{"id":1564,"slug":"hickory-smoked-chicken-breasts","title":"Hickory Smoked Chicken Breasts","description":"When you get the job of smoked or barbecued chicken, do you weep in fear of flavorless breasts? It happens to everybody, even professional chefs. This is your solution.","ingredients_raw":["4 boneless skinless chicken breasts","1 cup salt","¾ cup plus 2 tbsp honey","2 cups very hot apple cider vinegar","2 pounds ice","4 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped","10 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped","1 tbsp black peppercorns, cracked","1 tbsp chili powder","1 tbsp cayenne pepper","2 tbsp paprika","1 ½ tsp lemon pepper","Several pounds of large hickory chunks"],"ingredients_norm":["boneless skinless chicken breast","salt","honey","hot apple cider vinegar","ice","fresh rosemary","fresh thyme","black peppercorns cracked","chili powder","cayenne pepper","paprika","lemon pepper","several pounds of large hickory chunk"],"steps":["Combine salt, honey, herbs, and vinegar in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Add ice and shake until ice is mostly melted and mixture has cooled.","Add chicken and brine in the refrigerator for 1–2 hours.","Take chicken out of brine and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.","Combine lemon pepper, peppercorns, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Rub mixture gently into both sides of each chicken piece.","Place enough hickory wood chunks into the firebox of a smoker to keep the temperature around 225°F. Insert a probe thermometer into one of the chicken pieces and place in the smoker. Cook, changing chunks as needed, until internal temperature reaches 165°F.","Remove to a plate and let rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Serve warm."],"categories":["Chicken recipes","Recipes using chicken breast","Smoked recipes","Recipes using chili powder","Recipes using cayenne","Recipes using paprika","Recipes using honey","Recipes using lemon pepper"],"prep_time_minutes":null,"cook_time_minutes":null,"total_time_minutes":null,"servings":null,"yield_text":null,"difficulty":"medium","source_name":"wikibooks","source_url":"https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Hickory_Smoked_Chicken_Breasts","source_ref":"4506690","authors_url":"https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Cookbook:Hickory_Smoked_Chicken_Breasts&action=history","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","extraction_confidence":null,"content_hash":"b50997ab0cece76dee83712f7350e554ec5cb94d82239b4f472b1db4b8667102","created_at":"2026-08-02T14:43:04Z","updated_at":"2026-08-02T14:43:04Z","notice":null,"url":"https://recipecontextprotocol.com/recipes/hickory-smoked-chicken-breasts"}