Bland Chicken

Unknown

Cooked the most moist chicken this weekend however it was rather bland. Any suggestions on seasonings? Fear of over salting.
Thanks-
PeeWee

mad max beyond eggdome

PeeWee,
go to www.dizzypigbbq.com. . ..get some of the best rubs you ever ate. . .. we LOVE Tsunami Spin on chicken. . .[p]

Smokey

PeeWee,[p]I have to echo Max's post. One of the best things about the Dizzy Pig rubs is that they have very little salt. Many commercial rubs seem to have salt as the first ingredient ... not Dizzy Pig.[p]Smokey

Unknown

PeeWee,[p]ALso in additon to rubs (or in lieu of) try marinating your chicken. For a whole chicken or partts with the bones in I'd let it got for about a day... Skinless breasts I marinate for about 30 min to 1 hour at most.[p]OR, for a whole chicken (butterflied) or parts you can brine them.. this adds a lot of flavor through out the meat... My basic chicken brine is 1/4 cup kosher salt for 4 cups of water and 2 garlic cloves mashed to a paste (or minced fine)... put chicken in brine for about 90 minutes... remove chicken and rinse off the salty brine (or your bird will be salty. I then dry off the bird.. apply some oil and rub and cook. [p]Give it a try... either mainating or brining adds flavor through out the meat where the rub just doesn't seem to penetrate (particularly the thicker breasts). My favorite has been to brine then rub.[p]Cheers, [p]Brian

Unknown

Smokey,
This is true- Dizzy Pig makes some very kickass rubs. Most commercial rubs are full of salt as filler- but this can also be a little decieving. . . .
Salt as the first ingrdient isnt as bad as it seems, since salt is very heavy compared to most spices, and the order of the ingridient list is by weight, it actually doent take much salt to make it come first on the list. But yes- you can't go wrong wit da Pig- i jusr replenished my supply. . .[p]And just as an aside. . . . .
When rubbing a chicken, remember that any rub that you apply to the skin will only flavor the skin (as skin is designed to keep things out). You can add flavor and spice but putting stuff under the skin and any exposed meat area- such as the bottom side of a butterflied chicken, or the inside cavity of a whole bird.

mad max beyond eggdome

WailingAngusBeef,
i agree about rub on the bird. .. i usually do beer butt chickens, and i make sure to put about a heaping tblspoon of rub inside the cavity, and i put a spoonfull directly in the beer can so that it will add to the 'steam' as it cooks inside the chicken. . .. [p]imho, tsunami spin chicken is the best. .

Unknown

Nardi,
Thanks.I typically brine using equal parts of sugar and salt. On this occassion, I only used a store brand marinate. Will repeat with the combination of brine and dizzy rub.
Take care-
Pee Wee

Unknown

PeeWee,[p]Try adding one or two mashed garlic cloves to your brine... adds a nice garlic flavor thorugh out the meat.[p]Brian

RhumAndJerk

PeeWee,
I vote for Jerk Chicken! Get or make a good wet jerk paste. Put the wet rub on the chicken and let it sit in the refrigerator for two days and the cook it as you normally would. You will have all of the flavor that you are looking for.[p]Some other tips:
1. You could try injectible marinades.
2. Try adding some smoking wood to the fire and cook the chicken at a 250 for about 10 minutes and then kick the heat up to 350 to finish the cooking.
3. Here is an outrageously simple way to cook boneless chicken. Get the breast to an even thickness and sprinkle them with fresh lime juice and kosher salt. Let it sit for about 15 minutes and the grill over 350. When they are done, slice them up for fajitas. [p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk[p]

BobinFla

mad max beyond eggdome,
That Jamaican Firewalk is excellent on chickies, too.