Hickory Smoked Chicken Breasts
Smoked chicken breasts are easy to ruin, but a short cold brine of salt, honey and hot cider vinegar keeps them seasoned and moist all the way through. The herbs go into the brine, and a rub of cayenne, paprika and lemon pepper forms the crust. Hickory chunks supply the smoke at a low 225°F. Most of the salt is discarded with the brine, so the meat is not overly salty.
Instructions
Put the salt, honey, chopped rosemary and thyme, and the hot vinegar into a gallon-size zip-top bag. Add the ice and shake until most of it has melted and the brine has cooled.
Add the chicken to the bag and refrigerate it for 1 to 2 hours. Lift the breasts out of the brine and pat them dry with paper towels.
Mix the lemon pepper, cracked peppercorns, chili powder, cayenne and paprika. Rub the mixture gently over both sides of each breast.
Load enough hickory chunks into the smoker's firebox to hold the temperature at about 225°F. Push a probe thermometer into one breast and put the chicken in the smoker.
Cook, replacing the hickory chunks as they burn down, until the probe reads 165°F inside. Move the chicken to a plate and let it rest uncovered for 5 minutes, then serve warm.
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