Too much hickory or....

[PolishSmoker]

...a bad combination?

   Last night I grilled some boneless/skinless chicken breasts. I used indirect heat with two baskets full of briquettes (yeah, too much).  After playing with the vents to get the temp down I put four chunks of hickory for smoke. My chicken was rubbed with a smoked paprika rub and placed in the middle of the grill. After 30 minutes or so the chicken was moist and tender but had a terrible aftertaste.

   Did I use too much hickory? Does hickory clash with paprika? Does chicken not go well with hickory?

  Any ideas will help.

Cheers,

Tony

[WNC]

Hey Tony, first of all welcome to the club!
I'm sure there will be a lot of advice coming, I've never "smoked" boneless skinless chicken breasts, but here's my two cents...

Hickory and paprika do go together, however I've never heard of just using paprika by its self, I'd think you would want to blend it with other spices (things like salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder would be a good start. So just paprika could be the after taste, but I'm not sure.

Four chunks of hickory for chicken breasts does sound like a lot, and I'm one of the people who like a heavier smoke. But some people do find too heavy of a smoke off putting, and that could lead to an off taste. Hickory does have a strong flavor, fruit woods, like apple or cherry, are gonna be a lot more mild.

Another thing to consider is having a clean burning fire. You said you adjusted the vents to bring the temp down, do you remember how they were set? You want to keep a positive air flow, where the top vent is more open than the bottom vents. That's going to let you fire breathe or exhaust properly. If the top is closed more than the bottom you're gonna get a build up of "stale" smoke, and that would definitely create an off taste.

There's a lot of things to consider, so maybe some more details about you cook, vent settings, spices used, etc...

Again, just my initial ideas, the great thing about grilling is you get to learn and experiment, and this is a great forum where plenty of people will offer advice and tips! Keep it up, and don't be afraid to ask questions!

[Jason]

@WNC covered that pretty darn well!

For chicken on the grill, my preference is to not use any smoke wood at all. Once your charcoal of choice is burning cleanly, the marinade, or rub you use, and smoke from the coal might be all the flavor you want. 

[1911Ron]

Poultry will take on smoke real quick and over smoking can happen.  Most will use fruit wood as was said earlier as it is milder, or as Jason has said no smoke wood at all.   The tip about mixing spices is a good one, salt, pepper and garlic is a good start.

[MrHoss]

I used to use Hickory exclusively. I find it too strong now. Now I hardly ever use it. White Oak is my go to wood now....either straight up or as barrel chunks.....with Cherry being used lately as I am able to source some very good stuff.

My experience mirrors Ron's as well in that poultry takes on dirty smoke fast. You gotta watch it.

If I have dirty smoke with food on the grill...........and can't fix it in 5 minutes or so I'll go ahead and pull the wood. Change it up with another piece maybe.

[Plant_City_Mike]

Great Question!!

I do a lot of boneless skinless chicken too.  And I use hickory, but only for the first 10 - 15 minutes after I put the chicken on.  I find that more smoke can be too much.  I am also constantly smelling my smoke.  If it doesn't smell absolutely awesome, then I don't want it on my food.  Sometimes wood gets wet and can sour, giving it a rather nasty smell when burned.  So I use a good dry rub, then smoke it for the first 10-15 minutes, cook it on direct heat for 5 or so minutes to char any bits of fat, then finish it indirectly.  In the last 10 minutes, I lightly baste my chicken with my fav bbq sauce, cut with a little cider vinegar, and with a little honey and extra dry rub added.  Flip it, baste the other side, wait for it to get sticky and then take it up.  Yummy!

[Shafzilla]

The only time I smoked chicken breast, I had them wrapped in bacon. I used apple wood(2 chunks). The bacon was nice and smokey and the chicken had tasted just slightly smokey.(less than 1/4 inch of smoke ring). I'm guessing the bacon kinda protected the chicken from too much smoke and also stopped the chicken from getting to dried out.

Like others said, my top vent is rarely moved from being fully open.

[PolishSmoker]

Boneless/skinless chicken breasts take two >SNAP<

Tried it again last night.  Only one basket of coals (included some leftovers from previous failure) is much easier to control.  My temp topped out at about 425 F and I was able to bring it down to 350 using the bottom vents.  I skipped the hickory, used a sweet chipotle rub (it was fantastic), and sat back and waited.  After 35 minutes my chicken was at 170 and ready to rest.  While it rested I wrapped some asparagas (w/EVOO, seasoning, and parmesan cheese) in foil and put it on the grill.  Everything turned out great. 

Clearly my mistakes were using too much heat (one basket is plenty), too much smoke (one chunk would have been enough) and using the top vents to control temp (stale smoke).  Thankfully it was a cheap lesson. 

Thanks for helping me recover my pride! 

Cheers,

Tony

[WNC]

Awesome! Glad it worked out for you. Yeah, always use the bottom vents first to control temps. I'll close 'em down all the way before I start messing with the top vent.

And take some pics and post them the cooks section!

[Troy]

After 35 minutes my chicken was at 170 and ready to rest.

I'm glad your 2nd attempt worked out better!!
Next time pull your breasts around 163 and they'll come up to 165 while resting.

[Texmech]

I have found that mesquite wood goes great with chicken.