Smoked Drunken Drumsticks

These smoked drunken drumsticks are brined in beer then seasoned with Jeff’s Texas style rub recipe (purchase recipes here) for a flavor that will please the most persnickety taste buds.

The chicken legs are then smoked at higher than normal temperatures to help crisp them up and finished perfectly by brushing on a beer barbecue sauce using my very own barbecue sauce recipe as the base.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
•  Brine Time: 3 hours
• Cook Time: 1 to 1.5 hours
• Smoker Temp: 275-300°F
• Meat Finish Temp: 165°F
• Recommended Wood: Cherry

• 8-12 chicken legs
• Beer brine (recipe below)
• Jeff’s Texas style rub recipe (purchase recipes here)
• Beer barbecue sauce (recipe below)

*If you do not want to use beer in the brine or in the barbecue sauce below, I have tried this with root beer (and various other soft drinks) as an alternative and it works very well.

Fill a large container such as a pitcher or bowl with 40 ounces (1 quart + 1 cup) cold water.

Add two 12-0z bottles of beer

Stir in ½ cup of kosher salt and continue to stir until salt is diluted into the water and the water becomes clear.

Stir in ½ cup brown sugar making sure it is melted into the water.

I usually use a 1-gallon pitcher for this but it was in use for something else so I used a large mixing bowl with a pour spout.

Add the drumsticks to a lidded container for brining.

If you see any large clumps of fat or extra skin, now is a great time to go ahead and remove it with kitchen shears or a sharp knife.

Once all of the chicken is in the container, pour the brine over the chicken to cover.

Cover with the lid, plastic wrap, etc. and place the brining chicken into the fridge for 3 hours.

At the end of the brining time, discard the liquid brine and rinse each piece of chicken to remove any residual salt.

Lay the chicken on several layers of paper towels to drain before proceeding to the next step.

I rinsed the brining container and used it for the seasoning process to contain the mess.

Drizzle olive oil or vegetable oil onto the chicken and use a basting brush to spread it out.

Move the chicken around to make sure it is well coated.

Season generously with Jeff's Texas style rub (purchase recipes here) then roll each piece over and season the other side.

Make sure the Texas style rub recipe is on all sides of the chicken.

This is optional but I highly recommend it.

I chopped 2-3 tablespoons of parsley and chives and sprinkled it all over the chicken making sure it was well represented.

These are not strong tasting herbs so don't be afraid of it. It will add great color and another layer of subtle flavor.

Place the chicken legs/drumsticks on a Bradley rack or Weber grill pan for easy transport to and from the smoker.

Setup your smoker or grill for cooking at 275-300°F with indirect heat. You can cook them lower at around 225°F (I do this sometimes) but the skin will not have a good bite through.

I used the Traeger Lil Texas on these so higher temperatures was no problem.

A few other units that would work particularly well on these are the Weber Smoky Mountain, Almost any Kamado type cooker including, but not limited to, the Big Green Egg, Landmann propane smokers, and even  your gas grill with some wood chips wrapped in foil placed over the burner.

If you normally use a water pan, I recommend leaving it dry. When cooking chicken legs, thighs or quarters, I seem to get better results in a smoking environment with lower humidity.

Keep the smoke going for the entire time for great flavor. I recommend cherry, apple or pecan if you have any of these.

Use a quick read thermometer to check the temperature after about 1 hour or you can use a thermometer with a leave-in probe to keep you aware of the temperature throughout the entire process.

Readers are always asking me for personal recommendations so here's a couple:

The Best Wireless Digital Probe Meat Thermometer

The digital probe meat thermometer that I use most is the Maverick ET-733. It is around $69 on Amazon and should last you for many years if you take care of it properly.

This model comes with dual probes (one for the meat and one that clips to the grate to tell you the smoker temperature) and is wireless and has a range of up to 300 feet or so.

The Best Instant Read Digital Thermometer

Thermapen, made by Thermoworks, is by far the fastest reading and highest quality in quick read thermometers on the market. The Thermopop is made by the same company, reads very quickly (around 5 seconds)  and is on sale for a limited time for only $20.30 (normally $29) so this is a great time to grab one if you want one.

You really can't go wrong with a Thermapen or a Thermopop if fast and accurate is what you're after.

When the drumsticks reach 160°F, spoon some beer barbecue sauce onto the drumsticks.

