One of the best appetizers for tailgating or in general are chicken wings. Well, if you are seeking a new and exciting recipe, this is the one for you: Smoked Chicken Lollipops with a homemade BBQ sauce.
First we will prep the drum legs by trimming off the knuckle meat and pushing the remaining meat down to form chicken lollipops. From here, they will get seasoned with an All Purpose Rub and then wrapped in bacon. On the smoker they’ll go until the bacon tightens up, then dipped in our homemade bbq sauce and placed back on the smoker for an additional 15-20 minutes.
The lollipop approach makes a nice handle to hold onto and makes it even more convenient whenever you are in charge of hosting an event.
Chicken is one of our favorite proteins to make on the bbq. Whole chicken, spatchcock chicken, chicken drum legs, chicken wings or chicken quarters are a few types of things we smoke.
WHAT ARE SMOKED CHICKEN LOLLIPOPS?
Smoked Chicken Lollipops are smoked chicken legs that are tender and juicy. They get seasoned, smoked and then glazed with multiple sauce variations. The shape of the chicken drumsticks is where they get the name lollipop.
To get this shape, the bottom of the knuckle, about 2 inches, is trimmed off, which leaves the bone bare and makes them easy to handle. The first time you make them it will be tough to work the meat off the knuckle but it gets easier the more times you do it.
These chicken lollipops are going to get glazed with my homemade bbq sauce but there are many favor combinations that work well with chicken. Feel free to experiment as you go.
WHY ARE SMOKED CHICKEN LOLLIPOPS ARE GOOD
These Smoked Chicken Lollipops are very simple to make and you will love it. They can be seasoned with just about any seasoning mixture you are seeking and sauced any way you want.
With all of the hard work happening at the beginning the rest of the recipe is smooth sailing. After each drum stick gets prepared, they go on the smoker and it’s just a patience factor.
There is one little difference with mine compared to many others, I like to wrap mine in bacon. The reason being is the bacon will render down when it cooks and the fat will baste the chicken meat, providing the most tender, juicy and flavorful bite of chicken. The bacon will also crisp on the exterior for a little crunch action.
Bacon is an excellent way to go and the bbq sauce will stick to it perfectly, leaving an awesome delicious glaze finish. There is nothing like the smoky flavor and tender juicy chicken being complimented by the rich fatty bacon. It only adds a few more minutes to the prep work, which is a no brainer for how good the final results are.
Ingredients :
- Chicken Drum Legs
- Duck fat (or olive oil)
- 1 lb bacon
- All Purpose Rub works great
- Homemade BBQ Sauce:
- Ketchup
- Brown sugar
- Pineapple Red Pepper Preserve
- Molasses
- Honey
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Cayenne
COOKING LOLLIPOP CHICKEN
HOW TO MAKE SMOKED CHICKEN LOLLIPOPS
Start off by grabbing a sharp knife and cut around the knuckle meat (2” below the knuckle) of the drum leg. Make sure to remove all of the meat, skin and tendons all the way to the top of the knuckle making it a bare bone.
Once the excess tendons are trimmed and the sharp pointing bone is removed, press down on the meat and form it into a round lollipop shape. You won’t need to press extremely hard but make sure it is a round chicken lollipop.
Next, you can spray with duck fat and season the lollipop chicken generously with an all purpose seasoning. Get the bottom of the lollipop drum leg with the excess seasoning on the cutting board.
Take a single slice of bacon and start at the top of the meat and wrap it around the meat. One slice should cover the whole bottom meat lollipop. To be safe, pin the bacon in place with a toothpick, if you go this route make sure they have been soaked in water for 20 minutes or so.
Fire up the smoker to 275 degrees F with some hickory wood chunks. Once the temperature is set add the chicken lollipops and let them smoke. About 75 minutes in they should be at a temperature to glaze (145-150 degrees F). Remove the drum legs and dip them in the bbq sauce and place them back on the smoker until they are finished at 160-165 degrees F internally.
HOMEMADE BBQ SAUCE
When the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 130-135 degrees F it is time to make the homemade bbq. sauce.
In a saucepan add in the ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, pineapple preserves, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt and cayenne. Mix for 3-4 minutes so it has a good consistency. If it is runny, place over medium heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes, or if it is thick just add a tablespoon of water.
Pour the bbq sauce into a jar, a jar for dunking the lollipop chicken in, and dunk the chicken before placing it back on the smoker to finish.
