Young Chicken Dry Rubbed & Smoked w/ Kiawe Wood

[Moose]

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!

[landarc]

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

[Saiko]

Well, that makes at least three of us in the mainland that are smoking with Kiawe, glad you liked it!
Yeah, that wood is extremely dense, I had to sharpen my chainsaw twice when I was chunking it up.
Chicken looks incredible, very nicely done. I grilled some chicken this week on the same Kiawe and really liked how it came out. Didn't look as nice as yours though.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by landarc

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

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.

[Gore]

That wood sure is purdy, and
that chicken sure is purdy too!

[landarc]

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.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by landarc

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.

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

[Saiko]

Originally Posted by Moose

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

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.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by Saiko

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.

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!

[bigabyte]

Looks great! This Kiawe wood sounds pretty cool.

[Saiko]

Originally Posted by Moose

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.

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.

[deguerre]

That wood has a beautiful color. Chix look good too!

[Moose]

Originally Posted by Saiko

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.

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?

[Saiko]

Originally Posted by Moose

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?

I'll rely on your sensitive palate to let me know if you can taste the difference, too many years of assaulting my palate with high-heat Indian and Thai have scarred my tastebuds for life.

Oh, and on a side note,
Mililani is on Oahu (the same island that has Honolulu). The Big Island is kind of out there on it's own on the eastern edge of the islands, with all the active volcanos. A lot of people get the Big Island and Oahu mixed up, but Oahu has by far the biggest population (900,000 plus).
The Big Island, although the largest of the islands, has a much smaller population (around 200,000). Just thought I'd throw that out there.