Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons (16 page)

QUICK BRINES

 

LET’S SAY BAD WEATHER IS COMING
and you’ve got to get those birds smoked quickly. You don’t have six to twelve hours to brine. You have three to five hours, tops. For a quick brine, double the amount of salt and sugar so that each bag contains ⅔ cup salt and ½ cup sugar.

Generally, I don’t recommend quick brining because it’s not as easy to control. Chicken can soak in the basic brine from Lesson #2 for as long as twenty-four hours without hurting the meat. But when you substantially increase the salt, you don’t have that leeway with time. If you need to postpone the cook for some reason and the chicken ends up soaking in the brine for more than five or six hours, you’ll wind up with salty smoked chicken. But stuff happens. If you’re in a hurry and have no other choice, quick brining can cut the brining time in half.

 

BRINING TIPS

 

•
DON’T USE “ENHANCED” OR KOSHER CHICKEN.
Brining this meat will make it too salty because it is injected with saltwater to improve texture and flavor or coated with salt to meet kosher guidelines.

• Always use kosher salt.

• Trim jagged bones to prevent sharp edges from puncturing the zip-top bag.

• Start with a cold brine. Add cold water to the dissolved brine solution, toss in a few ice cubes, or refrigerate the brine solution until it is cool before adding the meat.

• Completely submerge the meat in the brining liquid.

• Unless you use a quick brine solution, plan for at least 1½ to 2 hours of brining time per pound of chicken.

• Never—ever—reuse brine.

RUBS, PASTES, AND COMPOUND BUTTERS

 

BRINES AND MARINADES ARE GREAT
for infusing chicken with subtle flavor and making meat tender and juicy. But if you want your chicken to have the more assertive, concentrated flavor of a seasoning like lemon or spicy-hot chiles, the herbs and spices need to stick to the meat. This is where rubs, pastes, and compound butters come in. A coating or under-the-skin smear of a punchy seasoning mix will turn simple, well-cooked barbecued chicken into the legendary chicken your friends and family will worship. Rubs are dry herb, spice and salt mixes that can be sprinkled on meat. Pastes are thick, “wet” rubs—seasoning blends mixed with a liquid like oil, beer or mustard—that stick to meat. Compound butter is butter flavored with herbs and spices, and can be spread under chicken skin.

Rubs, pastes, and compound butters won’t affect the texture or juiciness of the meat in a noticeable way, which is why I recommend (insist, really) that you brine the chicken to ensure that it will stay moist during the cook. But once you’ve dabbled with the brine recipes and started making your own, you should start thinking about how to build brines and rubs that go together. As when you pair wine and food, you can make brines that will contrast or complement the flavor of a rub. A soak in the Soy-Ginger Brine (page 89) followed by a coating of the Smoking Szechuan Pepper Rub (page 161) or the Five-Spice Rub (page 97) is an excellent pairing.

I don’t mean to suggest that matching brines and rubs or pastes is an essential low and slow technique. You could use the basic brine every time and cover the chicken in whatever seasoning you’re in the mood for. But once you develop some level of proficiency with your cooker, you might start to get bored with the process. Digging into the endless possibilities of pairing brines and rubs will keep you motivated and advance your low and slow education, as well as your general culinary skills.

 

 

RUBS

THE BEST-TASTING RUBS ARE MADE WITH
the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on. Instead of using the pre-ground, flavorless seasonings you find in the spice aisle, always opt for freshly ground spices, real citrus zest, and dried whole peppers that have been toasted and ground in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Remember: commercial blends might be more convenient, but there is no comparison to the flavor of homemade.

 

TIP:
Allspice is expensive if you buy small jars of the whole berries from a regular grocery store. Buy it in bulk at Italian, Mexican, or other ethnic markets—it’s used in many rub recipes, and it’s a great all-purpose spice to have on hand.

HERB PASTES AND COMPOUND BUTTERS

 

IF YOU WANT TO TAKE A CHICKEN RUB TO THE NEXT LEVEL, smear a layer under the skin. Heat tends to mellow most seasonings, particularly in a long low and slow cook. Slipping the seasoning under the skin helps it penetrate the meat, and the blend retains a lot of its flavor because it stays moist.

You can work any of the dry rubs under the skin, but I recommend adding a liquid to the mixture to make a paste or wet rub, which is easier to spread and sticks to the chicken better. Add two tablespoons of canola oil, beer, or citrus juice, or blend it into half a stick of softened butter to make compound butter.

Applying a rub, paste, or butter under the skin may seem tricky at first. Take your time and gently loosen the skin over the breast and thigh by slipping your fingers between the skin and the meat. Spoon a dollop of the paste onto your fingers and massage it under the loosened skin. To prevent cross-contamination of the leftover wet rub or compound butter, do not dip into the seasoning with your hands (which will be covered in raw chicken juice). Use a spoon or spatula to scoop up and flick the mixture onto your fingers.

 

WSM AND OFFSET

 

MAKES ABOUT ¾ CUP

 

 

2 tablespoons orange juice
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter,
at room temperature
1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
2 tablespoons finely diced chives
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

KETTLE

 

MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP

 

 

1 tablespoon orange juice
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter,
at room temperature
½ jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 tablespoon finely diced chives
Dash of kosher salt
Dash of freshly ground white pepper

WSM AND OFFSET

 

MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP

 

 

1 garlic head, cloves peeled and minced
1 lemon, juiced (about ¼ cup juice)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

KETTLE

 

MAKES ABOUT ¼ CUP

 

 

½ garlic head, cloves peeled and minced
½ lemon, juiced (about 2 tablespoons juice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste