I’ve been working on the perfect chicken brine for a while and I believe I’ve finally achieved it. This Sweet Tea Brine Smoked Chicken come out better than expected. This southern classic had slight hints of tea, smokiness from the smoker and tender and juicy meat. I also used my off-set smoker which I have not used in a while. Forgot how much I liked grilling with it.
For more marinated chicken recipes, try my Grilled Chicken Marinade recipe or Chili Crunch Grilled Chicken. Both recipes are full of delicious sweet, savory flavors with a touch of heat and freshness.
Ingredients needed to make Sweet Brined Smoked Chicken
- Chicken: for this recipe I used chicken quarters, but any part of the chicken will work. Brine a whole chicken if you like.
- Black tea: stay away from the floral or fruit teas to avoid the additional taste.
- Brown sugar: used to sweeten the tea.
- Salt: needed in a brine to bring moisture into the meat.
- Soy sauce: adds savory and umami notes to balance the sweetness of the tea.
- Lemon: what’s better than a fresh lemon with an iced sweet tea.
- Peppercorns: adds a little earthiness and sharpness to the marinade.
- Seasoning: I seasoned some of the quarters with just salt and pepper, while the other in a sweet bbq seasoning.
Dad’s Seasonings
Must have grillin seasonings!
How to make a sweet tea brine
A basic brine consists of water and salt. Brining meat helps pull moisture into the meat making it juicier. Adding other ingredients can add flavor to the protein.
This Sweet Tea Brine Smoked Chicken calls for, well, sweet tea.
Start by filling up a 4 quart saucepan halfway with water. Next add salt and brown sugar. That’s all that is needed to make a brine. But I took it a step further and added freshly squeezed lemon juice for some zest and freshness. Once the juice is squeezed out, drop in the lemon carcass as well. Also added soy sauce, garlic cloves and peppercorns for an earthy, savory flavor that will balance the sweetness of the sugar.
Recipe Tip
For best results use Kosher salt in the brine.
In order to extract the flavors and aroma from the tea bags, hot water is needed. Bring the contents of the sauce pan to a boil, tie the tea bags together and soak them in the hot water for 10 minutes.
Next, pour the hot water with all the contents insides excluding the tea bags into a large bucket. Add ice cubes to cool down the liquid. Make sure you have 4 quarts of liquid.
Once the brine is room temperature, place the chicken quarters into the bucket and place them in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours. An overnight brine is ideal as that will maximize the flavor.
Time to smoke the chicken
Before we throw these Sweet Tea brined chicken on the smoker, they need to be dried and seasoned.
The reason for drying off the chicken quarters after they have been in the brine for several hours is to remove liquid from the skin. This process will not remove any flavor from the meat itself. Dry skin will result in crispy skin which is what you want the end result to have. Gently pat the chicken with paper towels making sure there is not liquid around the outside.
I season my chicken quarters to different ways. Half I used a basic salt and coarse pepper mix which is the traditional Texas method, while the other half I seasoned with Dad’s Sweet BBQ rub for a little bit of a sweet bite to compliment the sweet tea brine.
For this recipe, I used my off-set smoker. However any smoker, grill or oven will work. If you do decide to make this in the kitchen, the flavors will be the same but you will miss the smokiness that you naturally get from the grill.
Preheat the smoker or grill to a low heat around 275 degrees Fahrenheit and set it for indirect heat. You want to smoke this sweet tea brined chicken low and slow for the optimal tender, juice and flavor meat.
The safe eating temperature on chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. However, darker meat should be cooked to a higher temperature to cook off connective tissue and render down the fat. Dark, bone-in meat is much more forgiving than a chicken breast and when grilled to 175 degrees, the meat will be tender, juicy and have a great bite through. Lower internal temps will cause the meat to feel rubbery and unpleasant to eat.
Don’t forget to rest smoked chicken
The golden rule to perfectly tender and juicy meat of any kind is cooking to the right temperature and then resting the meat for 5-10 minutes. Some people are so eager to eat the meat right away, because it’s still warm, that they miss a crucial step - the resting phase.
Resting protein not only slows down the cooking process and brings the final temperature of the meat to a safe range, but allows the juices within the meat to redistribute through making every bite juicy.
Hope you enjoy this Sweet Tea Brine Smoked Chicken recipe as much as we do!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I make this in the oven or stove top? All my recipes can be replicated in the oven, stove top or gas grill. You do not need a big green egg or weber grill to replicate any of my recipes.
What is the formula for a brine? The brine formula is pretty simple. Use 4 tablespoons of kosher salt for every quart of liquid.
If you tried this Sweet Tea Brine Smoked Chicken or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the📝 comments. I love hearing from you!
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Sweet Tea Brine Smoked Chicken
This Sweet Tea Brined Smoked Chicken is a southern classic with hints of tea, smokiness from the smoker and tender and juicy meat.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Servings 6 People
Calories 494kcal
- 6 Chicken quarters
- 2 tbsp Sweet BBQ rub
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Coarse pepper
Sweet Tea Brine
- 1 gal Water
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Salt
- 1/2 cup Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns
- 6 Black tea bags
- 6 Garlic cloves
- 1 Lemon
Start by filling up a 4 quart saucepan halfway with water. Next add salt and brown sugar. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and the drop in the lemon carcass. Add soy sauce, garlic cloves and peppercorns.
Bring the contents in the sauce pan to a boil, tie the tea bags together and soak them in the hot water for 10 minutes.
Next, pour the hot water with all the contents inside excluding the tea bags into a large bucket. Add ice cubes to cool down the liquid. Make sure you have 4 quarts of liquid.
Once the brine is room temperature, place the chicken quarters into the bucket and place them in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours. An overnight brine is ideal as that will maximize the flavor.
Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper or Sweet BBQ rub.
Preheat the smoker or grill to a low heat around 275 degrees Fahrenheit and set for indirect heat.
Smoke the chicken until the internal temperature reads between 175 and 180 degrees.
Remove from the smoker and let the chicken rest 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
For best results use Kosher salt in the brine.
In order to extract the flavors and aroma from the tea bags, hot water is needed.
Avoid fruity or floral teas. They are overpowering.
Calories: 494kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 11829mg | Potassium: 469mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 257IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 4mg
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