Description of the properties and taste of smoked chicken with a photo, its calorie content and harm, as well as a recipe for its preparation at home. About storage and freezing of smoked chicken

Smoking helps preserve animal products for a long time. A pleasant bonus is the aroma and taste of the food. But in any diet, they are prohibited. Although experts say that when losing weight, you can eat smoked .

Distinguish three types of this technology cooking: when hot, fish or meat is smoked at a high temperature of 34-45 degrees for 12 hours and up to 4 days; when cold, temperatures from 18-22 degrees are applied, lasts from 3 to 45 days; “Liquid” means exposure to an imitation of a mixture of air and smoke, but the products are less tasty.

Useful qualities: there are no harmful and pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms, the product is protected from decay and early spoilage; do not acquire additional amounts of bad cholesterol and fats; the calorie content of products remains at the level of the original state; for home smoking, a minimum of salt is used; with the cold form of processing, all useful substances and vitamins are preserved; during "liquid" smoking no harmful carcinogens are formed.

The harm of smoking: with excessive use due to the composition, the appearance of malignant formations is possible; "Liquid" smoking saturates with formaldehydes, glyoxal, phenol and other substances (irritate the digestive tract, negatively affect the liver and kidneys); the abuse of smoked meats harms the heart and blood vessels, clogs them, increasing the amount of bad cholesterol; negatively affect the condition of the pancreas; are highly allergenic. The accumulating free radicals, toxins slow down the metabolism, which leads to the accumulation of excess weight. Smoked foods greatly develop appetite. Therefore, a person easily overeats.

You can eat smoked, but it all depends on the quantity and quality of the product. Pros and cons of popular products:

  • Fish (mackerel and others). Can be hot and cold smoked. Nutritionists prohibit the product, because: too much salt, accumulation of carcinogens that penetrate the skin and meat; often used for cooking stale product. When properly cooked, fish retains protein (protein), omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Smoked mackerel is low in fat. You can eat, but from trusted manufacturers and in limited quantities.
  • Breast. Chicken white meat is one of the healthiest: no fat, a lot of protein. The calorie content of the smoked product is only 117 kcal per 100 g, but there are no carbohydrates in it. The fats present are not nearly as harmful as when frying or deep-fried. Chicken contains vitamins A, group B, PP and iron, magnesium, zinc and others. You should only eat meat without skin, exclusively white. You can eat it on its own or add to salad, sandwiches, snacks and casseroles.
  • Salo. Smoked food accumulates carcinogens; it does not have a thick peel that will stop their penetration into meat and fat. In addition, useful properties are no longer retained in it, since the product undergoes heat treatment. Therefore, when losing weight, it is better not to eat smoked lard, or very little and rarely. And especially it should not be eaten in the evening and at night.
  • Cheese. Sausage cheese is completely assimilated by the body, it has less cholesterol than solid varieties, it is rich in calcium and phosphorus, a lot of fatty acids and vitamins A, D, E, it contains protein and amino acids, and there are no carbohydrates. It has a high calorie content - 100 g contains about 200 kcal, while the amount of fat and protein is about 20%. You can eat only in small quantities and preferably in the first half of the day, so that the calories have time to be consumed. It is also recommended to listen to the crust. Most nutritionists recommend avoiding this product.

Helpful hints: it is better to use with vegetables and herbs; be sure to cut off the skin and skin as much as possible; you can eat smoked meats several times a year, the less often the better.

Read more about smoked meats for weight loss, what you can eat and how best in our article.

Read in this article

Smoking, as a type of heat treatment, has been known to mankind for a long time. It helps preserve animal products for a long time. A pleasant bonus is the aroma and taste of the food. Smoked meats awaken the appetite, and it is very difficult to pass by. But in any diet, they are prohibited. Although experts say that not everything is so simple, and when losing weight, you can eat smoked.

There are three types of this cooking technology: hot, cold and "liquid". The product is treated with a mixture of smoke and air. It is formed by burning wood. Hot means that fish or meat is smoked at a high temperature of 34-45 degrees for 12 hours and up to 4 days. This is how smoked and boiled products are prepared.

With the cold method, temperatures from 18-22 degrees are used. But it takes longer: from 3 to 45 days. It ensures the preservation of products for a longer time.

"Liquid" smoking involves exposure to an imitation of a mixture of air and smoke. But the products are less tasty.

To understand why smoked meats are harmful and prohibited on the diet, you can consider their pros and cons.

