Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons (13 page)

BOOK: Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons

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6. Where are the “hot zones” on a cooker?
a. in the middle of the cooking grate
b. around the edges of the cooking grate
c. the region on the grate closest to the lit charcoal or hot airflow
d. at the top of the cooker, where hot air rises

7. If smoked chicken has a pinkish tinge under the skin, it’s probably undercooked. True or False?

8. The basic oil to acid ratio in a marinade is . . .
a. 2:1
b. 3:1
c. 1:1
d. depends on the type of meat

Answers: 1) b. 2) Packed paper smolders. The loose rings allow sufficient airflow to fully light the paper and ignite the charcoal. 3) False! Briquettes contain many chemicals. Natural lump charcoal burns cleaner and faster. 4) d. 5) Open the cooker until the clouds of dark smoke die down. When lit and unlit charcoal mix, it takes at least 5 to 10 minutes for the charcoal to catch and stop billowing smoke. 6) c. 7) False. Properly cooked, low and slow meat often has a smoke ring (page 54). 8) a.

LESSON N°2 BRINED CHICKEN

DEAR STUDENT,

SO YOU’VE LEARNED THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON: HOW TO MAKE A CLEAN,
non-smoldering fire in your cooker. It’s a vital step, but please don’t skip ahead to another, tastier-sounding dinner because you think you’ve mastered all the necessary skills. You have not. If you completed Lesson #1 and continued practicing the cook with different marinades, I don’t doubt that you’re tiring of chicken. The solution to your poultry ennui is in chapter 10: Smokin’ Leftovers—a collection of my favorite recipes using smoked meat.

You still have much to learn. In this dinner, you will cook brined, air-dried chicken in almost exactly the same way as you cooked the chicken in Lesson #1, but with a critical new step: you will partially close a vent (or two, depending on the cooker) midway through the cook and use an oven thermometer. This new step demonstrates how the vents affect the grate temperature and cooking time. One small tweak to the vents lowers the temperature in the cooker and lengthens the cooking time. This isn’t important when you’re smoking chicken (the bird doesn’t care if you’re cooking at 350°F or 275°F–it’ll taste good either way), but temperature and time will be factors later on with more heat-sensitive cuts of meat.

Instead of using a marinade for this cook, you will brine the chicken halves. Brines affect the flavor and texture of the meat as marinades do, but there’s one key difference: brines are strong saltwater solutions, while marinades contain strong concentrations of acid. Brines typically contain little, if any, acid, and the saltwater solution actually penetrates and plumps the meat.

For Lesson #2, I’m giving you a basic brine recipe for the first time you attempt the cook. Please don’t go messing with the brine right away. The point of making it my way the first time is to build your confidence in the basics and to slowly add to your understanding of low and slow cookery. Later in the chapter, you’ll learn how to make your own brine, just as you learned the fundamentals of making a marinade after Lesson #1. Once you know the basics, you can fool around with brine to your heart’s content. You’ll also get one more low and slow building block—recipes for classic and not-so-traditional sauces and dips for chicken and other barbecue.

Be patient. The ribs you’ve been twitching to make are just around the corner.

Sincerely,

Gary Wiviott

BRINED CHICKEN

There’s a lot of chemistry hoodoo that explains what brines do and how they do it, but now is not the time to discuss osmosis. All you need to know is that soaking the chicken halves in a strong saltwater solution keeps the meat moist and juicy. This basic brine can be used on most poultry and some lean cuts of pork.

WSM AND OFFSET

SERVES 4 TO 6

⅔ cup Morton kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup warm water
2 whole fryers (3- to 4-pound chickens),
split in half, legs disjointed (page 50)
Olive oil for brushing
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

KETTLE

SERVES 2 TO 4

⅓ cup Morton kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup warm water
1 whole fryer (3- to 4-pound chicken),
split in half, legs disjointed (page 50)
Olive oil for brushing
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

THE NIGHT BEFORE DINNER (6 TO 12 HOURS BRINING TIME)

In a large bowl or measuring cup, whisk the salt, sugar, and warm water together until the salt and sugar are dissolved. For the WSM or offset, divide four chicken halves between two one-gallon zip-top bags. Divide the brine between the bags. For the kettle, place two chicken halves in one one-gallon zip-top bag and pour all the brine into the bag.

