Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken Drumsticks is one of my youngest boy’s favourite items out of the smoker. He asks for them from time to time and of course his Dad takes any chance he can get to play around on the smoker.

I use a simple rub of black pepper and seasoned salt on them.

Get the smoker running at 275 degrees and add a couple chunks of wood. I used hickory.

Place the chicken in the smoker.

Cook the chicken until it reaches about 180 degrees internal temperature. This will usually take about 45 minutes with medium size drumsticks. Once we reach 180 degrees we need to deal with the skin.

One of the issues with cooking skin-on chicken in a smoker is the texture. If you don’t cook it right it turns into rubber and is not pleasant to eat. So, at 180 degrees I will remove the water pan and wood tray from the smoker so the chicken receives direct heat. I also crank the temp up to full blast. This is a huge benefit of a gas smoker as this process is easy and fast. You could do the same with charcoal by removing the water pan in your smoker and opening up the air vents to get a higher temperature it will just take longer for the coals to get to full whack.

Cook the chicken at high temp for about 10 minutes, turning the chicken often. You will see the skin brown up nicely. You won’t get crispy skin but you will get bite through skin that tastes great.

At this point you can add sauce if you like or just serve as is. I personally like it with no sauce.

One thing to be prepared for however is pink meat. Smoke turns meat pink, there is no way to avoid it.  Whenever people see pink chicken they get nervous. You didn’t screw it up. This is why we use a meat probe. If you hit 180 degrees and then blasted it for 10 minutes over high heat it will be cooked. I promise.

Serve and enjoy!

MD

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork is a great BBQ meal. It’s easy to do, is relatively cheap and tastes great. The popularity of pulled pork has sky rocketed in Ontario in the last few years. You can find a version of it in tons of restaurants now and lots of people making it in their crockpots or ovens. I always make mine in my smoker. The smoke makes it for me.  The only drawback to pulled pork (if there is one) is that it is a time commitment with the cook lasting usually 12-16 hours.

The traditional cut of meat you use for pulled pork is called a “Boston Butt” which is taken from the shoulder of the pig.  I order mine from Kohns in London. Never been disappointed in the quality. When you unwrap it you will notice a lot of fat on one side of the pork. This is called a “fat cap” and we want to keep it on. The only fat I would trim is any hard fat. If it feels soft leave it. This will help with moisture and flavour during the cook.

You will need a dry rub,  sauce and if you choose to do it, an injection. Injections are a great way of putting flavour way down deep in a large cut of meat. You can use anything you like in an injection. A good one for pork is to mix some pineapple juice with some soy sauce and hot sauce. 3 parts juice, 1 part soy and as much hot sauce as you like.
I didn’t use an injection on this pork but I do from time to time.

Start by injecting your pork and dry rubbing it about 6-12 hours prior to the cook. Put in the refrigerator and let get happy.

Fire up your smoker to 230 degrees. I used my Masterbuilt for this. Add wood to the fire (I used hickory) and wait for the first signs of smoke. I use wood chunks as they smoke longer. Start with 3 good chunks.

Put the pork in the smoker fat side up.

You can see in the above picture that I have a meat probe in the pork. This allows me to monitor the progress of the pork during the cook.
Keep adding wood as smoke dies out until the pork hits 140 ish. At this point the amount of smoke flavour the pork will take in will be miniscule so I don’t bother wasting the wood chunks.

The magic number I personally look for is 193 degrees internal temperature. This could take anywhere from 12 hours plus. It depends on the size of your pork. They are usually around 8-10 pounds.

One thing to be prepared for. At about 145-165 degrees the temperature of the meat is going to stop climbing and sit there for what feels like forever. This can even be hours. What is happening is at this temperature range the internal fats and connective tissues begin to melt and break down. Once this process is finished the temperature will start to move again. Trust the process. Don’t crank the temp. Just look away or go do something else while this happens. Staring at the meat thermometer won’t make it move, trust me, I’ve tried.

At 193 degrees you want to remove from the smoker. Should look sorta like this.

If it’s darker than this, that is normal. In fact I was a little disappointed this one wasn’t darker actually.  It’s not burnt. It’s called “bark” and is some of the tastiest parts.

Here is an easy way to tell if it’s done properly if you don’t have a meat thermometer. There is a large bone in these roasts. You should be able to grab the bone and just pull it out with almost no resistance. If it comes out easily and clean you are where you want to be. If it won’t come out put it back in the smoker.

See the bone?

Break apart into large chunks and let sit a few minutes. It’s 9000 degrees right now.

Pull the pork by hand. Discard any chunks of hard fat or any connective tissue you find. Keep in mind however that you do want most of the fat to stay. It’s good!

I always add a bit more dry rub into my pulled pork and my sauce and mix well.

The pink is not undercooked meat. That is what the smoke does to the meat. It’s called a “smoke ring” .

Serve with coleslaw and buns to make awesome sandwiches!

Enjoy!

Me

Hi, my name is Mike Deman and I am a BBQer.