Useful qualities

This type of heat treatment of products has the following positive properties:

  • There are no harmful and pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms in smoked meats. That is, when processing fish with smoke, even helminths die in it, if they were there. Smoking disinfects and has antibacterial properties. The product is protected from decay and early spoilage.
  • As a result of smoking, meat or fish do not acquire additional amounts of bad cholesterol and fats. After all, no additional liquid is required for cooking. Therefore, in meat or fish after smoking, such a number of indicators are preserved as in raw form.
  • The calorie content of the products remains at the level of the original state. Because no oil or fat is used in cooking.
  • At home smoking, a minimum of salt is used. Therefore, the finished dish does not retain water in the body.
  • When processed cold, all nutrients and vitamins are preserved, because such heating does not occur. This means that the products give the body all polyunsaturated acids, amino acids, and so on without changes.
  • During "liquid" smoking, no harmful carcinogenic substances are formed.


The harm of smoking

Despite all the advantages, nutritionists and doctors do not recommend overusing such dishes for a reason. Smoking is characterized by the following harmful properties:

  • First of all, carcinogens. Wood smoke is saturated with volatile substances that cause malignant growth. They form due to the reaction of nitrates and nitrins with amines in foods. And the former are added for the best taste and aroma during production. Nitrosamines are formed under special conditions, for example, at high temperatures.
  • Less harmful from this point of view is "liquid" smoking. But it saturates the product with formaldehydes, glyoxal, phenol and other substances. They do not cause cancerous tumors, but they irritate the digestive tract organs and negatively affect the liver and kidneys.
  • With the cold method, due to the duration of the process, radioactive isotopes accumulate, which lead to the formation of malignant tumors.
  • The abuse of smoked meats harms the heart and blood vessels, clogs them, increasing the amount of bad cholesterol.
  • Such products adversely affect the condition of the pancreas.
  • Smoked meats are highly allergenic, because they release histamine and supply it to the body themselves. Therefore, a pseudo-allergic reaction can often be observed.

The constant abuse of smoked meats negatively affects human health. The body accumulates free radicals, toxins, which slow down the metabolism, which leads to the accumulation of excess weight.

Smoked foods also develop a strong appetite. Therefore, a person easily overeats.

Thus, while losing weight, smoked can be eaten and included in your diet, but you need to do it carefully and clearly monitor the amount. If consumed in moderation, then it will not cause serious harm.

Watch the video about the use of smoked products:

What dietitians allow

The opinion of experts on this matter differs. It all depends on the quantity and quality of the product that a person is going to eat. Smoked can be fish, meat and poultry, bacon or. Each product has its own pros and cons.

Fish - mackerel and others

The fish can be hot and cold smoked. In the first case, the product is prepared rather quickly, but the shelf life is no more than 3-4 days. And with cold smoking - a little longer. They also differ in taste.

Most nutritionists agree that you cannot eat smoked fish while losing weight. There are several reasons for this:

  • There is too much salt in it, therefore, it will retain water.
  • Carcinogens accumulate, and the skin is too thin, so they penetrate into the meat.
  • For smoking in production, there is often a stale product, so even if all the qualities of fresh raw materials are preserved, it makes no sense to talk about the benefits.

But if the fish is cooked according to all the rules and technologies, then it retains the protein that is so necessary for the muscles. Protein promotes metabolism and helps in the production of amino acids. It stores omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Smoked mackerel is low in fat. All this plays to the benefit of losing weight.

Therefore, it is best to purchase a product from trusted brands and include it in the diet in doses.

Salo

In fact, fat is important and needed by the human body. Therefore, it must be included in the diet, as it is "fuel" and energy for life. But it must be correct. Eating lard in moderation while losing weight helps regulate blood cholesterol... If you receive it from the outside, then the body itself stops secreting it, thereby not increasing the level, without harming the vessels.

In addition, lard contains important fatty acids that are needed for the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system. Thanks to the right fats, immunity is strengthened and the metabolism is accelerated.

But all this applies to salted lard, not smoked lard. In the latter, carcinogens accumulate, it does not have a thick peel that will stop their penetration into meat and fat. In addition, useful properties are no longer retained in it, since the product undergoes heat treatment.

Therefore, when losing weight, it is better not to eat smoked bacon or very little and rarely. And especially it should not be eaten in the evening and at night. This is too heavy a product that requires a long digestion and contains a lot of calories.

