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  • #1 by Brushpopper on 17 Jun 2018
  • I've been making these for several years and sometime during the Spring I decided to try smoking the chicken breasts first.  The tacos were a hit before that and now it's the only way I'm allowed to make them.  It's easy, which is how I like things.  Clean up is really easy, also.

    Ingredients:

    3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
    +/- 3 cups chicken broth (I use the low sodium 4 cup box from our grocery store, HEB, and use enough to cover the breasts)
    1 package McCormick's taco seasoning (I use the MILD 30% less sodium.  I prefer spicy, but I ain't in charge)

    Smoke the breasts for about an hour or so at 150 with mesquite pellets.  If your pit won't go that low, you may want to smoke for less time.  Mesquite is what I usually have in the GMG DB, but hickory would be good, too, I reckon.
    Dissolve the taco seasoning in about two cups of the broth while you're smoking them.
    Place the smoked breasts in a slow cooker with a liner in it and pour the broth and seasoning over them.
    Add more broth to just cover the breasts.  The more broth, the more juice, so don't sweat it if you get too much.  If you lack a little to fully cover them, they still turn out great.

    I cook them on high for around 5 hours or until the breasts are easy to shred with two forks.  I've also done 4 hours on high and 2 hours on low.  It just depends on when I started cooking.  I'm sure 8 hours on low would work, too, but I've never done it. 

    Serve with warm corn or flour tortillas, pico de gallo and sliced fresh jalapenos, or whatever salsa y'all prefer.  Crispy taco shells would also work.  Just use what y'all prefer.  Corn chips also go well with it.

    We store it in the fridge with all the extra juice and I'm sure it can be vac-sealed and frozen.  I've never had the chance to do that because it hasn't last long enough.  I'll take some pics the next time I make them, which will be soon since I'm now craving them.
  • #2 by Bar-B-Lew on 17 Jun 2018
  • I may need to try this approach.  My wife keeps asking for pulled chicken.
  • #3 by pmillen on 17 Jun 2018
  • I used your earlier comments to make this for dinner.  My process wasn't exactly like this, but close.  It made extraordinary tacos.  The house smelled so good that a neighbor asked what I was cooking.

    I'm going to have this cooking if I ever have prospective buyers for my house visiting.
  • #4 by Brushpopper on 18 Jun 2018
  • I used your earlier comments to make this for dinner.  My process wasn't exactly like this, but close.  It made extraordinary tacos.  The house smelled so good that a neighbor asked what I was cooking.

    I'm going to have this cooking if I ever have prospective buyers for my house visiting.

    Thanks!!  The girls can usually tell I'm cooking it when they come home from school and are walking up the driveway from the school bus.  I turn the exhaust fan over the cook top on low to vent some of the goodness outside.
  • #5 by Canadian John on 18 Jun 2018

  •  That looks mighty good. Thanks BH..It's on my to-do list.
  • #6 by Bar-B-Lew on 18 Jun 2018
  • This recipe sounds wonderful, but we do not have a slow cooker (surprising given how many other gizzies we have!).  If the breasts were put into a very tightly sealed foil pan, could the same result be obtained in an oven?  Temp for the oven cook I would guess at 225 to simmer the liquid?

    Not sure, but when I make pulled beef and my last pulled pork, I had the grill at 350° with the meat in the liquid in a covered pan.  I don't know why that temp wouldn't work for chicken breasts.  May also be a method to do whole chickens if folks like white and dark meat mixed.
  • #7 by Brushpopper on 18 Jun 2018
  • This recipe sounds wonderful, but we do not have a slow cooker (surprising given how many other gizzies we have!).  If the breasts were put into a very tightly sealed foil pan, could the same result be obtained in an oven?  Temp for the oven cook I would guess at 225 to simmer the liquid?

    I don't wee why it wouldn't work.  Just make sure they are covered by broth so they don't dry out since there is no fat to keep them moist.  The higher the temp the faster they will be done (theoretically), but I wouldn't want it a rolling boil to minimize mess and liquid loss.  On low in my slow cooker, it is probably around 225 because it is simmering.
  • #8 by Mudflap on 18 Jun 2018
  • This sounds good. The Wife likes to make chicken tortilla soup and I never thought about pre smoking the chicken breast first. May have to try it next time in the soup and tacos.

    Mudflap
  • #9 by Brushpopper on 18 Jun 2018
  • This sounds good. The Wife likes to make chicken tortilla soup and I never thought about pre smoking the chicken breast first. May have to try it next time in the soup and tacos.

    Mudflap

    It was one of the Homer Simpson "DOH" moments after I did it the first time.  So simple and yet so easy to overlook.
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