Young Chicken Dry Rubbed & Smoked w/ Kiawe Wood

I received a sample shipment of Hawaiian Kiawe Wood from fellow Brethren Saiko, who was kind enough to send me for a trade of my rubs. I was very intrigued by his description of the kind of smoke it creates, so I was eager to try it. As I picked up a piece of the wood, I realized how heavy and dense it was. This is going to be interesting!



I thought a fresh young chicken would be the perfect candidate to see how the smoke from this wood impacts the flavor profile of meat. Here it is all rubbed down with my Chicken Rub #2, my seasoned pepper, and rosemary sprigs underneath the skin:



I put a nice sized chunk of Kiawe wood on my hot coals, and smoked the chicken indirect for an hour. Finished it off with a nice direct sear to get some crispy goodness on the skin.



I was not disappointed with the outcome. The Kiawe wood produced a very distinct, fragrant, mellow smoke, and the flavor it imparted to the chicken was equally as good. Can't wait to try this with Pork. I REALLY like this stuff! Thanks, Saiko! :smile:

landarc said:

So, how much like mesquite, or not like mesquite?

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While Kiawe is related to Mesquite, it has a totally different flavor profile. As I said in my first post, it's mellow and fragrant. Haven't had anything like it before or even that I can compare it to.

landarc said:

Moose, I just wanted to verify before buying some, as some folks don't find mesquite too strong. Thanks to you and Saiko for the information.

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No problemo. I actually found some on E-bay and placed an order. Good stuff.

Saiko said:

The biggest problem with buying Kiawe is that it is so dense and heavy that it's like shipping rocks. I have some contacts in Maui that I could call and see if they are interested in shipping to the mainland. Might save a few dollars.

Another option is to just fly there and bring some home with you. That will only cost you a few thousand bucks. :biggrin:

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The latter option is certainly the most attractive of the two, if we don't factor costs in. But seriously, I got a pretty decent deal on e-bay; 20lbs for $23 shipping inclusive. Plus the seller agreed to cut it to spec for me. Again, thanks for turning me on to this wood. Looking forward to more cooks with it!

Saiko said:

That's actually a good deal. It cost me about a buck a pound to ship direct from the post office in Maui (parcel post) to Atlanta, and that doesn't include the cost of the wood. Of course I'm East coast and your West coast, so you get a break there. If it's coming from Oahu, I'd be interested to here if you can tell any difference between the wood from Maui compared to Oahu.

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Saiko, it would appear that the package will ship from Mililani; not sure if that is on Maui or the Big Island. Maybe I should just ship you a sample box and you can let me know what you think?