Smoking is already one of the methods of increasing the shelf life due to the bactericidal and antioxidant properties acquired during the preparation process. Products prepared by this method are suitable for consumption up to 48 hours. No wonder smoked chicken is a favorite snack on trips and travels. If in boiled form it can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days in compliance with the correct temperature regime, then the smoked chicken remains usable for 7 days. There are several ways to extend the shelf life.

Freezer storage

Whenever you want to make the most of the fun, the fridge freezer is the perfect place to store your smoked chicken.

So that the chicken does not lose its taste, it is recommended to adhere to the following scheme of actions:

  • Cut the carcass into small portions
  • Wrap each portion in edible paper and place in a freezer bag
  • Defrost in the refrigerator, as sudden temperature changes can significantly impair the taste of the product.

So the chicken can be frozen for up to two weeks, in the deep freeze mode (-18 ° C and below) - up to 1 month.

Important! After defrosting, the product quickly becomes perishable. Do not re-freeze.

Features of storage in the refrigerator

Store-bought chicken should be eaten on the day of purchase. The grilled chicken on the counter is poultry that is well rested in the culinary display before being cooked. The time for implementation was drawing to a close. The deadline for use is within a day, if previously wrapped in food paper or foil. Wrapping the pieces tighter will help prevent bacteria from growing in a humid environment. To prevent the specific smell from spreading to the rest of the food in the refrigerator, the pieces are additionally wrapped in a bag.

Home-smoked poultry will last much longer than industrially processed poultry. If fresh meat was used for cooking, the time limit is extended to 7 days. The highest value - from 7 to 10 days - is achieved under tightness conditions, at temperatures from 0 to + 3 ° С, relative air humidity 83 ± 2%. A vacuum container or vacuum packaging is used, which allows you to preserve the original taste and aroma, exclude the development of pathogenic microorganisms.

Other options for storing smoked chicken

There is a simple rule - no dampness or moisture. A product on which a small plaque or mold has appeared should be discarded without a doubt, otherwise not only the taste sensations, but also the gourmet's digestive system may suffer. A dry basement or pantry is suitable for storage. The room must be clean and previously ventilated. The ideal option is an attic space, where the most favorable storage environment is dry, low temperature and good ventilation. All that remains is to arrange the chicken in wooden boxes or hang it on a wire, after placing the pieces in dry linen bags.

Storage features depending on the smoking method

There are two types of smoking: cold and hot.

  • Cold smoking method: the product is subjected to long-term processing (up to three days) and is heated slightly (18-28 ° C). Long-term exposure to cold smoke provides deeper processing of poultry fibers, thereby increasing the shelf life of the smoked carcass. This chicken can be stored for up to 3-4 months.
  • The hot type of smoking is characterized by rapid heat treatment of the product (no more than 3 hours) and a much higher temperature (90-150 ° C). The carcass turns out to be more juicy, but less stable during storage: 72 hours from the moment of preparation at a temperature of +2 - 6 ° C.

Regardless of the method of preparation or the place of purchase of smoked chicken, consciously approach the issue of product storage. This will not only prolong the enjoyment of consumption, but also minimize the risk of food poisoning.

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Smoked chicken is a delicious and rather expensive delicacy that appears on the tables of most of us exclusively on holidays. It can be used both as a stand-alone dish and as an ingredient in salads. In this article, we will teach you how to smoke chicken at home. We are sure that you will be able to feast on it not only for your birthday and New Year.

Smoke canning

They learned to smoke meat, fish and poultry a very long time ago. Thus, our ancestors not only gave these products an indescribable taste and aroma, but also got the opportunity to store them for a longer time. Smoking is a kind of preservation with the help of smoke, as a result of which the product acquires antioxidant properties that inhibit the development of harmful bacteria.

When smoked, products do not lose their useful and nutritious properties, except that the taste of spices is added to them. They can be stored without cold for up to three days, without fear of poisoning the body. This is very convenient on long trips. Having mastered the basic recipes, you will know how to smoke chicken correctly, and you can always stock up on this delicious food when you travel any distance.

Smoking methods

Of course, the most delicious smoked chicken (as well as fish and meat) is the one that is smoked the old fashioned way, that is, it is treated with wood smoke for a long time. It is this method that will give the products the same true taste.

A simpler and more modern method appeared along with the so-called liquid smoke, which is obtained by combining the smoke of barely smoldering wood with water. Absolutely all smoked meats sold in stores go through liquid smoke treatment and are literally stuffed with various preservatives. Many of them are unlikely to add to your health. Some of their names are worth something - acetone, phenol, formaldehyde and other extremely harmful components. In addition, such processing completely removes all nutrients from the product, making it absolutely useless in terms of nutritional value.

