Stovetop Smoker Highway Chicken
Apartment dwellers, rejoice! Yes, you, too, can savor the magical taste of smoked food, right from your apartment, no need to go outside. Yup, that's right, smoking food on top of your stove and not having the smoke alarm blaring. All you need is a stock pot with a pasta insert, some foil, some wood chips, some protein, and a little bit of patience.
Calories per serving: 549kcal
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, whole or two Cornish Hens
Brine
- ¼ cup Kosher Salt
- ¼ cup Brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Cider Vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon Whole allspice
- ¼ tablespoon Herbs de Provence
- ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper, freshly ground
- 2 cups Water
- 1 quart Ice cubes
- 2 cups cold Water
Dry Rub
- 3 Tablespoons Sea Salt
- 4 Tablespoons Black Pepper, freshly ground
- 4 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
- 4 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 4 Tablespoons Mustard Seed, ground
The Glaze
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 Tablespoon Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon *Olive Oil
Instructions
For the Rub
- Mis en place for rub
- Mix all the ingredients together in a spice grinder, or use a mortar and pestle. You will have rub left over to use another time. Put in a jar and store in a cool dry place.
For the Glaze
- Mise en place for glaze
- Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.
For the Brine
- Mise en place for the brine
- Combine all ingredients EXCEPT ice and last 2 cups of water in a very large bowl that will hold a couple of quarts of liquid. Stir well. Transfer to a 4-quart saucepan and bring just to a rolling boil. Immediately turn off heat.
- Return to original bowl and add ice and remaining water. Stir to thoroughly chill.
- Place cleaned bird in the liquid. Cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator. After 1 hour, turn the birds over and continue to refrigerate until ready to cook. They should not be brined for more than 2 hours.
For the Pot
- Line the bottom of your pan with a large piece of wadded up foil. Is the foil going to protect your pan from staining? No, not really, but if you're using stainless steel, it's not going to affect the taste, it just won't look as new as it did before.
- Then, you want to drain the wood. The best way to do that is in a colander. You don't want any wood going down the garbage disposal, so be careful.
- Make a little basket of foil to put the wood in. Put the wood in the basket, and have another piece of foil ready to put on top. Don't completely seal it, just loosely covered.
- Put the packet of wood in the bottom of the pot on top of the foil that is in there. Turn the heat on under the pan. From here you will want to work rather quickly.
- Remove the chicken from the brine and rinse it off.
- Take scissors and cut down the back. Use your hands to press down on the breast and flatten the chicken as much as possible. You could also cover it with foil and use a cast iron skillet to do the work for you.
- Get the chicken and put the rub on it, getting into all the little nooks and crannies.
- Put the chicken in the steamer insert. If you have two chickens, layer another steamer, the foldable kind will do fine, on top of the one already in, and put the other chicken on top of that.
- Lower the pasta insert into the pan and cover the pan. The pan will be very hot, so you have to be careful not to burn yourself.
- Leave it at high for about 5 minutes, then reduce it to medium and keep it at medium for about 25 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, and let the pan sit for another 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and have ready a sheet pan lined with foil. Take the chickens out of the smoker and put them on the sheet pan. Test their internal temperature, it should be very close to done.
- Paint the glaze on the chickens.
- Put them in the hot oven. Cook them until they have a nice looking glaze and the internal temperature is 165F/73C, about 15 minutes.
- Now your chicken is ready to serve. Enjoy!
Notes
For the brine - Have an extra bottle of beer? Add it to the brine before you put the chicken in.
The browning and glaze can also be done in an air fryer if the chicken is small enough to fit. Put the chicken on a rack and roast at 400 for 7 minutes.
Scan for full nutrition info and step-by-step photos.
