Dale Groetsema
TVWBB Super Fan
Getting ready for the Firehouse BBQ in Kings Mountain, NC. Practicing my
chicken and once again, I find the skin not to my liking. Also, I did a
brine for 10 hours and was not so sure about the texture of the meat either.
Here is what I did. My goal was crisp, edible skin, so I was cooking at
pretty high temps.
Brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbl black peppercorns
5 arbol chilies, broken in half to allow the liquid to get at the seeds and
membrane
1 gallon of water.
Boiled the brine, then cooled it overnight before placing the chicken pieces
in it.
Brined for 10 hours, in the refrigerator (37 degrees?)
Drained chicken, air dried in fridge for 2 hours.
Lightly painted with mustard sauce:
5 tbl mustard
1 tbl honey
couple dashes of habanero sauce (unsure of concentration, xmas gift)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Sprinkled chicken pieces with Rudy's Rub (a BBQ joint in San Antonio), which
clearly has peppercorns, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and salt, along with other
unknown spices
Fired up my Weber Kettle, with a half chimney of Kingsford charcoal, divided
into two piles on either side of the kettle. Placed a pan of hot water in
the middle.
Brought the temperature up to 350 degrees, added 4 very small pieces of
hickory, and placed the chicken, skin side up, directly in the center of the
Weber and not above the coals.
I was intent on learning something from this cook, so I tracked the temps
every 10 minutes. Had a polder probe in one thigh, one breast, and at the
dome. Watched meat temps rise steadily. When thigh was at 150 and breast
at 138, I basted with melted butter with a dash of pepper sauce and a little
ground celery seed (not celery salt).
When thigh reached 170 and breast was 160, I basted both sides of meat with
a little Famous Dave's BBQ sauce, mixed with a little honey. I moved the
meat directly over the coals, skin side up, intending to further crisp up
the skin. Turned the meat after 5 minutes, (now the skin is facing the
coals) Finished off in that position in 7-8 minutes, checking constantly to
avoid any burning.
Took the chicken off, covered pan with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Deboned the breast, neatly sliced the filet, and tasted it. Also deboned
and sliced the thigh.
Impressions:
Appearance - very good--nice glaze, with attractive speckles of pepper from
rub. Dark golden, going towards mahogany color. Definitely competition
material. Faint smoke ring on breast, more pronounced on thighs. Noticed
slight layer of fat under skin of breast that had not melted away. Points 8
Texture/Tenderness - Skin was not crisp!! Ugh, Not as rubbery as I have
had it, but still not what I would call crisp. Meat texture was a mix of
tender, but, did not seem to have the consistency of chicken I am used to.
Almost gel-like. Not a lot, but, you know when you can't see the fibers of
the meat/muscle? End pieces were drier than I would have liked, but the
center 4-5 pieces oozed liquid when pressed. If the meat texture had been
more natural, could have been a winning piece of BBQ. Points 5
Taste - In a word, HOT!! Guess I had a few too many dashes of that habanero
sauce. And cracked peppers in rub were overwhelming and kept coming up in
my mouth after I was done eating. As I am not a BIG pepper fan, I thought
this might be a little too much. Think I will sift the rub a little to get
out the bigger pieces of pepper. Aside from the hot, it was sweet, without
being sickening. I was pleased with the overall taste, except a little bit
on the hot side. Maybe it would fly in the south, (is NC considered the
south?) Points 7
Total points, 27 (taste counts double). Out of a possible score of 36, not
a winning entry.
So, I can fix the heat. Also can get rid of that layer of fat under the
skin. And, I suspect the brine may have affected the texture of the meat
(although I am looking for the list members to confirm/contest that idea).
Finally, I am stumped on the skin texture. I know higher temps help, but I
have yet to find the magic touch. A couple years ago, at a Paul Kirk class,
someone handed me a piece of chicken they had just cooked and it was heaven.
