Crispy Grill Fried Chicken

Crispy Grill "Fried" Chicken

This is a great way to cook "fried" chicken if you want to reduce your fat intake and still enjoy crispy and delicious chicken. In fact, if I didn't tell you, you would never know the chicken was cooked in a smoker rather than a deep fryer.

You will need:


1.) One chicken cut it into pieces. (Use the leftover backbone and the giblets to make chicken soup.)

I prefer to use a 3 1/2 to 4 pound chicken because the smaller pieces cook in about the amount of time it takes for the crust to turn golden brown. Larger pieces of chicken may cause the crust to burn before it's done and smaller pieces may result in under cooked crust by the time the chicken is done.

2.) A smoker or grill using indirect heat warmed up to 350 degrees F. Make sure the fire is burning clean before putting the chicken in the smoker.

3.) Chicken brine made of the following:

1 gallon of water
3/4 cup of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBS of Black Pepper
2 TBS Ground Celery Seed
1 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Boil 2 cups of water and add the ingredients. Let it simmer until the sugar and salt are well dissolved. Pour the mixture in a container that will hold the entire gallon. Fill the container to the one gallon mark with cold water. Mix and let cool to at least 35 degrees F. I put ice in mine and keep ice in it while the chicken is brining. By the way, I didn't need the whole gallon of brine, but I made a whole gallon never the less.

Once the brine has cooled, put the chicken in a non-salt reactive container and put enough brine in it to cover the chicken. Adding a little ice doesn't hurt either. Place the container of brine and chicken in the fridge and let it sit for 1 1/2 to 3 hours.

After the brine, rinse and dry the chicken pieces with paper towels.

4.) Make a flour and seasoning mixture of:

1 1/2 cups of Wondra flour (Basically bread flour, this is a key ingredient)
1 cup Panko Bread crumbs
2 TBS Black Pepper
1 TBS Sea Salt
1 TBS Granulated Garlic
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a zip lock bag.

5.) Make an egg wash using only the egg whites of 3 eggs and about 1/4 cup of water.

Dip the chicken pieces in the egg wash and then put them one at a time in the zip lock bag and shake it until each piece is well coated with flour. Shake off the excess and set the chicken aside to rest for about 3 minutes maximum which means your smoker should be ready to go before you apply the flour and seasonings to the chicken.

6.) Give the chicken a light spray of Pam spray vegetable oil and put it in the smoker.

7.) Let the chicken cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Make sure internal temp is at 180 degrees F minimum in each piece. Use an accurate meat thermometer to check.

Keep in mind, at 180 degrees F internal the chicken will be well done. However, some of it will be a little pink on the inside as that is just what happens when you cook chicken in a BBQ smoker.


8.) Enjoy!