Chef Scott Peck from The Loveless Café made Honey Fire Chicken, a recipe from the A Taste of The Loveless Cafe cookbook. To order a copy of the cookbook, click here: https://store.lovelesscafe.com/products/a-taste-of-the-loveless-cafe-cookbook. The Loveless Café is located at 8400 TN-100, Nashville, TN 37221. To see the menu or for more information, visit https://www.lovelesscafe.com/.
Honey Fire Chicken
Serves 10
Feed the whole family with this five-chicken feast or scale back the ingredients for a smaller crowd. Either way, plan ahead because this recipe calls for the birds to take a two-day brine bath before making their way to the smoker.
Ingredients:
Chicken and Brine Ingredients
5 whole chickens, cut in half
2 ½ quarts water
1 (9-ounce) can chipotle peppers
4 cups apple cider vinegar
1 ⅓ cups chicken broth
7 garlic cloves
½ onion, sliced
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 ¾ cups sugar
½ cup kosher salt
Seasoning
¾ cup Loveless Cafe Dry Rub
¼ cup Poultry Magic® Seasoning
¾ cup granulated garlic
⅓ cup onion powder
⅓ cup paprika
¼ cup sugar
⅛ cup Lawry’s® Seasoned Salt
3 ½ cups honey (for baking glaze)
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Make Brine
In a large container, mix all brine ingredients together then add chicken halves. Cover and refrigerate for 2 days.
Make Seasoning
Combine all seasoning mix ingredients together. Blend well and store in an airtight container.
Make Chicken
Preheat smoker to 225 degrees. Remove chicken from brine, pat dry, and cover all over with seasoning.
Place seasoned chicken skin side down in smoker for 1 hour. Flip and smoke until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. Remove chicken from smoker.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat honey in a double boiler then pour over chicken halves. Place on greased baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
