Rubbery Smoked Chicken Breast

[RDAT]

I continue to be challenged with "rubbery" tough smoked chicken breasts. Currently, I brine chicken breast, spray olive oil, apply rub and smoke at 195-200 degrees until internal temperature reached 165 degrees. Does anyone in the Traeger neighborhood have a suggestion?
Thanks in advance.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Cook at a higher temperature 375-400 til 165. However chicken breast can be rubbery just due to their muscle structure and they have a sorta silver sling thing that envelops part of the breast.

 

[Slimpicker]

Cook at a temp somewhere around what you would in your oven, 325° ish
Traeger's convection will form a skin around your chicken and keep the juices in

However chicken breast can be rubbery just due to their muscle structure and they have a sorta silver sling thing that envelops part of the breast.

That's why I like turkey breast fillets better than chicken. But thighs and legs, don't get me started.

 

[RayClem]

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are so common in grocery stores have very little fat, so they dry out unless cooked quickly.

I have more success with large split chicken breasts including the bone and skin. The larger pieces of meat are much more forgiving.

Rather than using olive oil on your chicken breasts, consider using Alabama white sauce, a mayonnaise based BBQ sauce. It can be used as a marinade, a basting sauce during the cook to retain moisture, a glaze at the end of the cook, and as dipping sauce at the table. It keeps the chicken moist and tender and provides a delightful flavor.

Lillie's makes an Ivory BBQ sauce that is one version of an Alabama white sauce, but I prefer the sauce I made from scratch using recipes online. When you make your own, you can adjust ingredients to your own preferences.

 

[WCBBQ]

I cook a lot of skinless/boneless chicken breasts on our Wine Infused Oak Pellets. The first time we did them they came out real tender and juicy. They were also real inexpensive ones and my wife swore that they were injected processed meat. So we tried the same cook at 250f on some premium Rocky chicken breasts with the same result. For some reason these pellets put a "skin" on the meat that holds the moisture in. The pellets are made from wine making oak that are coated with lees from the wine making process, perhaps that's what does it. The lees link claims "wines aged on the lees are often described as creamier, richer, fuller-bodied, or with greater depth and complexity of flavor".

Does it work that way when cooking chicken breasts? Buy a bag and give it a try and if you're not completely satisfied, I'll refund the purchase price less my actual cost of shipping.

 

[midwest]

Since I have gotten my Traeger the plain old cheep boneless skinless chicken breast is a favorite of my wife and kids. I just season with Killer Hogs AP and set the temp to about 375 or so. I cook them to about 160 and they always get over 165 during the rest. Juicy and never rubbery.