And how to smoke hot smoked chicken in the absence of a smokehouse and without the use of not at all useful liquid smoke? Everything is fixable if the house has such a miracle of modern kitchen appliances as an airfryer or.In this article, we will not only teach you how to use these appliances. You will also learn how to smoke chicken in a hot smoked smokehouse using a variety of marinades. Thus, you can always prepare your favorite product in one way or another.

Straight from the smokehouse

If you are lucky and have a smokehouse or the ability to build one, then this recipe is what you need! How to smoke chicken in a hot smoked smokehouse so that it turns out, as they say, you lick your fingers? Of course, it's all about the marinade and the correct preparation of the poultry carcass. This is 80 percent of success and a guarantee that everything will turn out to be unusually tasty.

Method one, spicy aromatic

Prepare the ingredients you need, including:

  • Chicken - 1 carcass.
  • Salt - 0.5 tablespoon.
  • Garlic - 1 head.
  • Bay leaves to taste.
  • Black peppercorns - 5-10 pieces.
  • Juniper berries - 5 pieces.
  • Ground ginger - 0.5 teaspoon.
  • Cinnamon - 1 pinch
  • Sugar - 1 teaspoon.
  • Vinegar 9% - 1 tablespoon.
  • Water - 3 liters.

First of all, I wash the chicken, cut it into two halves and lightly beat it off - this way the joints and bones will become softer and release cerebral fluid.

Then we prepare the brine. To do this, heat the water in a saucepan and add salt, 2-3 finely chopped garlic cloves, bay leaves, black peppercorns, juniper berries, cinnamon, ginger, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

We put the chicken halves in a large saucepan or bowl and fill with brine so that it completely covers it. We put it in the refrigerator for 48 hours.

After two days, we take out our chicken halves from the brine, make many small cuts in them and stuff them with garlic. Then we hang the halves of the carcass so that the excess brine drains and the meat is completely dry.

Then we heat the smokehouse to the maximum temperature and begin to smoke our bird, periodically dipping it in brine for a more persistent aroma and bright taste. How long does it take to smoke chicken in the smokehouse? It depends on the size of the carcass itself. The main indicator of readiness is a shiny film on the chicken's skin: as soon as it begins to separate easily, smoking is over. By the way, in this way you can smoke not only the halves of the chicken, but also its individual parts - drumsticks, thighs, fillets or wings.

Method two, accelerated

Knowing in a hot smoked smokehouse, you can simplify the recipe. Agree, there is not always time for long-term preparation of the bird. Whether you are planning to pamper your guests or go on a business trip, the smoked-boiled chicken we offer is a great option. This is a quick way that everyone will love. Moreover, it does not require any special culinary skills.

Knowing how to smoke chicken in a hot smoked smokehouse, you can simplify the classic method, which takes three days. Agree, there is not always time for long-term preparation of the bird. The smoked-boiled chicken, the recipe for which we offer, does not require a lot of effort. So, we need the following products:

  • Chicken - 1 whole carcass.
  • Carrots - 1 piece.
  • Onions - 1 piece.
  • Salt (preferably sea salt) - to taste.
  • Spices, herbs - to taste.
  • Water - at least 3 liters.

Both chicken and broth

First of all, I wash the bird, put it in a large saucepan and fill it with water so that it covers the chicken up to half. Peel the carrots and onions, cut into large pieces and add to the chicken. Pour in your favorite seasonings, salt and pepper - everything in the same proportions as in the broth.

We put everything on a strong fire, wait for it to boil, set the flame to a minimum and carefully remove the foam. Then cover the pan with a lid and cook the chicken for about 40 minutes. It shouldn't be completely cooked - rather half-baked.

After the allotted time, remove the chicken from the pan and leave to dry. You can speed up the process by using paper towels, gently blotting excess liquid. The resulting broth can be turned into soup or served with finely chopped herbs and croutons for dinner.

Next, we send our semi-cooked chicken to the smokehouse. If you do not know how much after pre-boiling, use the instructions for your smokehouse. If there is none, then on average the whole process takes 2-4 hours. The finished chicken has a rich brownish-golden color.

