Content
- 1 Benefits of hot smoking chicken legs at home
- 2 How to smoke hot smoked legs
- 3 How to cook hot smoked legs on a gas stove
- 4 How much to smoke hot smoked legs
- 5 Storage rules
- 6 Conclusion
You can smoke chicken legs in a hot-smoked smokehouse in the country in the fresh air or at home in an apartment on a gas stove. You can buy a smokehouse ready-made or build it from a saucepan or cauldron.
Smoked chicken legs have an appetizing golden brown crust
Benefits of hot smoking chicken legs at home
Hot smoking at home has several advantages:
- Simple algorithm of actions.
- Fast cooking.
- Safe technology: the product is exposed to high temperatures.
How to smoke hot smoked legs
Hot smoking technology is simpler and safer, so it is preferable to cook food in this way at home. In addition, the time for smoking hot smoked legs is much shorter than with the cold method.
The smokehouse is a metal chamber with a lid, which has a smoke outlet. In the upper part of the chamber there is a groove that serves as a stop for the lid and a water seal. Water is poured into this gutter, if smoking takes place indoors, there is no need for a water seal on the street. The lid retains the smoke inside the smoking chamber, as a result of which the product is impregnated with it. To remove excess smoke, a hose is put on the branch pipe and taken out into a window or ventilation hole.
The smoker has a pallet with upward-curved edges and legs, which is placed on the wood chips. It is necessary so that the fat dripping from the meat does not fall on the pieces of wood, otherwise the smoke will be bitter and unsafe for humans.
The smokehouse is equipped with one or two grates, depending on the number of tiers. Smoked products are laid out on them.
The hot smoking temperature for chicken is 70 degrees.
Selection and preparation of meat
When buying chicken legs in a store, you need to pay attention to the following:
- Color... Solid color, no spots.
- Leather... No damage, not dry, but not too wet, no small feathers.
- FROMcharter on the cut... White, moist. Yellowish and dry indicates long-term storage.
- Fir... Has a yellowish color, should not be dark.
Fresh legs have a pleasant smell and appearance
Before cooking, the legs are cleaned, cut off all unnecessary, washed, dried with a paper towel, and the skin is singed.
How to pickle hot smoked legs
You can marinate the legs dry and wet. Traditional spices include salt, black pepper, and bay leaves. In addition, garlic, coriander, cumin, allspice, fresh herbs, herbs are added to the marinade or brine.
How to pickle hot smoked chicken legs
The easiest way to prepare legs for smoking is to rub them with salt. You can add ground black pepper and chicken seasoning. Leave for 4-6 hours in the refrigerator, then start smoking.
You can make a dry hot smoked chicken marinade using the following spices:
- salt;
- Chile;
- black pepper;
- basil;
- thyme;
- marjoram.
Cooking rules:
- Combine seasonings and mix.
- Grate the legs with the prepared mixture, put in a bowl and refrigerate for 6 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, dry the meat for 30 minutes, spreading it out on a paper towel, then send it to the smokehouse.
To get delicious smoked legs, just rub them with salt and black pepper
How to marinate hot smoked legs
To prepare a universal marinade, you need to take the following ingredients in 2 liters of water:
- coarse salt - 1.5 tbsp. l .;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- ¼ h. L. cumin;
- dried herbs (mixture of dill, parsley, basil) - 1 tbsp. l.
Cooking rules:
- Boil water, add all ingredients, cook after boiling for about 10 minutes. Cool the brine.
- Put the legs in a saucepan, pour with brine, put in the refrigerator for 2 days.
To prepare the juniper marinade, you will need the following ingredients for 1.5 liters of water:
- coarse salt - 1 tsp. with a slide;
- vinegar 9% - 2 tbsp. l .;
- bay leaf - 1 pc .;
- sugar - ½ tsp;
- garlic - 1 clove;
- juniper berries - 4 pcs. (can be replaced with 1 branch);
- ground ginger, coriander, allspice and black pepper - 1 pinch each.
