j biesinger
TVWBB Platinum Member
We had a friend and family catering gig on Saturday for approximately 70 people. The plan was to roll out some appetizers and an entrée of tacos. The taco meats (chicken and pork) were from a couple of recipes that I have been modifying and tweaking over the past year or so and after this run, I am finally feeling really confident about both recipes. I didn’t take too many pics (I was focus on quality here, no time to play), but I’ll try to document the process best I can, and post the recipes in their respective sections, and link to them here.
So this post is for those of you that need bbq recipes for a party where a reheat is involved and you’re looking for something a little different.
Part One: Chipotle Orange Chicken
recipe
I made the brine on Wednesday and injected 6 chickens on Thursday night. I slashed up the skin some, since I wasn’t planning on serving the skin, and I injected a few ounces of brine into the breasts and thighs. Friday morning, I pulled the birds out of the brine, dunked them into a sink full of clean, fresh water, set them into beer can racks, and loaded them upright, in a tub to drain and dry before rubbing. I rubbed each with a tablespoon of rub, making sure to get the meat under the skin.
The six birds went on the wsm Friday morning, breast facing center, and hit with a little cherry wood during cooking. I had trouble getting the wsm much over 300*, not sure if this was a result of the reduced air movement from the mass of poultry or not. After about 2 hours I probed them and found the thighs, that were facing out, were in the 170’s but the breasts were lagging in the 140’s, so I spun them all around. After another hour or so, the breasts finally reached 165*. I figured we were money, since they had been over 140* for more than an hour, and were going to be reheated to 165* before the party.
After letting them rest and cool, I broke the birds down into wings, legs, backs, an breasts. The boned breasts were left whole, everything else was pulled from the bone. The reserved meat was held in aluminum roasters and put on ice to rapid chill. The remaining skin and bones were put in a stock pot and cover with water. I simmered the stock for a couple of hours before straining and chilling. I separated the chilled stock, and reserved the fat for a future batch of tamales (smokey, chipotle, chicken tamales that is
).
For the reheat, I sliced the breast and mixed in some of dark meat and added hot stock. I drop a thermometer probe into the roaster, covered it with foil. The roaster went into a hot oven. I stirred once and served when it was heated through to 165*.
The resulting meat was super moist, had a nice smokey, spicey flavor with the barest hint of orange to round things out.
Part Two: Pulled Pork Adobo
recipe
I made a batch of adobo paste and slathered up 3 butts with it.
I gave them some hickory while the got up to 160* internal at which point I foiled them. The adobo which consisted of mostly chile (ancho and new mex) seemed to be blackening despite running the wsm in the 260*. I foiled the butts to speed things along, and to make sure I contained some juice for the sauce. When the butts reached tender, I recovered the juice, and let them cool slightly before pulling. The juice went into a sauce that I though really made the recipe. Basically, I made another batch of adobo paste, and tossed it in a blender with a 28 oz can of tomato sauce and the defatted juice from the 3 butts. I poured this sauce (heated) over the cold meat before warming to serve.
So this post is for those of you that need bbq recipes for a party where a reheat is involved and you’re looking for something a little different.
Part One: Chipotle Orange Chicken
recipe
I made the brine on Wednesday and injected 6 chickens on Thursday night. I slashed up the skin some, since I wasn’t planning on serving the skin, and I injected a few ounces of brine into the breasts and thighs. Friday morning, I pulled the birds out of the brine, dunked them into a sink full of clean, fresh water, set them into beer can racks, and loaded them upright, in a tub to drain and dry before rubbing. I rubbed each with a tablespoon of rub, making sure to get the meat under the skin.
The six birds went on the wsm Friday morning, breast facing center, and hit with a little cherry wood during cooking. I had trouble getting the wsm much over 300*, not sure if this was a result of the reduced air movement from the mass of poultry or not. After about 2 hours I probed them and found the thighs, that were facing out, were in the 170’s but the breasts were lagging in the 140’s, so I spun them all around. After another hour or so, the breasts finally reached 165*. I figured we were money, since they had been over 140* for more than an hour, and were going to be reheated to 165* before the party.
After letting them rest and cool, I broke the birds down into wings, legs, backs, an breasts. The boned breasts were left whole, everything else was pulled from the bone. The reserved meat was held in aluminum roasters and put on ice to rapid chill. The remaining skin and bones were put in a stock pot and cover with water. I simmered the stock for a couple of hours before straining and chilling. I separated the chilled stock, and reserved the fat for a future batch of tamales (smokey, chipotle, chicken tamales that is
For the reheat, I sliced the breast and mixed in some of dark meat and added hot stock. I drop a thermometer probe into the roaster, covered it with foil. The roaster went into a hot oven. I stirred once and served when it was heated through to 165*.
The resulting meat was super moist, had a nice smokey, spicey flavor with the barest hint of orange to round things out.
Part Two: Pulled Pork Adobo
recipe
I made a batch of adobo paste and slathered up 3 butts with it.
I gave them some hickory while the got up to 160* internal at which point I foiled them. The adobo which consisted of mostly chile (ancho and new mex) seemed to be blackening despite running the wsm in the 260*. I foiled the butts to speed things along, and to make sure I contained some juice for the sauce. When the butts reached tender, I recovered the juice, and let them cool slightly before pulling. The juice went into a sauce that I though really made the recipe. Basically, I made another batch of adobo paste, and tossed it in a blender with a 28 oz can of tomato sauce and the defatted juice from the 3 butts. I poured this sauce (heated) over the cold meat before warming to serve.
