Give me your best pulled chicken recipe

sudsandswine

Quintessential Chatty Farker
Joined
Jun 23, 2012
Location
Kansas City
Never made pulled chicken before, although I’ve cooked plenty of thighs or quarters they could have been. I’m trying to make some pre-packaged easy to heat meals for some people that will need them and want something besides brisket and pulled pork. I plan to vacuum seal in 1-2lb portions for quick drop in hot water meals if that matters.

Thanks :thumb:
 
I would go with boneless,skinless thighs for ease of pulling.I prefer split chicken breast myself but they are some trouble.

Season and sear then braise in chicken broth until tender. Shred meat dressing with reserved cooking liquid and additional rub to taste.

Pretty much the same deal here.... only I use bone-in skinless thighs and make a butter broth. The first photo is seasoned chicken ready for the pit.

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This photo is after 45 minutes or so. If needed I'll add more broth and a pat of butter and sometimes will cover. I take the internal pretty high 190° +.

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In the middle is some pulled turkey thighs with exactly the same method. I use the butter broth for basting.

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Smoke whole chicken or turkey until internal temps are 140 or so, then wrap tightly to finish. Let it rest a hour. When ready to pull, save the skin and any juices that collect in the foil. Sliver the skin and render in a heavy skillet (with a little oil if you like) until very crispy. Crumble the skin into the pulled meat and add collected juices.
 
Use Healo chicken bone broth in your recipe to keep the chicken moist and flavorful. It adds a delicious depth of flavor and can enhance the dish's overall taste. Vacuum sealing in 1-2lb portions is perfect for easy and convenient meals. Best of luck with your cooking and I hope the recipients enjoy the flavorful pulled chicken!
 
I like all of the suggestions and ideas that have been posted. I may use some of the information to refine my methods. Here is how I do my pulled chicken and it is done on the cheap side. I am writing this for people who might be new to this so if any of this information seems repetitive, I apologize.

I start with a ten pound bag of leg/thigh quarters. After you drain the water from the bag, you have already lost 1.5 pounds of weight. Trimming the excess fat and skin will also reduce the pre-cooked weight another half-pound or so. In addition to the quarters, I cut up a whole chicken that weighs about five pounds. Cut the backbone out of the carcass and reserve for stock. Remove the leg/thigh quarters and wings. I save the wings for later use. This leaves two quarters and a whole chicken breast that will also be cooked with the other quarters. I use no rub, marinade, injection or baste. All of these items will go on my 18" WSM. I cook at 300F until they are done at 165F+. Allow up to three hours of cooking time.

Once the meat has cooked and cooled to a point it can be pulled, bone the meat. This is lot easier to do when the chicken is still warm. The skin and bones are used for stock if you want to make stock. When pulling the leg meat, be aware that there is a small needle type shin bone that separates from the main leg bone. Always make sure you check to make sure that needle bone is removed! I pull the breast meat as well. I freeze most of the meat and I find it best to leave the meat in bigger pieces. You can cut them down further after they are thawed and ready to use in your recipe. After it is all said and done, I usually wind up with about five pounds of meat of the original fifteen pounds for about a 33% yield.

When I freeze the meat, I weigh it out in one pound servings. I don't own a vaccu-seal. My poor boy method is to wrap the meat liberally in plastic wrap and place it in a quart sized freezer bag. I put a small piece of cardboard with the marking of the content and the date of freezing written on the paper inside the bag. One pound of pulled chicken is pretty close to four cup in volume.

You will notice that I use no spices before or after cooking the meat. The only flavor I introduce to the meat is smoke. I feel by not spicing the meat, it makes it more versatile for its usage. I use the pulled chicken in a variety of recipes including: tacos/burritos, chicken salad, soups, casseroles and even pulled BBQ sandwiches. Each of these styles use a different flavor profile and by not seasoning the meat during or after cooking, the preferred flavor profile for the recipe at hand is made easier by not trying to cover another flavor already there. If I feel the chicken does need a little moisture, I always have chicken stock to add to the meat before it is used.

That about covers how this poor boy does his pulled chicken. I don't waste a clucking thing on chicken. If any one is interested, I can post my stock recipe.

Lager,

Juggy
 
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Maylar, I wasn't active on the forum back when it was originally posted so it "looked" like a new thread to me. I never paid attention to the dates of the posts in this thread until now. The only date I look at is the time of the last post. I did read all the posts, just not all the dates of the posts. Just like my driving, I need to pay better attention. It did give me an excuse to post my pulled chicken techniques that I had been wanting to post for a while. I guess CivilTrojan liked it. All in good fun! LOL - Juggy
 
Use Healo chicken bone broth in your recipe to keep the chicken moist and flavorful. It adds a delicious depth of flavor and can enhance the dish's overall taste. Vacuum sealing in 1-2lb portions is perfect for easy and convenient meals. Best of luck with your cooking and I hope the recipients enjoy the flavorful pulled chicken! 🍗🥣 Check out https://healofoods.com/products/heritage-chicken-bone-broth for more info.


Oh, fixed here some errors. Thanks
 
You guys do realize that this is a 2 yr old thread, right?

Just so happens that I've been asked to provide pulled chicken (and pulled pork) for a wedding rehearsal dinner in Tennessee in late September. So this was a perfectly timed thread bump for me since I've never made pulled chicken.

Thanks Juggy. Gonna bookmark this one.
 
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