•Chicken can be cured, rinsed, and patted dry 1 day ahead of cold-smoking and chilled, wrapped in plastic wrap.
•Chicken can be cold-smoked (but not baked) 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before baking.
•Baked smoked chicken keeps, chilled, 1 week, or frozen 2 months.
Recipe information
Total Time
14 hr (includes curing and smoking)
Yield
Makes about 3 pounds
Ingredients
Special Equipment
Preparation
Cure chicken:
Step 1
Boil 2 cups water, star anise, ginger, and zest in a 1-quart saucepan, covered, 5 minutes, then cool infusion, uncovered, to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Step 2
Stir together kosher salt, Insta Cure, and remaining 4 cups water in storage tub until solids are dissolved, about 3 minutes, then add brown sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and cooled infusion (with solids). Add ice and stir until cure is cold (ice may not melt completely; keeping liquid cold slows salt absorption).
Step 3
Add chicken to cure and weight down with a large plate (to keep submerged). Chill, tub covered with a lid or plastic wrap, 4 to 6 hours.
Step 4
Rinse chicken and pat dry, then discard brine.
Prepare grill and cold-smoke chicken:
Step 5
Open vents on bottom of grill and on lid. Remove lid and top rack from grill, then center disposable roasting pan on lower rack and add 1 1/2 cups sawdust to pan.
Step 6
Light 6 charcoal briquettes in chimney starter. When briquettes are fully lit (covered completely with gray ash and glowing), transfer with tongs to sawdust, spacing evenly.
Step 7
When sawdust begins to smolder, replace top rack and arrange chicken legs on rack about 1 inch apart. Cover grill with lid, then insert thermometer into a vent hole in lid to monitor air temperature, which should be 80 to 120°F. (If temperature rises above 120°F, remove 1 or more briquettes or uncover grill slightly until temperature falls. If temperature falls below 80°F or sawdust stops burning, light 1 more briquette and add to sawdust.)
Step 8
Smoke chicken, adding 1 1/2 cups sawdust to roasting pan and stirring with tongs every 1 1/2 hours to ignite unburned sawdust, 6 hours. (Chicken will not be cooked.)
Bake chicken:
Step 9
Put oven rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil an 11- by 17-inch roasting pan. Transfer smoked chicken, skin sides up, to pan and bake until the thickest part of a thigh registers 170°F on thermometer, about 25 minutes. Cool completely, uncovered, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until ready to serve.