Smoked products from a cauldron

If there is no smokehouse in the house, it doesn't matter! You can enjoy smoked chicken if you have such a necessary thing in the household as a cauldron. It is from it that it will turn out to build a kind of smokehouse, in which you can cook not only chicken, but also lard, meat and fish. For this we need the following items:

  • Cast iron cauldron.
  • A stand in the form of a cylinder made of tin (you can use a can of canned food).
  • Metal plate.
  • Wooden sticks.
  • Alder sawdust.

First, we prepare the bird. To do this, cut it into pieces, rub it with salt and leave to salt for 1 hour. While the chicken is "resting", we start making our ersatz smokehouse.

With your own hands

We take a cast-iron cauldron and pour alder sawdust on the bottom. Sprinkle them with water and lightly sprinkle with sugar, mix. Thanks to this, the chicken will acquire a beautiful caramel color.

In the middle of the cauldron we install a tin can with a cut off bottom and holes drilled on the sides: it should be firmly located on the sawdust. On top of this structure, we make an impromptu lattice of wooden sticks, set a metal plate or bowl on it and put our meat there in one layer. In this case, the pieces should fit snugly one to one. We cover the cauldron with a lid, send it to the stove and simmer for 60-80 minutes until golden brown appears.

The wonders of the airfryer

And finally, we offer another option for smoking chicken in a hurry using an airfryer and liquid smoke. As we wrote above, this product will not bring any health benefits at all, but if it is not abused, there will not be much harm.

We need wings, thighs, or a chicken carcass cut into pieces. We wash my bird, dry it with a paper towel, rub it well with salt and your favorite spices and leave to marinate for 30-40 minutes. After this time, cover the chicken with liquid smoke and let it sit for another 30 minutes.

Put a wire rack in the airfryer, heat it up to 250 degrees and put the prepared chicken there. The smoking process in the airfryer will take 40-50 minutes.

Chicken meat can be eaten without harm to health in much larger quantities than any other meat. Chicken meat contains a large amount of the minerals we need - protein, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron, and vitamins - B2, B6, B12, A and E. There are no carbohydrates in chicken meat at all, and very little fat. It contains few calories, therefore, people who are on a diet, or who want to keep in good shape, can safely eat chicken.

Chicken meat helps with diseases such as arthritis, gout, peptic ulcer, diabetes. In people with type 2 diabetes, it is thanks to chicken that the content of useful polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood serum increases. These acids are absorbed by the body better, therefore, because of them, chicken helps to prevent atherosclerosis, as well as related diseases: stroke, heart attack, ischemia, hypertension.

Young chicken is considered the healthiest.

But also in the cold season hen brings no less on the table benefits... It has long been used as a medicine for colds, in the form of a broth.

Chicken broth - the chicken itself, water, salt, onion, pepper, carrots - helped in the fight against the disease, added strength and strengthened health. Currently, an abundance of various medicines for colds is offered, but chicken broth still takes its place of honor among them.

Smoking, the harm of smoked chicken

Smoking has been used by people for a long time as a special type of product preservation, in which this product acquires a pleasant taste, golden brown color and characteristic aroma.

It is the process of treating food products with a smoke-air mixture to achieve antioxidant and bacterial effects.

Smoking can be traditional and modern canning.

Traditional smoking is hot and cold.

Cold smoking

Cold smoking is carried out at a temperature of 18-22˚С and is used for the manufacture of long-term storage delicacies. The smoking process itself takes from 3 to 45 days.

Cold smoking technology is dangerous for the human body. With it, the accumulation of radioactive isotopes in the product occurs, due to the duration of the process, which, moreover, disfigures the amino acids contained in the product.

Hot smoking

Hot smoking is carried out at a temperature of 35-45˚С and it is used for the manufacture of cooked-smoked products that are not intended for long-term storage. The process of such smoking takes 12-48 hours. When smoked hot, both the aroma and taste are completely different from the cold one, it is even more likely just baking the product in smoke.

If you eat food smoked according to traditional technology from time to time, just as a delicacy, then there will be no particular harm to health.

This cannot be said about modern "smoked" products.

"Liquid smoke"

The duration and energy intensity of the process led to the search for new economical and fast methods of smoking, and even simply to give the products a smoked appearance.

Modern smoking consists in using "liquid smoke" - a special smoking preparation, or in placing the product in a high-voltage electrostatic field.

This liquid smoke appeared in the first half of the 19th century. It was opened by the Russian scientist N.V. Karazin. The liquid production process consisted of high-temperature processing of smoldering wood chips. The smoke entered the vortex unit, which ensured effective dissolution of smoke components in water.

