Traeger-gating Ginger Orange Chicken

Traeger-gating Ginger Orange Chicken

I have been working for Traeger Grills for the last few weeks doing demos. Showing folks just what a great grill the Traeger is. For me this is awesome, I love to BBQ and to talk to people about my favorite things. I have the Traeger “Texas Style” at home and think it is the finest grill we have ever used.  When you look at our recipes you see that we give our Traeger a real work out and it’s always up to the task. With the turn of a knob you can go from one grilling style to another, it’s just that easy. We spin that knob a lot!

So, I am getting paid to BBQ! The only way it can get better is if it rains beer!!

Dixieline Parking Lot

I have a Traeger “Lil’ Tex” set up in the parking lot at Dixieline Lumber by the Sports Arena in San Diego. 

Hey, that’s tailgating!! All you need to start the fire on your Traeger is a 400 watt inverter in your car and you can cook all day, anywhere.

Traeger Chef Billy Lundergan showed me this little trick

I talk to people all day about BBQ and the best way is to show them. I “Q” about 50 pounds of chicken legs a day. They are simple and have their own handle, so you don’t need anything but napkins to serve them. I have found that out of the 11 different types of wood pellets that Traeger has the pecan pellets and chicken together is just plain magic. The chicken picks up the nutty sweet flavors of the pecan that everybody notices right off. Now we are talking BBQ!!!

Tailgating for a crowd

Directions: Drum Sticks

We put very little of Traeger Poultry Rub on the chicken because I want you to taste the magic of the pecan smoke. I put these on the “Smoke” setting for a ½ hour then I turn the setting up to “High” for 30 – 40 minutes. Using a temperature probe I pull the drum sticks off at around 190 degrees. They are so good and very, very easy.

This week I wanted to show you how simple it is to do fancy. We did a Ginger-Orange Chicken. This is just a classier (Patti’s words) spin on Beer Can Chicken, which is moist and juicy. The way this works is that you put an open can of beer in the bird and stand it up on the grill. The steam from the beer steams it on the inside leaving it nice and juicy…

So, we thought we would fill a can with ginger-orange juice and try that. The chicken was nicely flavored by the ginger and orange and very, very tender…

To add to the fun we will have a drawing with the Dixieline employees for someone to take this bird home.

The chicken was nicely flavored by the ginger- orange and very, very tender…

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Grill: Traeger

Pellets: Grape

Ingredients: Chicken

1 large Roasting Chicken

1 12 oz. soda/beer can filled with orange juice

Ingredients: Ginger Orange Marinade

3 cups orange juice

½ cup orange marmalade

¼ cup ground ginger

¼ cup minced garlic

¼ cup Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce

1 Tsp. white pepper

 
Directions: Ginger-Orange Chicken

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Not much left to say here. Fill a can with orange juice. You can substitute some of the juice with Cointreau or Grand Marnier for a fancier dinner feel.

Mix the marinade at home and put it in a bag with the chicken into your ice chest until you are ready for it. I put marinade into 2 containers for easy handling. When you are ready fill your soda can with your marinade and put the can into the chicken. Stand that big boy (or girl) up on the grill.

The last half hour of your cooking time you want to brush on a thick coat of the glaze. You are looking for medium heat around 300 for about an hour or until you reach an internal temperature of 160.

Mix the marinade at home and put it in a bag with the chicken

Directions: Ginger Orange Glaze

This is a good and simple glaze that you can use for anything.

Place all the ingredients in a pot, heat on low and stir until smooth.

Let cool so it will thicken some and you are ready to glaze…

Do this at home.

Cooking Directions: Traeger

Open the lid and set the dial to “Smoke”, after about five minutes shut the lid. Give it about 10 minutes to heat up. I have lined the drip pan with foil, it makes for easier clean up.

Place your bird directly onto the center of the grill and just let it hang out in the smoke and get happy for 30 minutes or so. This is referred to as “cold smoking”; the temperature is around 100 degrees. 30 minutes of cold smoking is not enough to have any cooking effect on your meat but it is enough to open the pores up so that the meat can pick up all the flavor of the smoke.

After cold smoking for 30 minutes, turn the control up to medium, around 300 degrees for an hour. The last half hour brush the bird with your glaze a few times and let it brown.

When the bird reaches an internal temp around 160 you can pull it off. Cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. 

                                     Our Winner, Armando

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste.

Take it and run with it….

Enjoy,

Ken & Patti