Chicken in pickle juice recipe

Have you ever heard that pickles and chicken go great together? I mean, you’ve probably had Chick-Fil-A before right? They swear by marinating their chicken in pickle juice. To be honest, I don’t disagree. Their chicken recipe is AMAZING. There is no better combo than this chicken recipe. Marinate your chicken in pickle juice for for 24 hours. Cover in your favorite seasoning then add to your smoker. Easily, the best chicken recipe you will have.

If you are more daring and want to try something completely out of this world (literally) then check out this cricket taco recipe.

This chicken recipe is funny because I was making the marinade on a Saturday. On Sunday, I told my wife what I was making and was so excited that I “was the first to ever think of this”. She then quickly informed me of all the places that have done this and that I was silly for thinking I was the first person. It turns out, I’m not the first.

Anyway, once I was taken off my high horse, I was forced to finish dinner. In fact, with my tail between my legs, I finished this easy chicken marinade recipe.

Chicken in Pickle Juice Ingredients

• 1 Whole chicken
• As many pickles and pickle juices you can find – pro tip: you will need more than you think (I ran out)
• Banana peppers and juices
• Your favorite pre-made rub – I used this
• Boss move – steal this pickle hot sauce recipe
• Bear Mountain Smoke Ems

Start by placing your whole chicken into a bowl large enough to have it fit.

Next, add as much pickle juice as you can. I literally took every single pickle jar out of my fridge for this. I severely underestimated how much juice it would take to cover a whole chicken.

In fact, because I ran out, I decided to throw in some banana pepper juice as well. I figured that will give a bit of a kick similar to pickle juice. I was right.

Next, I added the pickles from the jars to the marinade. I figured this will give even more flavor and I don’t say this often but I was right again.

I then added some homemade pickle sea salt. You can find a similar recipe here.

Why Soak Chicken in Pickle Juice?

In fact, this is the same thing as brining your chicken or even marinading it. We are just using pickle juice for this brine. The main reason I decided to use pickle juice is simple. I LOVE pickles. The other reason is that it helps keeps moisture inside the chicken. If you watch my video down below, you can see that the chicken was dripping everywhere because it was so juicy. Truly, the pickle juice acts as a guard to keep the chicken moist and will not dry it out. Plus, the flavor is incredible.

Next, cover your chicken with saran wrap and set your timer for 24 hours.

You Might be Thinking Similar to How I Think.

“If I want more pickle flavor, why don’t I just marinade it for longer”

Marinading up to 24 hours is the MAX amount of time you should marinate chicken for. Anything longer can lead to bacteria growing. According to Google 🙂

Next, preheat your smoker to 400 degrees and get ready to prep the chicken. I am using my trusty Grilla Grills Mammoth.

Moreover, after 24 hours, you can take your chicken out of the fridge and unwrap. Mine looked like this.

Indeed, your chicken will have a green tint to it. Therefore, THIS IS NORMAL.

Finally, pat dry your chicken. The less moisture on the outside means that your chicken will not steam in your smoker. As a result, we are smoking the chicken, not steaming it.

Then, add your favorite seasoning. I use this pre-made seasoning.

Right before adding your chicken to your smoker. Throw on some Smoke Ems from Bear Mountain BBQ.

Just add your Smoke Ems to the diffuser as shown in the third photo. Please excuse my stupid looking face in that photo :).

Now, string your chicken legs up and hang from the included Mammoth included hooks.

PS – I struggled a bit doing this. Although, I pat dry the chicken the best I could, it was still damp and a bit slimy. Hanging it is worth it though!

After 45 – 1.5 hours, pull your chicken out when it hits 165 degrees.

Trust me when I say this – this was easiest one of the best pieces of chicken I’ve ever had. VERY strong pickle flavor.

In fact, if you don’t like pickles, please do not attempt at home :).

Recap of This Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice

Now that you are finished looking through my chicken in pickle juice recipe. Thank you! Now, I’m not kidding when I say this chicken was the juiciest chicken I have ever made. Also, could be for a few reasons which honestly I am not sure about. It could be the quality of this chicken, the hanging method, or the pickle juice. All 3 of those make for a great combo.

Indeed, it’s pickle, juicy, crunchy skin makes this one super delicious. Unquestionably, I was EXTREMELY pleased with these results

Although, if I was going to do this again, I would strictly use spicy pickles. That kick at the end would be a great taste. I would also make sure I have enough pickle juice to cover the bird!

Furthermore, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.

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