Eastern Shore Chicken

Also know as DelMarVa chicken.

Jeff Leigh of Lake Orion, MI shares this family recipe (from his brother-in-law a Maryland native). This recipe originated around the Maryland shores of the Chesapeake. DelMarVa stands for Delaware/Maryland/Virginia.

Some of the sides he pairs with DelMarVa chicken are smoked mac and cheese, Asian cole slaw (he finds the vinegar base for this cole slaw goes well with the chicken marinade), smoked green beans and bacon, and some good old fashioned corn bread.

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Eastern Shore Chicken

 

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DelMarVa

Author: Jeff Leigh

Cuisine: BBQ

Ingredients

• 2-3lbs of chicken (I use leg quarters, or thighs and legs as I like those, also have done it with half chickens)
• 1 ½ cups of apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup of olive oil
• Add water to cover chicken
• 2-3 tsp of poultry seasoning
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne (adjust as necessary – my family likes things a bit spicier, so I throw in a little more)
• 1 ½ tsp garlic powder

Instructions

1. Put chicken pieces into a large bowl suitable for marinating in. I use a large plastic Rubbermaid bowl. Add all of your spices, then the liquid ingredients. As the above states, you will add the cider and oil, then use water to cover the chicken parts (just barely over the top of the chicken). I then use tongs to make sure all pieces of chicken are well soaked with the spices and marinade. Please feel free to adjust the ingredients to your personal taste – every family is different. Marinate the chicken for at least an hour, but you can marinate overnight if you would like. I have tried varying times for marinating and haven’t noticed a huge difference.
2. Prepare your smoker- I set mine to 275-300 degrees which makes the skin on the chicken nice and crispy by the end of your cook. When your fire is up to temp, pull the chicken out of the marinade. Place the chicken on the smoker. 3 pounds of chicken thighs and legs takes about 90 minutes to come to 175 degrees internal temp, which is ‘done’ for legs and thighs. Chicken breast is done at 165 degrees, so please make sure you have a good meat thermometer to check for doneness. After determining temp is correct and done, I pull the chicken off and set it out to rest for 15 minutes or so.. After that, serve and eat!
3. Additional step during cooking: While not necessary with your Lang smoker, I sometimes make extra marinade that I DON’T marinate the chicken in for the express purpose of mopping the chicken every 20 minutes or so. Again, keep this marinade completely separate from the marinade you put the chicken in.

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