For the last bunch of years I have been a part of a professional BBQ team (Can’t Stop Grillin’) that travels around North America competing in BBQ contests. Not rib fests mind you, the real deal. Contests where you compete in different categories and submit your offerings to judges in a blind tasting. Awards are then dolled out but it’s more about the bragging rights and the fun and challenge of it all.
The team I have been part of has had some fairly decent success. Highlights for me would be winning multiple grand championships in Canada and the USA, winning an invitation the the Jack Daniels International BBQ Championship in Lynchburg,  cooking for the US Ambassador and a few thousand of his closest friends for a 4th of July party at the US Embassy but most of all….showing my kids that meat comes from animals, veggies are grown in the ground and there’s more than just ketchup that belongs on a burger.

I love to eat. That’s my inspiration for sure. My other inspiration is the people around me.  I think with anyone who enjoys cooking the best part is watching others try your stuff. I love sharing what I cook and feeding as many people as I can something that maybe they have never had before.

With having a wife and 2 young boys I’m a pretty busy guy. But never too busy to throw something in the smoker for a friend or bbq something up and spend some time with family.

MD

Jerk Chicken

If you’ve never heard of it before you really don’t know what you’re missing. If you’ve been lucky enough to travel to Jamaica and have this right on the sandy beaches as you roast in the carribean sun you know what this is all about.

Now here’s my big confession…I’ve never been to Jamaica!  I can hear it now…”How could he possibly know how to make jerk chicken and have the nerve to call his close to authentic if he’s never had it in Jamaica?!”

Easy.  I didn’t and I won’t. I will say this. I have made it for a few people who HAVE been to Jamaica; and recently for some people FROM Jamaica and other places in the Caribbean and have been told it’s as close as they’ve had since they’ve been there. I’ll take it.

The big secret? The wood. Jamaican jerk chicken is traditionally cooked over Pimento wood. So, I found some. I got it at Ontario Gas BBQ in Vaughn. It is not cheap but worth it in my opinion. You could make it without the wood but you will be missing something.

As for the marinade, here comes another shocking secret, I use a bottled marinade. Now here’s the catch. It’s from Jamaica. I have made the marinade from scratch before but found I spent 10 times longer and 10 times as much $$$ to produce a marinade that tastes exactly like the bottle that’s $4. I have tried as many brands as I can but I prefer the Graces brand. Now there is one benefit to making your own. You can control the heat.

Now for the prep. I try to marinade my chicken pieces at least 24 hours. I prefer using bone in, skin on, dark meat but use whatever floats your boat. Place in a zip lock bag and add as much or as little marinade as you like. It will seem like you need a lot as it is a thick paste but a little does a big job. I personally will get the pack of thighs from Costco and use almost the whole bottle if not the whole thing. It will be hot. Not “hot” like when you order wings and they aren’t. I mean tear producing hot. I love it.

The cooking process is easy. Cook on a smoker preferably or indirectly on a BBQ at about 275 degrees until the chicken is fully cooked. I will blast it at the end over full flame to give some char and crispify any skin. Make sure you either use the pimento wood in the smoker or make a smoke pouch for the BBQ. The wood is good.

Make sure you have lots of drinks available and go at it.
Enjoy.

MD

My Gear

One of the things I am asked about most is what type of bbqs and smokers I use when I make my food.

I have a variety of smokers, a propane and a charcoal grill and am always on the lookout for a new toy.

Here is a rundown on the current Smoker arsenal….

The always versatile Weber Smokey Mountain

And yes, I have both the small and large variety.

These are probably the best bang for your buck entry level charcoal smokers.  You can do anything from whole chickens, ribs, pulled pork, turkeys, desserts, whatever.  And yes, I have done all of those.  These bad boys will force you to learn the art of controlling air flow, charcoal and water pans.  I doubt there is a smokey mountain owner alive that doesnt know the distinct smell of a water pan run dry in one of these.

These guys run on charcoal.  Wood chunks are added to give  smoke flavour to the food.  Charcoal alone also has the ability to impart some flavour especially if you spend the extra couple bucks and get a good kind like Basque.

The Masterbuilt Extra Wide Propane Smoker

There are going to be those out there who will tell you that I am a sell out for using a propane smoker.  That it doesn’t make “true” bbq.  That this is for lazy people.

My response……so what?!  I really honestly could care less.  BBQ snobs be hatin’

This thing rocks.  To be honest, I probably use this 95% of the time I have to cook anything.  Why?  Its easy, its huge and it makes good food.

This thing is my #1 smoker now.  Yes, charcoal does feel more “real” when I use it and produces a slightly different product but notice I used the word different and not better.

Of course this is purely my opinion.

This can do anything and everything you can possibly think of including acting as a spare oven for Christmas or Thanksgiving by not adding wood, or moonlighting as a warming cabinet once everything is cooked.

This thing works on a standard propane tank and wood chunks or chips.  I prefer the wood chunks as it gives a longer and easier to control smoke than wood chips.  Wood chunks can be harder to find, especially in London Ontario but they are worth the effort.  I know Lowes carries hickory wood chunks.

I have been asked very recently what smoker I would recommend to backyard enthusiasts and I would go with the Masterbuilt every time.  I know of 2 people who have purchased these on my recommendations and both of them love it.  In fact a 3rd has purchased as well but I am still waiting on a verdict and a 4th person is in the near future.

Any questions, let me know!