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Has anyone out there ever hot or cold smoked chicken breasts?

Do you have to brine them first?

If you have smoked them what were the results and do you mind sharing the recipe.

Cheers WW

The first thing I cooked in my cheap little brinkmann were hot smoked Chicken Breasts, I did not brine them first, although I did marinade them in soy sauce and maple syrup for a couple of hours. They took around 45 minutes, but were fantasticly tasting and lovely and moist (next time I may add some herbs to the water tray). I don't think I quite had enough heat so they probably took longer than they should. The only downside to the sticky marinade was a bit of a "crust" towards the thin end of the breast.

Rich

i make smoked chicken (and other birdlife farmed & wild)
i only hot smoke
this is the ingredients
(large as i make 20-40 KG batches, but easily rounded down)

10L pre-boiled water
1000g salt
1000g sugar
100g cure 1
10 crushed bay leaves
10 ground cloves
1 TBSP each of cracked pepper, minced juniper, ground allspice berries & garlic powder
mix the drys together
pour the water over
blend & chill
submerge chicken/pheasant breasts for 2-3 hours, duck/goose breasts 5-6 hours, turkey crowns (partially injected) for 36-48 hours
rinse
dry
hot-smoke the poultry to an internal of 71/2C and the wild things to 65C
vac-packed they have a minimum chilled shelf life of 14 days

jpj wrote:i make smoked chicken (and other birdlife farmed & wild)
i only hot smoke
this is the ingredients
(large as i make 20-40 KG batches, but easily rounded down)

10L pre-boiled water
1000g salt
1000g sugar
100g cure 1
10 crushed bay leaves
10 ground cloves
1 TBSP each of cracked pepper, minced juniper, ground allspice berries & garlic powder
mix the drys together
pour the water over
blend & chill
submerge chicken/pheasant breasts for 2-3 hours, duck/goose breasts 5-6 hours, turkey crowns (partially injected) for 36-48 hours
rinse
dry
hot-smoke the poultry to an internal of 71/2C and the wild things to 65C
vac-packed they have a minimum chilled shelf life of 14 days

A bit bigger than my batch, I did chicken for 5 people!!

Thanks ever so much both that is really interesting.

What i am after now is a brine soloution for a cold smoke - do you think it could be the same as the salmon?

Cheers WW

what's the recipe again for your salmon?
we brine salmon for hot smoking but dry-cure for cold-smoked
i've used the same brine for cold-smoking whole poussin and teals
but, i'll only cold smoke birds in the colder months
and i prefer hanging to racking in the cold-smoker, to ensure a full smoking through the cavities . . .

Hi JPJ

In a nut shell I spread the sides of salmon with a salt / sugar / herb mix, cling film and leave for 8 hours, unwrap and leave to dry. Then I make up a brine solution with enough salt in to float an egg, and leave it in there for up to 9 hours - dry then smoke.

Do you not brine your salmon for cold smoking? That is very interesting..........

I understand exactly about the birds / cold weather and hanging. It all makes sence.

Cheers WW