Recipe Idea for Brinkman Water/Charcoal Smokers

Looking to make a bunch of hot smoked chicken legs this weekend. I was thinking I got a ton of really hot pepper beer.

My ideas so far;

1. Marinate the legs in hot pepper beer.
2. Smoke them with the hot pepper beer in place of the water.
3. Both.

I plan to lube them up in olive oil, then season them before they get on the smoker. Prolly use some black pepper and yardbird rub.

Looking for more ideas!!!! Lemme have 'em....

Thanks!!

I don't think you'll get much flavor using spiced beer in the water bowl. The water is really there to provide temperature stability in the smoker...a lot of guys fill it with sand! Serves the same purpose, and they don't have to keep refilling it.

Personally, I like to dry rub chicken legs and cook them with indirect heat. Some apple chips in a box (or aluminum foil) over the coals is a nice touch. Towards the end I'll put them right over the coals for a few minutes to crisp them up.

I am surprised you say this. I used apple juice with cherry wood on two cut up fryer chickens. The chicken had a nice apple-smoked taste.

Well, that simply hasn't been my experience. I've tried the juice in the water pan thing many times, and all I got out of it was a sticky, goopy water pan. I'd sooner marinate the chicken in the juice or beer, and then cook it. Or roast the chicken whole, with a beer can full of juice or beer up it's rear!

I'm open to other methods though...let us know what you decide, and how it comes out. Pictures are always appreciated!

BlindLemonLars said:

Well, that simply hasn't been my experience. I've tried the juice in the water pan thing many times, and all I got out of it was a sticky, goopy water pan. I'd sooner marinate the chicken in the juice or beer, and then cook it. Or roast the chicken whole, with a beer can full of juice or beer up it's rear!

I'm open to other methods though...let us know what you decide, and how it comes out. Pictures are always appreciated!

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I totally agree! I think I'll do the beer marinate thing. Pictures will definitely be provided.

I always thought that the water does something to aide in the smoking process. Adds a little "environmental moisture" to keep the meat from drying out completely. Hotter Smoke?? I'd also agree about the effect of the thermal mass.

I've read that the water vapor can help the smoke particles adhere to the meat, contributing to the formation of a smoke pellicle. Oddly enough, I've also heard that water vapor can form a barrier which retards the formation of a pellicle! (Usually this is brought up in an argument against gas fired smokers, since gas flames produce some water vapor.) Honestly, I don't know what to think anymore! But having produced great BBQ with both charcoal and gas, with and without water, I don't worry too much about it. I just wanna eat.

I am gonna smoke the chicken with water. Use the pepper beer as marinade. To go with this I'll do some corn on the cob and potatoes. Ill use the the taters for a smoked tater salad.

Condiment... Chips & Dip; Fire & Ice salsa made with watermelon. Basically salsa made with watermelon instead of tomatoes.

Need to get the fixin's

I like to put water in mine to keep things moist. Another advantage of a moist heat is that it does a better job of softening collagen and fat. I also put water in my pig cooker for this reason, which will be in action this Saturday - along with my beer cart with taps aquired via HBT from BLL

BlindLemonLars said:

(Usually this is brought up in an argument against gas fired smokers, since gas flames produce some water vapor.)

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Bad argument. I'd like to see any fire (organic fuel) that doesn't produce water vapor.

When burning wood or charcoal, the major products are CO2 and H20, just like from propane or natural gas. It is just the reverse of the photosynthesis reaction. Energy from the sun is used by plants to combine C02 and water to make sugar, and then starch, cellulose, etc. Burn said products and the energy (ex-solar energy) is released (but less of it) and C02 and H20 are released.

Now if your burning aluminum, that's a different story.

From what I've read...and can remember, smoking chicken pieces isn't as beneficial as smoking a whole chicken. You’ll have more juices with a whole chicken rather than just the legs. I have smoked some chicken breasts before and they turned out ok, but a little dry and burnt on the ends – I had to ensure the center of the breast wasn’t pink. Maybe marinate the legs over night and then baste throughout cooking to keep them moist??
Also, I’m not sure how much smoke flavor you’ll get with the legs. The smoke may just have barely penetrated into the meat by the time the legs are cooked through. IDK…trial and error I guess.

pjj2ba said:

Bad argument. I'd like to see any fire (organic fuel) that doesn't produce water vapor.

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Oh, I agree. But just like our brewing hobby, the BBQ world is full of varied opinions...some more valuable than others!

Glad you're enjoying those faucets, you've given them a beautiful home!

OK ~ 18 Chicken Legs are on the smoker!!!

I marinated over night in this.

• 2 hot pepper beers
• 1/4 Cup lemon juice
• 1 Tsp minced garlic
• 1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

Today I sprayed it with olive oil and gave it a good coating of yardbird rub.

I'm smoking it with Hickory & Mesquite.

BTW- I saved the marinade to add to the water bath.

Time to add chips....

Oh yah. The heat soaked into them legs!!! :rockin:

Da Chicken...

Excellent, I was afraid you scarfed them all up without taking pictures! Looks great. I need to try the fire and ice salsa, sounds like an interesting take on the sweet & spicy theme.

BlindLemonLars said:

Excellent, I was afraid you scarfed them all up without taking pictures! Looks great. I need to try the fire and ice salsa, sounds like an interesting take on the sweet & spicy theme.

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Think pico de gallo but use watermelon for the tomatoes. I also add a bit of garlic salt to this.

The watermelon adds just a touch of sweet, just slightly more than tomato. It adds a cooling effect. Weird but in good kinda way.

We always buy watermelon and part it goes to waste if I don't make salsa with it.

Another thought about the salsa. If you like white fish, like tilapia. This goes REAL good with the fish.