Who likes tacos?

[Chezmatt]

This weekend my brother-in-law and his family were in town, and I was tasked (poor me) with cooking for 24 people. I figured that everybody likes tacos, so here we go.

I'm a big believer in giving people options, so I decided to do pork and chicken on the smoker for the meats. For the pork, I went with a couple of 5lb butts rubbed with kosher salt, paprika, chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin, corriander, oregano, and (a little bit of) cinnamon.

Here they are getting happy on the WSM:



While those were smoking, I brined some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in water with kosher salt and brown sugar. Then I dried them off and rubbed them with chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and black pepper. Once the butts were done, they got foiled and into the cooler to rest. The chicken then went on the WSM:



I smoked the chicken for about an hour, and then put them in an aluminum roasting pan, covered it in foil, and put the whole thing in the oven until the IT was 165.

Now it was time to serve. First, the pork got pulled, leaving behind some clean bones:







I chopped the chicken thighs with a cleaver into tasty cubes of pollo:



Here's the meat with all the fixins: tortillas, pickled onions, pickled jalapenos, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, etc. I also made a couple of homemade salsas, one green and one red.



I have to say, I was really happy with how this all turned out. I've made the chicken before, and it's always a crowd pleaser, but the pork rub was made up on the spot, and it turned out great.

Thanks for looking!

 

[OklaDustDevil]

Wow! That looks like quite a feast!!

 

[Tobrien]

Mmmmmm......Tacos! Awesome spread!

 

[ssv3]

I sure do. Especially tacos like those. Flavor profile sounds spot on according to the ingredients. :thumb:

 

[Titch]

Looks and sounds delicious mate,More info on the Chicken pls

 

[Our2Girls]

That looks amazing. Great job

 

[Garyclaw]

Fantastic, Chez!

 

[BigThicket]

Looks delicious!

 

[smoke ninja]

 

[tom72]

Oh man...I want some of that chicken!

 

[Pig_Farmer]

That whole spread looks awesome. I'm sure everyone enjoyed it. Great cook!

 

[kevinstaggs]

Pulled pork tacos - the KING of tacos.


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[Chezmatt]

Looks and sounds delicious mate,More info on the Chicken pls

Sure. I started with boneless/skinless thighs, about 7 lbs. I brined them in a quart of water with 2 tbsp of kosher salt and 4 tbsp of brown sugar. I left them in the brine, in the fridge, for about two hours.

I took them out of the brine, and dried them off with some paper towels, then hit them with a rub that I found in a Bobby Flay recipe a few years back:

2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt (it's already got some salt from the brine)
1/2 tsp black pepper

I had the WSM up to about 290, and I put them on in a single layer. After about 20-30 minutes, I flipped them. A little while later (not sure how long), I started checking temps. When they hit around 145-150, I put them in an aluminum foil pan, and covered it with foil. (This keeps them from drying out.) The coals in the WSM were running low, and I wanted to move into the kitchen for prep, so I put them in the oven at 350. When the IT hit 165, I took them out for chopping. At this point, they were still juicy. : )

Final step is just chopping with a big ole' cleaver and serving with the toppings and sides. The crowd was about 50/50 on whether they preferred the chicken or the pork.

 

[Pug-N-Monk's BBQ]

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Now that is what you call good eats

 

[Stingerhook]

Yes please!!!!!!!

 

[BillN]

Oh yeah you did good.

 

[Smoking Piney]

Killer feast! :thumb: