While I was using the smoker to smoke the short ribs on Monday, I threw a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the smoker. I used some of the leftover rub from the ribs on these chicken pieces and put them directly on the interior racks. I kept the smoker at about 225 degrees F during the time the chicken was in there. After about an hour of smoking (and when the interiors reached about 130-135 degrees F), I wrapped the chicken breasts in foil. It only took about another 20 minutes to bring them up to 160 degrees F in the thickest parts.
At that point I removed them from the smoker but left them in the foil on a plate. The temperature rose to 165 degrees F in that resting period. After they cooled (about 15 additional minutes), I refrigerated them wrapped in the foil and inside a plastic bag.
We used one of the smoked breasts cubed and in a main dish salad for dinner on Tuesday. Today, Wednesday, I thin sliced the other breast for 4 sandwiches at lunch time.
I paid about $2.29 to $2.49 per pound for the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I figure they lost some water weight in the smoker. So maybe my finished cost per pound for the smoked chicken is around $2.75, or up to $3.00/lb. The least expensive chicken breast lunchmeat I can find at Walmart runs about $7.00 per pound.
I realize I could also simply bake chicken breasts for lunch meat. But the taste of the smoked chicken really elevated the taste of our sandwiches. The chicken was tasty, unsalted with exception to the spice rub on the outside of the meat, lean, and moist. I also didn't incur additional cost to use the smoker for the chicken, as I was already smoking something that day. The only drawback of home-smoked that I can see is that because it doesn't have any preservatives, it likely doesn't keep very long in the fridge. We used the meat up within 3 days. If I wanted to keep the smoked meat longer, I'd freeze it in portions.
I will definitely add seasoned chicken breasts to the smoker on other days that I have another piece of meat in there.
We also have a smoker I bought my husband from Aldi about 4 years ago. I like the taste of smoked meat. I don't always know how long to smoke something as the manual didn't give a lot direction. I mostly will let it smoke for a while then finish in the oven. I bought a variety of flavored wood chips and a little goes a long way. I should do that again, thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
Deleteone of the things I read about using a smoker is to not go by time to smoke, but by internal temperature of the meat, which for me meant I had to keep checking the temperature of the piece I was smoking. My manual didn't come with any cooking instructions. I did find some good information online from various websites, including a recipe section of the manufacturer's website.
That's a good idea to finish cooking in the oven. I wind up doing this with grilling for some foods, like whole chickens.
Hi Lili, which smoker do you use/ recommend? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Farhana, We have had a couple of different kinds of smokers. The first was one that used charcoal/wood. The problem with that was it required constant monitoring and the weather (wind, cold) could make it hard to to hold the temperature high enough. We now have one that used propane and it is much easier to use and cooks well.
DeleteHi Farhana,
DeleteI don't have enough experience to recommend any particular smoker. But I'll tell you my thought on what I chose. So, this was a gift that I got to choose, instead of simply receiving it. I read up about different types of smokers based on fuel type. Basically, there were wood/charcoal smokers, propane smokers, and electric smokers. I went with an electric smoker. I didn't want to have to constantly feed a wood or charcoal smoker, and I didn't want to be dependent on having enough propane on hand to run the smoker. We rarely have electricity outages, so this is the fuel type I felt would always be at the ready when I wanted to smoke something. An electric smoker is also cleaner than a wood/charcoal smoker -- few ashes to clean up. The drawbacks to electric models are two-fold. One, your electricity source needs to be reliable. And two, you're not suppose to operate them in the rain, as water can damage the temperature regulation module. This also means that it has to be stored in a protected space in the off-season. It's not that I would plan to smoke during a rain storm. But our days in my area can be mostly dry, but peppered with some rain, and some pieces of meat can take many hours to smoke. It did start to rain a little bit after I'd started the smoker on Monday. I had to stand outside in the rain for about 45 minutes, holding a large umbrella over all parts of the smoker to keep it dry. In contrast, a propane smoker could just be left running in light rain, without special attention.
So those are my thoughts about type to choose. The maker of ours is Masterbuilt -- I ordered it from Home Depot. There are many manufacturers to choose from, however.
Good idea, the only way we are getting cold cuts right now is through the Flash Food app. I did find a canned ham lurking in my pantry from last Christmas. I might cook it up for ham sandwiches. But it is only meh. This sounds much better then that.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
DeleteUsing a ham and slicing is another great way to do lunchmeat for less. I haven't tried the Flash Food app yet. Do you find a lot of great deals with it?
I can see that your smoker is going to get all kinds of use. I bet your smoked chicken breast tastes better than lunchmeat which I often think is too salty. My husband smoked our last two turkeys, and they turned out excellent. He cut them up separating the dark meat from the white. That way he could remove each piece when it was done, so there was no drying out while waiting for every part to get cooked. There was not a whole turkey for presentation, but the excellent flavor and moistness was worth it.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteOh yum, a smoked turkey sounds tasty. That sounds like a great solution to getting the turkey done well in all parts, to cut the turkey into parts. I was thinking of smoking a whole chicken. I will look into whether I should cut the chicken into parts. I don't know if your husband has ever tried to smoke fish, but we were thinking of trying to smoke salmon. Smoked salmon is sooooo expensive. Home-smoked might be a really good way to get the flavor.
That looks yummy, Lili. What a great idea! I'm happy you're enjoying your smoker. That's something we've not used. However, your sandwich presentation reminded me of one of my favorite sandwich options, when I could eat sandwiches (my favorite food for a lot of my life) -- roast pork loin. Pork loin goes on sale here, periodically, and a lot of times we'll buy a big one, and cut it into three or four smaller roasts (or "chops", which I usually actually slice for stir-fry), more appropriate for the three of us, then wrap and freeze them. The roasts make a lovely dinner meat, but I think it's even better next day in a sandwich. I rub it with herbs and spices before roasting, and hubby especially likes it with mayo, dijon mustard, and Swiss cheese on honey wheat berry bread for a sandwich. (These are especially good for a car trip or picnic, as long as you have a good cooler.) Thick- or thin-sliced, to me, it's much better than any lunchmeat, just roasted. I imagine it might be even better smoked? Sara
ReplyDeleteMy husband loves to smoke pork loin and it is delicious.
DeleteLili, I'm headed over for lunch! ;)
Hi Sara,
DeleteYour roast pork loin sandwiches do sound tasty for a picnic lunch. Yum! You know, I've found a lot of meats make better sandwich filling the next day. Especially if seasonings were used in the roasting, the flavors seem to develop with overnight refrigeration.
I'll be watching for sales on pork roasts or loins this fall. Thanks for sharing what you and your family enjoy.
Hi Kris,
DeleteI'll set a place at the table for you!
Lili, I agree about roast meat leftovers, and we always roast with a lot of seasonings. (I LOVE herbs and spices!) My favorite for roast pork loin is usually granulated garlic/poultry seasoning/smoked paprika/cracked pepper/salt. I've also done rubs with allspice, which are amazingly good. Julia Childs, I think, did one of the early famous ones; but somewhere we found one for pork tenderloin (which of course is great on loin, too) from a BBQ writer which was just salt/pepper/allspice/brown sugar, and then they served it with blackberry jam. YUMMY! I sometimes also do a Chinese spice rub/marinade.
DeleteKris, I'll keep that in mind, if we ever get a smoker. Thank you! Sara
Hubby loves to do chicken and ribs on the smoker. We do whole chickens and don't serve the breasts. They are kept for other meals. I can't tell you the last time we bought cold cuts. So expensive.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteThat's a great idea to save the breasts for other meals, as the pieces of meat are so large. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you!