Smoking Chicken AFTER It Is Cooked Or Nearly Done...

[ChristopherC]

So when I made wings for the first time on a smoker (WSM 18), I loved the flavor of the skin.

Didn't so much notice the "meat itself" getting that same flavor.

So...made me think...is it worth trying to take apart an "already cooked" or "nearly done" chicken and shredding the meat and smoking it? Will that give the meat itself a wonderful smoke flavor? Is there a way to do this without drying out the meat or overcooking it?

Just thinking a bit outside the box!

Thoughts?

 

[Jim C in Denver]

Smoke flavor is almost completely located on the surface of the food. Which is the skin in the case of wings or the bark for brisket or butts. Smoke never really penetrates into the meat. The smoke ring is only a visual -- doesn't affect taste.

Smoke flavor particles adhere best to cool, moist, uneven surfaces. Hence the spritzing and/or water pan.

So if you pull your chicken apart (uneven surface) and recook from a moist cold state, you should get some extra smoke flavor.

Which is pretty much how folks make burnt ends. You take some an already smoked brisket point or butt, cut it up into pieces (creating additional and uneven surface area), put some sauce on it (which creates moist coolness), and then put it back on for further smoke and cooking.

Only difference between brisket/butt and chicken would be that brisket/butt can be cooked for a long time and to a higher temp. Because it gets tender at 200F when the ample connective tissue finally melts. So your idea probably would be easier to do with chicken dark meat than light.

 

[ChristopherC]

Is it worth trying something like this?

 

[Chris Allingham]

Is it worth trying something like this?

You'll have to try and let us know!

I'm not aware of shredding cooked meat and then smoking it. I would be worried about dry meat. We do smoke hams that have already been smoked and cooked. We smoke sausages that have already been smoked and cooked. So applying smoke to already cooked meat is done, but usually to whole pieces and not to the inside meat, as you're suggesting. What you won't get is any of the pinkness associated with smoke ring since that reaction only occurs during cooking up to a certain internal temp...not a big deal.

I'm not a big smoked wing guy, so I can't speak to that. For skin-on chicken, I get a bite of skin and meat and it all blends in my mouth. For pork butt, I mix outside and inside meat and get smoky goodness in each bite. For a slice of brisket, I get outside edge and inside meat in each bite.

If you really want smoke flavor inside meat, you might consider creating a flavorful injection and including a small amount of liquid smoke. Use a natural product like Lazy Kettle, Colgin or Wright's. It will be our little secret.

 

[ChristopherC]

What about simply taking raw chicken breasts and thighs removing the bone, keeping skin, and slicing up into strips / pieces and smoking the pieces after applying a rub or marinade? Thoughts on whether this is worthwhile or would it lose too much moisture being smoked this way until cooked?

 

[timothy]

Usually chicken is one of those things that's easy to oversmoke. It could be that whatever your using ( chunk, chips or? ) is simply old, dried out, past its prime.
Using wood with the right moisture content makes a big difference.

Tim

 

[Lew Newby]

Chris's injection method is the surest way to avoid drying the meat. I've never done what you're proposing but I suspect that the breast meat would dry out very fast. I've never heard of anyone doing that. The only way to know for sure is to try it. I've tried out a lot of my weird ideas and some worked but I never did it again because the work I put in just wasn't worth the reward. Be a pioneer and let us know if it works.