Smoked Chicken Salad – Healthy BBQ Recipe

Introduction to Smoked Chicken

We believe smoking Traeger chicken breast is much more than simply cooking a chicken. The art requires the right ingredients, patience and time. The result is a tender, smoky, juicy and delicious chicken. Although the process is not fast, we believe the results you will achieve are worth every minute. The best reason for smoking a whole chicken is the flavor. As your chicken slowly cooks over the flame, your meat will absorb the tangy, natural and unique flavor of the smoke.

People all over the world have chosen smoking as the ideal way to flavor chicken for thousands of years. The flavor of your chicken depends on the type of wood you are burning. As your chicken absorbs the smoke, a tangy, spicy and dark bark forms. We believe the bark is one of the best parts of your smoked chicken. You need to smoke chicken slowly for a long period of time to prevent evaporation of the moisture from happening too fast. The result is a perfectly juicy and tender chicken.

Slow cooking also gives the connective tissues and fats enough time to break down and become soft. The melting point is high. If you cook your chicken too fast, your meat will be dry, tough and difficult to chew. The reason smoking is the preferred method is because your chicken becomes, soft, tender, juicy and pulls apart easily. Smoking does not disrupt the natural flavor of your chicken. Smoking was invented to enable people unable to afford better quality meat to enjoy delicious meals.

Whether you are cooking Traeger chicken breast on a gas, wood or charcoal grill, you are creating a flame resulting in a unique flavor. Each type of grill offers you a slightly different taste. When you use a combination of charcoal and wood to smoke a whole chicken, you are creating a smoky flavor guaranteed to tantalize your taste buds. Smoking traps the juices and moisture of your chicken while creating a beautiful sear on the outside and tender and juicy chicken on the inside.

You can choose wood with many different flavors. The right wood is dependent on your personal preferences. Some of the best woods are described below.

• Hickory: Hickory is considered a hardwood. The taste is both strong and sweet. Hickory will burn slow and hot. If you are smoking a smaller chicken, use fewer hickory chips or your flavor will be bitter. For an exceptional taste, we recommend a combination of cherry wood and hickory wood.
• Apple Wood: Apple wood is both fruity and mild, making it ideal for smoked chicken salad. You will need to allow several hours for the flavor to work its way through your chicken.
• Maple: Maple offers a mild and subtle flavor. The heavy wood is sweet and burns slow and hot.
• Cherry Wood: The wood has a sweet, mild flavor that burns hot for a fairly long time.
• Peach Wood: Peach wood first became popular in the south due to the sweet, light flavor provided for smoking chicken. The wood burns hot for a fairly long time. We recommend using freshly cut wood because the flavor is lost quickly once the wood has been cut.

The combination of charcoal and wood chips is ideal for smoking a whole chicken. Without the wood chips, your chicken will not have nearly as much flavor.

Pro Tip: Always select the wood chips offering the best compliment for your chicken. We recommend pecan, apple, cherry and mesquite.

The Best Techniques for Preparing Your Chicken for Smoking

No matter which technique you choose, you always begin by thoroughly rinsing your chicken, then trimming off the excess fat and skin. One of our favorite techniques for smoking chicken is called spatchcock. You start by removing the backbone of your chicken. Take a sharp knife and cut into the side of the backbone approximately one-half of an inch deep. Continue cutting from the neck to the tail. Repeat the procedure on the other side, then remove the backbone.

Once you have removed the backbone, you will be able to spread out your chicken. Gently use a paring knife to cut and remove the breastbone. Now your chicken will lie flat.

Pro Tip: Cut your chicken in half to increase the surface area of your chicken. Not only will your chicken absorb even more smoke, but you will be able to smoke more chickens at the same time.

If you are just now learning how to smoke a whole chicken, you are most likely confused by all of the different options such as brining, using a dry rub or marinating. If you decide to brine your chicken, the taste will be saltier. To brine your bird, submerge it into a combination of water, spices and salt for several hours. The process is similar to marinating because your chicken will become more tender while absorbing your brine.

We recommend either brining or using a dry rub, but not both. Both methods often use a combination of kosher salt, garlic powder, dark brown sugar, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper. You can also use onion powder, ground cumin, sweet paprika, espresso beans, ground coriander and chili powder. To use a dry rub, you simply rub your chosen mixture all over your chicken prior to smoking. For marinating, place your chicken in a container then cover it with your chosen marinade. Cover and place your chicken in your refrigerator overnight.