This was my first attempt at chicken on the grill. I've only done pork in the past, and this is only my 3rd smoke ever on my little 18" Weber (Rudy). I tried to keep it as simple as possible for the first time, which is why I went with the Simon & Garfunkel recipe. Making the rub couldn't have been easier.
I'm finding that the grocery store that's only 5 minutes from my house is also working out really well for my grilling/smoking needs. I've bought my ribs, pork butt, and now chicken there. They had leg quarters, unfrozen, which I figured would save me a lot of time/work - so that's what I went with. I dry brined them for 1 hour, rubbed them with S&G, and they were ready to grill.
I was super excited to use my new birthday gift, the Thermoworks Smoke! It was REALLY nice being able to see the temps and set alarms, and be in the house and still know what was going on. Thoroughly enjoyed the Smoke.
I couldn't QUITE get things honed in on 325, but I wasn't too worried about it as the meat temp kept steadily rising. I do think I should have used a bit more charcoal though. For some reason I only put in 3/4 of a chimney worth, and I think if I'd had a full chimney worth I could have bumped it up that last few degrees to 325 easily enough.
Once they hit 145, I crisped them up on the direct heat side until they were a nice golden brown, then put them back on the other to finish (wanted to make sure they all hit the proper cooking temp before serving).
My kids are still pretty young and don't eat a ton, so these 4 quarters turned out to be more than enough for dinner! We ended up picking two of them and then having them on sandwiches the next day. That was super yummy as well.
It didn't say specifically (or I overlooked it) in the book whether or not to add wood and actually smoke it, so I added a small piece of apple. That was plenty of smoke for this chicken and it had a nice smoky flavor. Definitely wouldn't use any more wood in the future - just that small amount was enough.
What I really like about this recipe is that it was pretty easy to make (not very involved), and was a relatively quick cook. I still have 4 more quarters in the freezer, so I'll be doing this again soon!
I'm finding that the grocery store that's only 5 minutes from my house is also working out really well for my grilling/smoking needs. I've bought my ribs, pork butt, and now chicken there. They had leg quarters, unfrozen, which I figured would save me a lot of time/work - so that's what I went with. I dry brined them for 1 hour, rubbed them with S&G, and they were ready to grill.
I was super excited to use my new birthday gift, the Thermoworks Smoke! It was REALLY nice being able to see the temps and set alarms, and be in the house and still know what was going on. Thoroughly enjoyed the Smoke.
I couldn't QUITE get things honed in on 325, but I wasn't too worried about it as the meat temp kept steadily rising. I do think I should have used a bit more charcoal though. For some reason I only put in 3/4 of a chimney worth, and I think if I'd had a full chimney worth I could have bumped it up that last few degrees to 325 easily enough.
Once they hit 145, I crisped them up on the direct heat side until they were a nice golden brown, then put them back on the other to finish (wanted to make sure they all hit the proper cooking temp before serving).
My kids are still pretty young and don't eat a ton, so these 4 quarters turned out to be more than enough for dinner! We ended up picking two of them and then having them on sandwiches the next day. That was super yummy as well.
It didn't say specifically (or I overlooked it) in the book whether or not to add wood and actually smoke it, so I added a small piece of apple. That was plenty of smoke for this chicken and it had a nice smoky flavor. Definitely wouldn't use any more wood in the future - just that small amount was enough.
What I really like about this recipe is that it was pretty easy to make (not very involved), and was a relatively quick cook. I still have 4 more quarters in the freezer, so I'll be doing this again soon!
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