Grill-Fried Cheekun

Botch

I subscribe to Cook's Illustrated, but not their sister pub Cook's Country.  But, CC sends me a sample issue about once a year, and I found a grill-fried chicken technique that really piqued my interest.  Basically, the chicken parts are brined for 2-3 hours, then coated with a flour mixture, and left to air-dry in the frig for 2 hours:
 

 
Then, the chicken is grilled at 450 for 30 minutes (I went 45 minutes at 400, as I was using thighs and not wangs):
 

 
(the background snow looks more normal than @pgprescott 's "Florida grilling in the snow"!   )  
 
Then, the cheekun is brushed with oil, both sides, and put back on the grill (hard to see a difference, they are a bit more glossy):
 

 
The thighs are then removed when they hit 190*.  
 

 
Dayam, this one's a keeper.  Easily the best chicken I've ever made, possibly the best I've ever had.  The skin was perfectly crispy, and despite my temperature issues (see below), the meat was seasoned, and cooked, perfectly!
This technique has three great features going for it:
1.  I used less than 2 Tablespoons of oil, rather than 2 quarts +.
2.  My stovetop isn't coated with oil, very little cleanup.
3.  It gives you fried chicken, with a smoke flavor (cherry, in this case); can't get that any other way!  
 
 
*I did have a temperature issue.  My temperature controller was set to 400, but when I went out to brush the oil the vents were still wide-open, the controller said 375, but the Egg thermometer read almost 500!  I thermapenned the thighs, already at 180, so I brushed them and let them cook another 15 minutes or so, rather than 30.  They were fine (fortunately thighs are much more heat-tolerant than breasts).  I've calibrated my Egg thermo but its been a few years, need to check it when cool.  
 
Thanks for looking!  

Mattman3969

Bookmarked for sure!   I love grill fried sheeken and yours looks way btr than mine. Thanks for posting 

hoosier_egger

Yes please! 

mahenryak

Wow.  Those do look great.  At 450 are you cooking direct or indirect?  (It looks like it may be direct, but I can't tell for certain.)

Botch

mahenryak said:

At 450 are you cooking direct or indirect?  (It looks like it may be direct, but I can't tell for certain.)

It was indirect (platesetter) but the bottoms of the thighs still got just a touch blackened.  

mahenryak

^thank you^

Carolina Q

Nice! Will have to try this method for sure. Personally, I prefer thighs cooked to a higher IT. Sometimes they get away from me to 200° even. Still awesome! 

Botch

Carolina Q said:

Nice! Will have to try this method for sure. Personally, I prefer thighs cooked to a higher IT. Sometimes they get away from me to 200° even. Still awesome! 

I actually didn't temp them at the end, they were over 180 when I put on the oil and they cooked for another 15 minutes or so, may have been at 200!  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

What’s the flour mixture? Any binder (egg/buttermilk etc)? I have several brined breasteses that I may do this with tonight. 

danv23

Full recipe please?

JohnnyTarheel

Wow that’s nice!!

Botch

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

What’s the flour mixture? Any binder (egg/buttermilk etc)? I have several brined breasteses that I may do this with tonight. 

it was:
2 cups flour
3 Tblspns granulated garlic (I used 2 of powdered, as I didn't have granulated)
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 Tblspn black pepper
1 tsp salt
 
No binders/liquids, just remove the parts from the brine and roll in the flour, patting it on to make it stick.  The recipe did state it was important to let it sit in the frig after dredging for a couple hours, so the mixture didn't get knocked off on the grill.  
Really, its pretty generic, you could use about any breading recipe, Dizzy Pig, etc.  What was a revelation to me, here, was adding the oil halfway thru cooking, just need to make sure your dredge has flour in it to absorb the oil.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Botch said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

What’s the flour mixture? Any binder (egg/buttermilk etc)? I have several brined breasteses that I may do this with tonight. 

it was:
2 cups flour
3 Tblspns granulated garlic (I used 2 of powdered, as I didn't have granulated)
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 Tblspn black pepper
1 tsp salt
 
No binders/liquids, just remove the parts from the brine and roll in the flour, patting it on to make it stick.  The recipe did state it was important to let it sit in the frig after dredging for a couple hours, so the mixture didn't get knocked off on the grill.  
Really, its pretty generic, you could use about any breading recipe, Dizzy Pig, etc.  What was a revelation to me, here, was adding the oil halfway thru cooking, just need to make sure your dredge has flour in it to absorb the oil.  

I had some dry brined breast ready so I used an egg wash to get it to stick. Worked out really well. Didn’t love the smoke from the bge but I would definitely do again in the oven. We served over cauliflower mash with tarragon mustard sauce with some asparagus on the side. 

nolaegghead

looks great man

CigarCityEgger

Gonna have to try this one, thanks for sharing!

Canugghead

@Botch thanks for sharing, bookmarked and plan to try it in my pellet pooper.

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

... Didn’t love the smoke from the bge but I would definitely do again in the oven...