Beer barbecue sauce is simply about a cup of my barbecue sauce (purchase recipes here) mixed with equal parts of beer or until it gets to the consistency that you like.

I say “spoon it” simply because we do not want to disturb or brush off the seasoning that we applied.

A turkey baster would also work well to pick up some of the sauce and apply it to the drumsticks in a way that does not wash away the seasoning.

The chicken is done at 165°F and takes about 1.5 hours at 275-300°F.

A few words on skin crispiness..

Outside of a frying pan, chicken skin is never going to truly be crispy. You are going for various levels of bite-through and anti-chewiness but, not really crispy. I say this so you won't be disappointed when it doesn't snap, crackle and pop when you bite into it.

It's all about heat and if you cook chicken with high enough heat, it will get really good bite-through. The problem for us is that most smokers are not designed for high heat and therefore leaves chicken lovers wanting a little more.

I can tell you that I have played around with smoking and then frying chicken for great results but I have have also grown to love smoked chicken even if the skin is not crisp.

When cooking chicken, go high with the heat if you can or smoke it for half the time and then use the oven or grill to finish if that's what you have to do.

Once the chicken is done, serve it up right away while it's still hot!

***Note: you get the Texas style rub recipe free with your order!

If I could give these recipes away, I would do that. I really want you to have them! But, then, this is how I support the newsletter, the website and all of the other stuff that we do here to promote the art of smoking meat.

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Printable Recipe

Print

Smoked Drunken Drumsticks

Prep Time

3 hrs 15 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 30 mins

 

My smoked drunken drumsticks are brined in beer then smoked at higher than normal temperatures to crisp the skin. Finished perfectly with beer barbecue sauce.

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Hot Smoking

Servings: 4 -6

Author: Jeff Phillips

What You'll Need

• 8-12 chicken legs
• Beer brine
• Jeff’s Original rub recipe
• Beer barbecue sauce

Instructions

1. Fill a large container such as a pitcher or bowl with 40 ounces (1 quart + 1 cup) cold water.
2. Add two 12-0z bottles of beer
3. Stir in ½ cup of kosher salt and continue to stir until salt is diluted into the water and the water becomes clear.
4. Stir in ½ cup brown sugar making sure it is melted into the water.
5. Add the drumsticks to a lidded container for brining.
6. If you see any large clumps of fat or extra skin, now is a great time to go ahead and remove it with kitchen shears or a sharp knife.
7. Once all of the chicken is in the container, pour the brine over the chicken to cover.
8. Cover with the lid, plastic wrap, etc. and place the brining chicken into the fridge for 3 hours.
9. At the end of the brining time, discard the liquid brine and rinse each piece of chicken to remove any residual salt.
10. Lay the chicken on several layers of paper towels to drain before proceeding to the next step.
11. Drizzle olive oil or vegetable oil onto the chicken and use a basting brush to spread it out.
12. Move the chicken around to make sure it is well coated.
13. Season generously with Jeff's Texas style rub then roll each piece over and season the other side.
14. Make sure the Texas style rub recipe is on all sides of the chicken.
15. Chop 2-3 tablespoons of parsley and chives and sprinkle it all over the chicken.
16. Setup your smoker or grill for cooking at 275-300°F with indirect heat. You can cook them lower at around 225°F but the skin will not have a good bite through.
17. If you normally use a water pan, I recommend leaving it dry. When cooking chicken legs, thighs or quarters, I seem to get better results in a smoking environment with lower humidity.
18. Keep the smoke going for the entire time for great flavor. I recommend cherry, apple or pecan if you have any of these.
19. Use a quick read thermometer to check the temperature after about 45 minutes or you can use a thermometer with a leave-in probe to keep you aware of the temperature throughout the entire process.
20. When the drumsticks reach 160°F, spoon some beer barbecue sauce onto the drumsticks.
21. Beer barbecue sauce is simply about a cup of my barbecue sauce mixed with equal parts of beer or until it gets to the consistency that you like.
22. I say "spoon it" simply because we do not want to disturb or brush off the seasoning that we applied. A turkey baster would also work well to pick up some of the sauce and apply it to the drumsticks in a way that does not wash away the seasoning.
23. The chicken is done at 165°F.
24. When cooking chicken, go high with the heat if you can or smoke it for half the time and then use the oven or grill to finish if that's what you have to do.
25. Once the chicken is done, serve it up right away while it's still hot!