Indoor Pulled Chicken

Ainekset

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke, divided

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

Table salt and pepper

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved crosswise

1 recipe barbecue sauce (recipes follow)

Hot sauce

Ohjeet

1. Bring broth, molasses, sugar, 2 teaspoons liquid smoke, gelatin, and 1 teaspoon salt to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add chicken and return to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is easily shredded with fork, about 25 minutes.

2. Transfer chicken to medium bowl and set aside. Strain cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl (do not wash pot). Let liquid settle for 5 minutes; skim fat from surface. Set aside fat and defatted liquid.

3. Using tongs, squeeze chicken until shredded into bite-size pieces. Transfer chicken, 1 cup barbecue sauce, ½ cup reserved defatted liquid, 3 tablespoons reserved fat, and remaining 1 teaspoon liquid smoke to now-empty pot. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently, until liquid has been absorbed and exterior of meat appears dry, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Serve, passing remaining barbecue sauce separately

Muistiinpanot

Do not trim the fat from the chicken thighs; it contributes to the flavor and texture of the pulled chicken. If you don’t have 3 tablespoons of fat to add back to the pot in step 3, add melted butter to make up the difference. We like mild molasses in this recipe; do not use blackstrap. Serve the pulled chicken on white bread or hamburger buns with pickles and coleslaw.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Traditional pulled chicken is a true labor of love, so we wanted to find a stovetop version of really good pulled chicken that still had the texture and flavor of outdoor slow-smoked pulled chicken but in just a fraction of the time. We started by braising boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a mixture of chicken broth, salt, sugar, molasses, gelatin, and liquid smoke, which simulated the flavor of traditional smoked chicken. The gelatin and broth helped mimic the unctuous texture and intense chicken flavor of whole chicken parts. To mimic the richness of skin-on chicken, we skipped trimming the fat from the thighs and added the rendered fat back to the finished pulled chicken. Finally, we mixed the shredded meat with a homemade barbecue sauce and cooked it briefly to drive off excess moisture.