Skin was crispy, taste was sweet/mild hot, juicy, etc. I have tasted a 36,
just not sure how to get there.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Dale Groetsema
chicken and once again, I find the skin not to my liking. Also, I did a
brine for 10 hours and was not so sure about the texture of the meat either.
Here is what I did. My goal was crisp, edible skin, so I was cooking at
pretty high temps.
Brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbl black peppercorns
5 arbol chilies, broken in half to allow the liquid to get at the seeds and
membrane
1 gallon of water.
Boiled the brine, then cooled it overnight before placing the chicken pieces
in it.
Brined for 10 hours, in the refrigerator (37 degrees?)
Drained chicken, air dried in fridge for 2 hours.
Lightly painted with mustard sauce:
5 tbl mustard
1 tbl honey
couple dashes of habanero sauce (unsure of concentration, xmas gift)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Sprinkled chicken pieces with Rudy's Rub (a BBQ joint in San Antonio), which
clearly has peppercorns, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and salt, along with other
unknown spices
Fired up my Weber Kettle, with a half chimney of Kingsford charcoal, divided
into two piles on either side of the kettle. Placed a pan of hot water in
the middle.
Brought the temperature up to 350 degrees, added 4 very small pieces of
hickory, and placed the chicken, skin side up, directly in the center of the
Weber and not above the coals.
I was intent on learning something from this cook, so I tracked the temps
every 10 minutes. Had a polder probe in one thigh, one breast, and at the
dome. Watched meat temps rise steadily. When thigh was at 150 and breast
at 138, I basted with melted butter with a dash of pepper sauce and a little
ground celery seed (not celery salt).
When thigh reached 170 and breast was 160, I basted both sides of meat with
a little Famous Dave's BBQ sauce, mixed with a little honey. I moved the
meat directly over the coals, skin side up, intending to further crisp up
the skin. Turned the meat after 5 minutes, (now the skin is facing the
coals) Finished off in that position in 7-8 minutes, checking constantly to
avoid any burning.
Took the chicken off, covered pan with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Deboned the breast, neatly sliced the filet, and tasted it. Also deboned
and sliced the thigh.
Impressions:
Appearance - very good--nice glaze, with attractive speckles of pepper from
rub. Dark golden, going towards mahogany color. Definitely competition
material. Faint smoke ring on breast, more pronounced on thighs. Noticed
slight layer of fat under skin of breast that had not melted away. Points 8
Texture/Tenderness - Skin was not crisp!! Ugh, Not as rubbery as I have
had it, but still not what I would call crisp. Meat texture was a mix of
tender, but, did not seem to have the consistency of chicken I am used to.
Almost gel-like. Not a lot, but, you know when you can't see the fibers of
the meat/muscle? End pieces were drier than I would have liked, but the
center 4-5 pieces oozed liquid when pressed. If the meat texture had been
more natural, could have been a winning piece of BBQ. Points 5
Taste - In a word, HOT!! Guess I had a few too many dashes of that habanero
sauce. And cracked peppers in rub were overwhelming and kept coming up in
my mouth after I was done eating. As I am not a BIG pepper fan, I thought
this might be a little too much. Think I will sift the rub a little to get
out the bigger pieces of pepper. Aside from the hot, it was sweet, without
being sickening. I was pleased with the overall taste, except a little bit
on the hot side. Maybe it would fly in the south, (is NC considered the
south?) Points 7
Total points, 27 (taste counts double). Out of a possible score of 36, not
a winning entry.
So, I can fix the heat. Also can get rid of that layer of fat under the
skin. And, I suspect the brine may have affected the texture of the meat
(although I am looking for the list members to confirm/contest that idea).
Finally, I am stumped on the skin texture. I know higher temps help, but I
have yet to find the magic touch. A couple years ago, at a Paul Kirk class,
someone handed me a piece of chicken they had just cooked and it was heaven.
Skin was crispy, taste was sweet/mild hot, juicy, etc. I have tasted a 36,
just not sure how to get there.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Dale Groetsema
