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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Chicken - Proof of Concept

It worked, I figured it would, but wanted to try before I go for it with a turkey.  I had read that but taking boneless breast sections and turning them thin end to fat end, the entire breast would cook evenly and stay juicy. I am preparing for an upcoming turkey cook and wanted to try this.  I also recently received a new rub to try, Plowboy's Yardbird, one of the more highly regarded rubs in the BBQ community I belong to.

Here is the preparation of the breasts, carefully skinned, boned and waiting for seasoning.  I decided I would use just the Plowboy's Yardbird and some butter and snipped flat leaf parsley in between the breast sections.

















After seasoning I laid the sections thin end to fat end, tied it with cotton string and then seasoned the outside with more of the rub.

















Here is the carry pan with the breasts and a similar roll made from thighs. These were waiting to be loaded into the kettle, which was toasting away on it's path to 500F.  Note the cotton butcher wrap, see how even it is, yes, I am bragging.  About 40 minutes later, 150F with a nice crispy skin tells me it is ready to come off the grill.

















It worked beautifully, both the thighs and the breasts were juicy, tender and very flavorfull.  The Yardbird rub has an excellent savory quality with a good balance of salt to the other flavors.  It is not hot, I would describe it as savory with excellent depth of flavor and harmony between herbal and spice notes.




 Some beauty shots showing the beautiful color, juicy meat and finally plating. The mini-roasts were rested for about 10 minutes to finish off the cooking and let the meat relax.  I found that the flavor worked it's way through the entire depth of the meat.  On to the turkey, details will follow on that one as it further unfolds.


4 comments:

  1. I love well grilled chicken and this looks very well done. Great looking color and juicy!

    Ray
    RaceyB's Outdoor Cooking Fun
    http://www.raceyb.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Plowboys? Pffft! What have THEY ever won? (ha ha ha ha, just kidding! I guess the Royal isn't a cul de sac cook off is it?)

    Interesting technique with the "north/south" turned breasts. You mentioned they were skinless at one part. So did you put the skin back on at that point? You didn't directly say, but later mentioned crispy skin and the pictures show obvious skin.

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  3. Indeed, I suspect that Plowboy's win at the Royal is just a huge marketing ploy.

    Now, the chicken skin was carefully removed prior to prepping and seasoning, then it was replaced when the 'roastlettes' were tied up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great, I was thinking that but wasn't sure. I'll have to try this.

    ReplyDelete