Bama Chicken

Ingredienti

Chicken:

4 Chicken Quarters

1 Bottle Zesty Italian Dressing

Chicken Rub:

3 cups Salt

¼ cup finely ground Black Pepper

1/8 cup ground red pepper

¼ cup Granulated Garlic

¼ cup Chili Powder

¼ cup Accent

Bama Sauce:

2 cups Mayo

½ cup Cider Vinegar

1 TBS Course Ground Black Pepper

1 TBS Granulated Garlic

1 TBS Sugar

1 heaping teaspoon minced Horseradish (I use the kind from a jar)

1 tea Salt

½ tea Ground Cayenne Pepper

Juice from 2 Lemons

Istruzioni

Remove the leg quarters from the packaging and place in a large plastic bag. To get some flavor into the Smoked Chicken Quarters I marinate the quarters in 1 bottle of Zesty Italian dressing for at least 4 hours. (doesn’t hurt to let them soak overnight).

After several hours remove each piece from the marinade and let the excess drip back into the bag. If some of the spices from the Italian dressing stick to the outside, it’s ok… That’s just extra flavor!

Sprinkle each side moderately with the chicken rub and let it sit while the smoker is coming up to temp.

The key to good chicken is maintaining a temperature of 275-300 degrees. It may sound a little high for smoking, but trust me; this range will cook the skin perfectly while the meat stays tender and juicy.

For smoke flavor I use Cherry pellets on chicken because they’re mild. If you’re using something else be careful, because chicken can absorb smoke fast and it will taste bitter if you go to heavy with the wood.

When the pit hits the target temp it’s time to start cooking. Place each Alabama Smoked Chicken Quarters skin side up on the rack and close the lid for 1 hour. Keep an eye on your cooking temperature and hold it at 275 degrees.

After an hour, the skin has started to get some color and firmed up a bit. Now it’s time to flip the chicken skin side down to really render that fat. This will give it that soft, bite-through texture. There’s nothing I hate more than rubbery chicken skin! Set a timer for 30 minutes.

Once the timer goes off, flip the chicken skin up. It’s a good idea to check the internal temperature here. Alabama Smoked Chicken Quarters need to cook to an internal of 175 degrees, at the 1:30 mark they’re right at 160 internal, so they should need a little more cooking. I set the timer for 20 more minutes at this point.

At the 1:50 total cook time mark, these thighs were registering just over 175 degrees which is right where I want them. It’s ok if the temp slips past 180. Like I mentioned earlier dark meat is forgiving and will remain juicy even if it’s a little over cooked.

If you want to go the traditional route, you can glaze these Alabama Smoked Chicken Quarters with your favorite sauce right at the end of the cooking process.

Note

https://howtobbqright.com/2014/09/16/smoked-chicken-quarters-with-alabama-white-sauce/