Pulled Chicken with Alabama White Barbecue Sauce

Alabama meets Tennessee with this sandwich: Pulled Chicken with Alabama White Barbecue Sauce. It’s time to get out the slow cooker and some liquid smoke.

As chicken in all its forms nudges past pork at restaurants all over Nashville, then pulled chicken might be the new barbecue. Better yet, you can make it easily at home. Smoky chicken pulls apart just as nicely as a pork shoulder, and in less time. Dark meat thighs offer the most barbecue flavor, but use whatever you like.

Indoor barbecue starts with the slow cooker. It is perfectly designed to deliver low, steady heat that will gently break down muscle fiber, transforming it into soft, tender, juicy meat. And unlike traditional barbecue, it doesn’t need your attention. Plug it in and go do something else. Your indoor barbecue is in good hands.

Next, your home kitchen smoking system requires all-natural liquid smoke, that little brown bottle next to marinades and barbecue sauces in the supermarket. While long misunderstood by barbecue purists, liquid smoke is a very cool and widely used ingredient. You’ll really be surprised by how good it smells in the kitchen. You might think you’ve never had it, but you have. Liquid smoke is all foods with “natural smoke flavor” on the label. Read more about liquid smoke here.

Use whatever liquid smoke brand you like. They’re all based on naturally condensed smoke particles made from smoldering wood with carcinogens and impurities removed. Yes, liquid smoke is healthier than your outdoor contraption.

Seasoning tip: packaged rubs are fine, but we keep it simple with Kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, paprika, and sometime a little garlic powder. For a whole bird season the cavity with salt and pepper and the skin with salt, pepper, and paprika. About 2 tablespoons of each, but eyeball it and use your judgment.

For the sauce, we’re going with a Nashville take on the famed mayonnaise-based Northern Alabama white barbecue sauce. We’re employing the perfect accessory to pulled pork and Nashville hot chicken–the dill pickle chip (and some pickle juice). Its tangy edge balances the creaminess of the mayonnaise and distributes the pickle throughout the whole sandwich. Make the sauce as hot (or not) as you like.

Pulled Chicken BBQ and Alabama White BBQ Sauce

cheaters Pulled chicken BBQ sandwiches with Alabama white BBQ sauce. Indoor barbecue at its best. Kitchen Pit Pulled Chicken BBQ, Alabama White BBQ Sauce European Print This

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chicken (thighs, breasts or a combination; skinless more convenient, bone-in more flavorful)
• ¼ cup all-natural liquid smoke
• For the dry rub seasoning mix together:
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• For the Alabama White BBQ sauce:
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup chopped dill pickle chips
• ¼ cup dill pickle juice
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Instructions

Place the chicken in a medium to large slow cooker. Pour the liquid smoke over the chicken.
Mix up the salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder in a small bowl and sprinkle it over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook the chicken on HIGH about 3 or 4 hours or on LOW 6 to 8 hours. When fully cooked, the meat will easily pull apart when pierced with a fork.
Remove the meat (and bones if any) from the cooker and shred/pull apart with two forks. Return the meat to the cooker with the juices and turn the dial to LOW or WARM and serve.
To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Serve the pulled chicken on warmed hamburger buns or warmed hot dog buns cut in half for appetizer/party-size bites. Drizzle the sauce over the meat in the sandwiches.
Note: If you don’t have a slow cooker, combine the meat and seasonings in a covered Dutch oven or foil pan tightly covered with foil and cook it in the oven at 300 degrees for four hours or until pull-apart tender. Serve as above.