Cooking rules:
- Boil water, add salt and sugar.
- After boiling, add pepper, ginger, coriander, juniper and vinegar. Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cool.
- Put the legs in a saucepan or other suitable container, pour marinade over them. To make the meat more saturated, you can put it under oppression.
- Send dishes with chicken to the refrigerator for a day.
How much to marinate chicken legs for hot smoking
The time for marinating the legs can be from 6 hours to 2 days in the refrigerator.
The time can be shortened if it is necessary to quickly start the smoking process. In this case, marinating can last 1-2 hours at room temperature.
Selection and preparation of wood chips
For smoking, it is better to give preference to large chips, which smolder evenly, maintaining the same temperature.
For chicken legs, fruit is well suited. It contains many essential oils, emits fragrant smoke, which gives the finished legs a pleasant smell. With fruit chips, the smoking process is faster, with less soot. For chicken, you can take chips of cherries, pears, apricots, peaches, cherries.
Twigs of fruit trees, such as cherry plums, can be added to the chips while smoking.
As a rule, purchased chips are dry, which is necessary for their storage. Before smoking, it must be soaked in water, otherwise the dry wood will immediately flare up and scorch the meat. After soaking, it must be wrung out or laid out on the fabric in a thin, even layer.
How to smoke chicken legs in a hot smoked smokehouse
For cooking, you will need a smokehouse, wood chips and pickled legs.
After salting, the chicken pieces are wiped with a napkin and allowed to dry for 30 minutes.
The smokehouse needs to be prepared for work:
- Cover the bottom with foil.
- Pour wood chips onto the foil.
- Place a pallet on it.
- There is a lattice on it.
There are usually 2 grates on two levels in a smoker. You can use one or smoke on both.
Place the chicken legs on the grill and close the device with a lid, which has a fume outlet. There is a groove around the perimeter of the smokehouse that needs to be filled with water.
Put the smoker on low heat. The countdown of the smoking time begins after the smoke comes out of the nozzle. For chicken legs, it is about 1 hour or a little more.
Readiness is checked by piercing the leg. If pink juice mixed with blood flows out, the meat is not ready yet. If it is light and transparent, the fire can be extinguished. Do not take out the legs immediately and do not lift the lid until smoke comes out of the smokehouse. That is, the chicken needs to be held in the container for about 20 minutes.
Then remove the finished product from the smokehouse, stand for 5 hours, you can start eating.
Compact smokehouses can be used both in the country and in a city apartment
How to cook hot smoked legs on a gas stove
You can smoke chicken legs on a gas stove in a cauldron with a lid. This will require heat-resistant foil, grate (steamer) or microwave mesh, wood chips and salted chicken legs.
The smoking process consists of the following steps:
- Lay foil on the bottom of the ducklings.
- Moisten the chips, pour them out, level them so that the layer is of the same thickness.
- Next, put the foil folded in 4 layers, forming sides, like a pallet.
- Install the grid.
- Put the legs on it so that they do not touch each other and the walls of the dishes.
- Cover with a lid. To make it snug, wrap it in foil.
- Put the cauldron on a gas stove over high heat.
- When smoke appears, reduce the gas to medium, count down the smoking time - about 40-60 minutes. After this time has elapsed, turn off the stove, but do not remove the legs and do not open the lid for another 10 minutes.
A smokehouse can be built from a regular pot.
How much to smoke hot smoked legs
It depends on the strength of the fire and the size of the pieces of meat. It takes about 60 minutes to smoke hot smoked legs after the smoke starts to leave the chamber.
Storage rules
Hot smoked chicken legs are a perishable product. It can be kept in the refrigerator for no more than 3-4 days. It is advisable to wrap the chicken in parchment paper.
Conclusion
You can smoke chicken legs in a hot-smoked smokehouse at home, in the country house or in the kitchen of a city apartment. The process is quite simple; novice cooks will also cope with cooking.
