You are absolutely gonna love this smoked pulled chicken recipe! It's meant to be piled high on a bun with creamy cole slaw and my barbecue sauce mixed in so do it justice ;-)
Course Chicken
Cuisine Barbecue
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 3 hourshours
Total Time 3 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Author Jeff Phillips
Ingredients
5lbsof chicken thighsabout 24 pieces (I like the boneless, skinless variety
Gallonsized zip top bags
Brinerecipe below
Yellow mustard or Olive Oiloptional
Jeff's original rub
Large bunsfor the sandwich
Creamy coleslaw
Jeff's original barbecue sauce
A Thermapen or Thermopophigh quality, fast reading handheld thermometers to make sure the chicken is safely and perfectly done.
Instructions
Make the brine using:
1/2 gallon water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 TBS Louisiana hot sauce
Add all of the ingredients to the water and stir until everything is dissolved and mixed in well.
Using gallon sized zip top bags, put 12 thighs in each bag and pour enough brine into the bag to cover. I used about ½ of the brine in each bag and it was plenty.
Seal the bags pressing out all of the air and let them sit in the fridge during the brining process. I recommend sitting the bags down in bowls to prevent the risk of leakage.
After 3 hours, remove the bags from the fridge and discard the brine liquid.
Place 12 chicken thighs into each bowl and coat well with yellow mustard.
Pour ¼ cup of Jeff's original rub into each bowl and stir well to coat chicken.
The chicken can now be placed onto Bradley racks, Weber grill pans or cooling racks for east transport to and from the smoker.
Setup smoker for cooking at 225-240°F with indirect heat using mesquite, pecan or whatever wood you have available for smoke.
If your smoker has a water pan, fill it up.
Cook the chicken until it reaches 175°F as measured by a digital meat thermometer such as a thermapen or a ThermoPop.
When the chicken is finished cooking, de-bone it (unless it's boneless), then pull the meat into pieces.
Coat the meat with an ample amount of Jeff's barbecue sauce.
Make sandwiches with the pulled chicken topping it with coleslaw, pickles and onions.