I love smoked chicken . It is so versatile and in summer it can be combined with a variety of fresh herbs and turned into a beautiful pasta, salad, put into wraps, the list is endless.
However I don’t like the smoked chicken one finds in the shop as I find it far too salty and that is because I am sure they soak it in a brine first. I enjoy using the breast on the bone as well as the skin as they each serve their different purpose. The skin to retain moisture and the bone to keep it plump. I used to haul out our camping equipment before but now I use a far easier way and do it in the kitchen and a beautiful smell permeates the house.
I use oak barrel chips or dust, whichever is available and because it can be quite a messy affair, I resort to aluminum foil dishes to hold all the bits and this makes cleaning up a breeze. I season my fresh chicken breasts with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then for a bit of a twist , a generous drizzle of honey. These are placed in a foil dish. The oaks chips or dust is placed into a another foil dish and sprinkled with a bit of water to encourage the smoke. The tray holding the chips are placed into a big pot and sits directly on the bottom of the pot, then I have a steel tray which I am not sure where it came from but it serves the purpose perfectly, which gets placed on top of the wood and finally the tray holding the chicken. The pot is then sealed with a thick layer of foil and the lid put on. It is placed onto a high heat to get it all going and once it is smoking I leave it for 15 minutes on the heat. It is then removed from the heat and the breasts are then transferred to a covered dish and placed into a moderate oven for a further 10 minutes then left to rest.
Result is succulent smoked chicken breasts and so simple. The juices that run out has a salty,sweet , smoky flavour and is delicious. The chicken is left to cool before slicing. Absolute heaven on a fresh bap .
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