Spicy Mississippi Chicken Recipe

Smoked Chicken Quarters with a Spicy Seasoning grilled on Pellet Grill

#spicymississippichicken #smokedchickenquarters #howtobbqright

Spicy Mississippi Chicken Quarters Recipe

WHAT MALCOM USED IN THIS RECIPE:
– Seasoning Shaker http://bit.ly/SeasonShaker
– Thermoworks Thermapen http://bit.ly/H2QThermapen
– Malcom’s Trusty Dexter Russell Knife https://bit.ly/H2QKnife6

Chicken Leg Quarters were the first pieces of chicken that I learned to cook when I started out on my bbq journey. I could buy a bag of frozen quarters for .25 cents per pound, and that would feed a lot of people on the cheap. Somewhere along the way I started calling this particular recipe my Spicy Mississippi Chicken and the name stuck….

You can use any piece of chicken for this recipe but I would definitely keep the skin on.This recipe is all about the smoke and spice. There’s no marinade, brine, glaze or anything that will take away for the texture. The seasoning builds a nice crust on the skin and it’s almost crispy with a kick of heat.

For the seasoning I kept it pretty simple and used a combination of seasonings that were in the pantry. I knew I wanted it spicy so the whole thing revolved around the peppers. I used ground cayenne, crushed red pepper flakes, white pepper for back end heat and plenty of corse ground black. The heat was on point, and I used corse salt, sugar, onion and garlic flakes and few herbs to round it out. I used my Plastic Dredge Shaker with a wide-hole lid https://h2qshop.com/collections/barbecue-equipment/products/howtobbqright-clear-plastic-shaker-with-3-lids (You can also use this blend as a rotisserie seasoning; it goes great on pork).

You can cook this chicken on any grill or smoker; the key is the cook temperature. The pit needs to be running at 300 degrees to get the skin right. I used my Traeger pellet grill running with pecan pellets for this cook. First I dried the skin with paper towel to remove any moisture then I coated each piece with a little peanut oil. The oil helps the seasoning stick and it also browns the skin.

Each piece of chicken is generously coated with the Spicy Chicken seasoning *recipe below.
Place the seasoned chicken on the grill and cook until an internal meat thermometer reads 175 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh. If you’re cooking white meat chicken, it needs to hit 165 degrees internal – and I use my Thermoworks Thermapen to check my internals http://bit.ly/H2QThermapen

Once the chicken is done all you do is let it rest for 5 minutes and it’s ready to eat. Right away you’ll notice the skin is beautiful. The spices and herbs give a crispy-like texture and it has a spicy punch without being too hot. You can always add different peppers or change the amount of each to give it even more kick!

Spicy Mississippi Chicken Ingredients
– 4lb Fresh Chicken Leg Quarters, skin on (any pieces of chicken can be substituted)
– ¼ Cup Peanut Oil
– 3 Tablespoons Coarse Kosher Salt
– 2 Tablespoons Sugar in Raw
– 1 Tablespoon Paprika
– 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika
– 1 Tablespoon Herbs de Provence
– ½ Tablespoon Coarse Ground Black Pepper
– ½ Tablespoon Garlic Flakes
– ½ Tablespoon Onion Flakes
– 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
– 1 Teaspoon White Pepper
– 1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

Spicy Mississippi Chicken Directions.
1. Preheat pellet smoker to 300 degrees using pecan wood pellets for smoke flavor. You can use any grill or smoker for this recipe just keep the temperature steady at 300 degrees.
2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towel to remove excess moisture. Trim away any unwanted skin or fat if necessary.
3. Lightly brush the outer surface of each leg quarter with peanut oil.
4. To make the spicy chicken seasoning: Combine the remaining ingredients in a jar and shake well.
5. Place the seasoning in a shaker dredge with large openings. Coat the outside of the leg quarters with a medium heavy coat of the seasoning.
6. Place each leg quarter on the pellet grill and cook until internal temperature reaches 175 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh. (For white meat the internal needs to reach 165 degrees)
7. Remove each piece from the smoker and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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