Set the bag(s) in the sink and fill with cold water to within 1 inch of the zipper (8 to 10 cups depending on the water displacement of the chicken). Press the air out of the bags and seal. Place the bags in a large bowl or on a rimmed baking sheet to catch drips. Allow the chicken to brine for 6 to 12 hours in the refrigerator, turning the bags once or twice to redistribute the brine.

5 HOURS BEFORE
DINNER

Remove the chicken from the bags and rinse the chicken under cold running water. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Lay the chicken halves on a cooling rack set on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the baking sheet, uncovered, in the refrigerator. Low-and-slow cooking typically makes chicken skin rubbery. Air-drying the chicken for several hours in the refrigerator increases the odds of crisping the skin.

2 HOURS BEFORE DINNER

Set up and start a KISS method fire according to the instructions for your WSM (page 32), offset (page 34), or kettle (page36). If Lesson #1 was too smoky for your taste, remove one wood chunk from each level of charcoal.

While you’re waiting for the charcoal in the chimney to engage, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Brush the chicken halves with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.

When the lit charcoal and wood are ready for cooking, arrange the chicken on the grate according to the illustrated instructions for your cooker.

WSM

PLACE THE CHICKEN HALVES
in a circle, breast-side in on the top grate, as close to the center as possible without crowding. Use your tongs to nudge the thigh/leg portion higher on the breast. Place the oven thermometer in the center of the grate, between the chicken halves.
Set the lid on the cooker, with the top vent positioned on the opposite side of the cooker from the center ring door. The top and bottom vents should be open.

45 MINUTES INTO THE COOK
Close the two bottom vents closest to the side door by one-third.
Lift the lid—just this once—and check the temperature on the oven thermometer, for informational purposes only. (See Addendum to the no-peeking policy, page 84.)

1½ HOURS INTO THE COOK
Remove the cooker lid and puncture the thickest part of the chicken breast with the tip of a sharp knife. If the juice running out of the chicken is clear, it’s done.
If the juice is pinkish or cloudy, the chicken isn’t done yet. Did you use bigger chickens? Is it really cold outside? These are things that can lengthen the cooking time.
If the chicken is not done, squirt the skin with cooking spray or olive oil so it doesn’t stick to the grate; then flip the chicken over so it is skin-side down.
If the water pan is low, refill it so that the water level is about 1 inch from the rim.
Check the chicken every 10 minutes; it’s ready when the juices run clear. Or, if you insist on using a digital meat thermometer, the meat is done when the breast reads 155°F and the thigh reads 165°F.
Again, for informational purposes, check the temperature on the oven thermometer when the chicken is done.

OFFSET SMOKER

TUCK EACH WING
under the breast and place the chicken halves on the grate with the wing/leg facing the firebox. Set the first chicken half about a third of the way away from the firebox. Repeat with the remaining chicken halves, working away from the firebox. Use your tongs to nudge the thigh/leg portion higher on the breast. Place the oven thermometer on the grate between the chickens. Close the lid of the cooker. Both vents should be open.

30
MINUTES
INTO THE COOK
Close the vent on the firebox by one-third.
Lift the lid on the cooker and check the level in the water pan. If it is less than three-quarters full, add water. While you’re in there, check the temperature on the oven thermometer, for informational purposes. (See Addendum to the no-peeking policy, page 84.)
1 HOUR INTO THE COOK
Fill the chimney starter halfway with charcoal and light it. When the charcoal is fully engaged, open the lid of the firebox and pour in the fresh charcoal. Add a split of wood to the charcoal.
Keep the firebox open until the charcoal and wood stop billowing smoke (about 10 minutes); then close it. While you’re waiting for the charcoal to engage, open the cooker and check the water pan. If it is less than three-quarters full, refill it. Rotate the meat so that the chicken halves closest to the firebox are moved farthest away.

1½
HOURS INTO THE COOK
Remove the lid and puncture the thickest part of the chicken breast with the tip of a sharp knife. If the juice running out of the chicken is clear, it’s done.
If the juice is pinkish or cloudy, the chicken isn’t done yet. Did you use bigger chickens? Is it really cold outside? These are things that can lengthen the cook time.
If the chicken isn’t done, squirt the skin with cooking spray or olive oil so it doesn’t stick to the grate; then flip the chicken over so it is skin-side down.
Check the level in the water pan. If it is less than three-quarters full, refill it. Check the chicken every 10 minutes; it’s ready when the juices run clear. Or, if you insist on using a digital meat thermometer, the meat is done when the breast reads 155°F and the thigh reads 165°F.
Again, for informational purposes only, check the temperature on the oven thermometer when the chicken is done.