicken
thighs directly on the smoker rack.
Let them smoke cook until they reach 170 degrees.
Why 170 degrees instead of the normal 165 that we usually cook
chicken to?
The thighs definitely have more fat than the other parts of the chicken and
can handle longer cook times. The brining also adds more moisture to the meat
and reduces the chance of them drying out in the heat. By cooking them
just a little longer they end up a lot more tender.
The chicken thighs are done cooking and can be brought in and cooled for a
few minutes before pulling.
You will notice that I brushed a little sauce onto mine about 30 minutes
before they were finished cooking. Just personal preference here.
How to protect the meat if you want to use boneless, skinless
chicken thighs
Let the chicken thighs smoke for about 1.5 hours then place them into foil
pans covered with foil. A little beer and/or apple juice in the bottom of the
pan will create some steam and help to tenderize the meat.
Pulling the Chicken
Let the chicken cool for about 5 minutes once you bring it in then simply pull
the meat from the bone (if not boneless) and tear it into small pieces.
Saucing up the Meat
With pulled pork, I prefer to drizzle the sauce on top of the meat but, with
smoked pulled chicken, I think the sauce just pairs really well with the meat
and I like to mix it all in together. I don't like to add too much but just
enough so that it is moist through and through.
Making the Sandwich
Toast the buns then add a healthy portion of sauced pulled chicken on the
bottom of the bun. Spoon on some slaw and top it with the other half of the
bun. Add a pickle or two if you like and serve.
The Creamy Cole Slaw
I used a recipe from my
book for the "Creamy Cole Slaw". I can't post it here since it's
from the book. However, if you have a great cole slaw recipe that you
love, that will work. Don't be tempted to skip the slaw -- it really makes the
sandwich.
And, of course, if you have the book then you have the recipe;-)
