Smoking is a special way of heat treatment of chicken and meat. At the same time, the products acquire an incredible aroma and taste. And under the influence of smoking smoke, a large amount of moisture leaves the meat, so it can then be stored for a long time.
You can smoke both separate parts of a chicken carcass: legs, wings, and the whole bird. For cooking, you need special equipment, which is called a smoking oven. In this case, you will get a real smoked chicken that will retain its aroma, tenderness and unsurpassed taste.
There are two ways to smoke chicken meat: cold and hot. Most choose exactly hot smoking, because in this case the cooking process takes only a few hours, when, as a cold method, chicken can be cooked for several days.
Before starting the process, it is necessary to carefully prepare the carcasses, rinse them, examine them for mucus and spoilage. The bird should be fresh and preferably young.
It is better to divide the chicken carcass into several parts, place it in a container and fill it with a small amount of water so that the meat is only slightly hidden.
To prepare smoked chicken you will need: chicken carcass; 300 g of salt; spices, garlic, bay leaf, pepper. Before smoking, you need to marinate the chicken in any mixture of salt, your favorite spices, you can additionally add garlic cloves, peppercorns, soy sauce. Parts of the chicken must be beaten off with a hammer, rubbed with salt and covered with marinade, it is better to put all this in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, the chicken must be covered with water and cooked over low heat for an hour. Then you need to remove the meat from the pan and let it dry.
All chicken parts should be placed in the smoking device on the grate, you can first put alder sawdust on the bottom. It is better to place a tray under the meat, into which all the fat formed as a result of cooking will drain.
The chicken should be smoked for 1, 5 hours, then the meat is completely cooked, becomes tender and soft.
If you want to keep smoked chicken for a long time, you should resort to cold methods. To do this, the carcass must be divided into pieces, rubbed with lemon juice and placed under a press for two days. After this time, the chicken should be rolled in a mixture of spices and placed in a smokehouse.
In this way, the chicken is cooked for 7-10 days at a temperature of 30 degrees, a kind of slow languor is obtained. In order for the meat to acquire an unforgettable aroma, maple, oak or cherry briquettes must be used to light the smokehouse. Some do not want to smoke a chicken for several hours or even days, resorting to liquid smoke. But experts do not recommend using this method. Because the composition of the product is very hazardous to health: formaldehyde, phenol and other chemical components.
These substances are carcinogens and can accumulate in the cells of the human body, contributing to the disruption of their work and the appearance of mutations. Therefore, doctors oppose the consumption of smoke-processed meat.
Therefore, lovers of smoked chicken should be patient and have the necessary spices to get a great dish.