@The Cen-Tex Smoker  since getting my pellet pooper I seldom cook chicken in egg, just don't like the smoke flavour of egg cooked chicken, especially leftover chicken, even with no smoking wood added.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Canugghead said:

@Botch thanks for sharing, bookmarked and plan to try it in my pellet pooper.

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

... Didn’t love the smoke from the bge but I would definitely do again in the oven...

@The Cen-Tex Smoker  since getting my pellet pooper I seldom cook chicken in egg, just don't like the smoke flavour of egg cooked chicken, especially leftover chicken, even with no smoking wood added.

I love chicken cooked in a bge. It’s one of my favo(u)rite cooks. I just didn’t like smoky “fried” chicken. I never add wood to chicken cooks though. Lump is enough. 

What kind of pellet pooper did you get? 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Botch said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

What’s the flour mixture? Any binder (egg/buttermilk etc)? I have several brined breasteses that I may do this with tonight. 

it was:
2 cups flour
3 Tblspns granulated garlic (I used 2 of powdered, as I didn't have granulated)
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 Tblspn black pepper
1 tsp salt
 
No binders/liquids, just remove the parts from the brine and roll in the flour, patting it on to make it stick.  The recipe did state it was important to let it sit in the frig after dredging for a couple hours, so the mixture didn't get knocked off on the grill.  
Really, its pretty generic, you could use about any breading recipe, Dizzy Pig, etc.  What was a revelation to me, here, was adding the oil halfway thru cooking, just need to make sure your dredge has flour in it to absorb the oil.  

Btw- I used a spray olive oil to coat toward the end. That worked really well to criap it up. Hardly used any at all. Maybe a Half or full second spray per side per breast. Very little calories/oil added. We will be using this again for sure. Think I will find a way to work Sous Vide into the cook. Maybe ice bath, then bread it and finish in the oven. I’ll post the results. 

Slippy

That looks pretty good... One of our local BBQ joints is said to have the best fried chicken in town. I have not had it yet, but it's supposed to be a bit smokey... I was wondering how they do that, then I read an article about their technique, they smoke the brine water...I thought that was pretty interesting... 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Slippy said:

That looks pretty good... One of our local BBQ joints is said to have the best fried chicken in town. I have not had it yet, but it's supposed to be a bit smokey... I was wondering how they do that, then I read an article about their technique, they smoke the brine water...I thought that was pretty interesting... 

There are a lot of people out there making smoked ice for cocktails but smoked brine water is a cool idea. let us know how it is. if you like it, this would be a good way to get that smoky flavor on "fried" chicken.

Slippy

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

That looks pretty good... One of our local BBQ joints is said to have the best fried chicken in town. I have not had it yet, but it's supposed to be a bit smokey... I was wondering how they do that, then I read an article about their technique, they smoke the brine water...I thought that was pretty interesting... 

There are a lot of people out there making smoked ice for cocktails but smoked brine water is a cool idea. let us know how it is. if you like it, this would be a good way to get that smoky flavor on "fried" chicken.

It's on my list, but everytime I go in there, I smell that brisket, and that's all she wrote... The place is called Slowbone.

Legume

Slowbone- hahahaha. @Botch will say wbagnfarb, but I think that would be a great bbq forum name

thetrim

Super cool idea.  Did you brine in pickle juice?  I heard that's supposed to be pretty good.

Moleman

Botch, do you recall the temp for the original removal for the oil if using breasts instead of thighs? Thanks. 

Botch

Moleman said:

Botch, do you recall the temp for the original removal for the oil if using breasts instead of thighs? Thanks. 

The original recipe called for 30 minutes over charcoal, 45 minutes over gas, before oiling the chicken (no temps given); the only time temperature was mentioned was at the end, pull at 190.  It also was for wings only; I used thighs and you're using breasts.  You probably shouldn't take breasts past 160, and I'm not sure if oil even "fries" at that low a temp.  Sorry I can't help, but am interested in how it comes out for you (I love breasts too).   

Botch

thetrim said:

Super cool idea.  Did you brine in pickle juice?  I heard that's supposed to be pretty good.

Never heard of that, but I'm constantly pouring a cup of pickle juice down my disposal (I love dill pickles), will save it up and give that a try, thanks!  

Carolina Q

Found the Cook's Country episode of this cook (wings) if anyone's interested. 

https://www.cookscountry.com/videos/3948-grill-fried-chicken-wings

pgprescott

Winner, winner, ..... well you know the rest. I saw that episode also and thought it looked good. Nice to see the confirmation. Bravo!

JohnEggGio

Gonna try this - thanks!

Canugghead

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

What kind of pellet pooper did you get? 

I have the Traeger PRO 34, tempted to upgrade to the new PRO Series 780 with WiFire and direct drive motor. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Canugghead said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

What kind of pellet pooper did you get? 

I have the Traeger PRO 34, tempted to upgrade to the new PRO Series 780 with WiFire and direct drive motor. 

what do you use it for? smoking mostly, I imagine?