For some reason, this invention is attributed abroad to S. Colegin, who patented smoking liquid only at the beginning of the 20th century.

This is not so important, because that smoking accelerated technology "accelerated" even more.

Now a small product can be simply bathed in a smoking potion, thermally processed and at the end a product with the taste of “traditional” smoking can be obtained. A large product does not urinate, but receives an injection of liquid smoke.


The spicy aroma present in such “modern” smoked products is associated with:

  • by 66% with the presence of phenol - an extremely toxic substance;
  • 14% with the presence of carbonyl compounds - and these are formaldehyde, glyoxal, acetone, furfural, glycolaldehyde, methylglyoxal and others;
  • by 20% with the presence of other smoking components.

It just makes no sense to talk about the nutritional value and usefulness of such products.

All this, of course, also applies to smoked chicken.

It is known that the consumption of smoked meats significantly increases the risk of developing tumors.

Smoked, grilled chickens are raised on antibiotics, bone meal and estrogen. Estrogen is a female sex hormone that causes an increase in body weight, not only in the chicken, but also in the person consuming it. And from antibiotics added to poultry feed to protect against infections, consumers of chicken meat begin to lose their immunity, destroy beneficial microflora and develop allergies.

If you occasionally allow yourself to "play with fire" in the form of an appetizing smoked chicken, then I advise you not to eat chicken skin.

Chicken skin is the most sensitive part of the bird's body. During cooking, it is there that a huge amount of carcinogens accumulates.

In addition, to enhance the flavor, the chicken is generously sprinkled with sodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer.

For reference: monosodium glutamate is a food additive for enhancing taste, which is a white powder, readily soluble in water. It has been proven that this supplement causes quite serious depressive changes in the psyche: in a child - hyperactivity, in an adult - chronic fatigue syndrome. Monosodium glutamate, accumulating in the body, can cause very severe attacks of bronchial asthma. Causes Alzheimer's disease.

The benefits of chicken meat set out at the beginning of this article. So is it worth giving them up by eating smoked chicken. After all, chicken is great in taste both in boiled form, and in the form of a carcass stretched over a bottle, visible in an oven ...

Lilia Yurkanis
for women's magazine website

When using and reprinting the material, an active link to the women's online magazine is required

  • chicken - 1.5-1.7 kg;
  • 3-5 cloves of garlic;
  • salt, pepper, chicken spices to taste.

Marinate

Wash the chicken, remove excess fat in your opinion, dry it.

Rub the chicken inside and out with salt and spices. Wrap the chicken in foil and refrigerate for a day or two. The bird is not marinated for more than two days.

Salt and black pepper are the simplest and most sufficient spices. But curry can be added. Or use soy sauce instead of salt. Or ... Experiment.

We smoke

2 hours before smoking, remove the chicken from the refrigerator so that it warms up a little.

Peel the garlic. Cut large teeth in half. In several places of the chicken, cut the skin and push the cloves of garlic under the skin.

Make a fire. Prepare for operation. Remove the chicken from the foil. Spread the foil in which the chicken was marinated at the bottom of the smokehouse, so that you can easily remove the foil along with the dripped fat. Better yet, use a smoker with a drip tray. Put thin branches of an apple or plum tree on the foil. Or alder chips. Place the chicken on the wire rack inside the smoker. Chicken wings and legs should not stick out in different directions. Try to keep them close to the body. For example, tie the legs.

Close the lid of the smokehouse. Place over weak fire.

Estimated time to smoke whole Chicken is about 60 minutes. When first smoked, check the chicken periodically for readiness. Find the best time to smoke the chicken in your smoker. To do this, open the smoker and make test deep cuts in the chicken breast with a knife. White meat without blood in the area of ​​the bone indicates readiness.

At the very beginning, the fire should caress the bottom of the smokehouse. Here smoke from wood chips or twigs began to break through from the smokehouse. So the process has started. Timing the time. It will be ready in about an hour. The fire will weaken a little, so keep it in this state. Listen - the chicken squirts and hisses. It should be so. Closer to the end, the smoker can be put on coals, if the design allows it.

The main rule: first, the fire is stronger, so that smoke comes out of the chips and envelops the chicken. Then a light fire - to support the smoking process.

Eating

Cut the white meat of the chicken breast into 1 cm thick slices, after removing the smoked chicken skin. Remove skin from legs, wings and other parts. Try not to eat smoked leather, no matter how beautiful and appetizing it looks, it is unhealthy.

Serve with fresh or different sauces.