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Smoked Chicken with Chipotle Peach Barbecue Sauce

Smoked Chicken is slathered with a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce made with peach preserves, bourbon, and chipotle peppers.
Course Chicken and Turkey
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Inactive Time 8 hours
Total Time 11 hours 20 minutes
Servings 10 -12 Servings
Calories 963kcal
Author Creative Culinary

Ingredients

  • 12-20 chicken legs

For the Dry Rub:

  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp paprika
  • 1 T cumin
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp dry mustard
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper

For the Chipotle Peach Barbecue Sauce:

  • 1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1 12 oz jar peach preserves
  • ½ cup bourbon
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 Tbsp mild-flavored light molasses
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon peel
  • 1 to 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo minced, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from can (I originally made this with one chile to not make it too hot for more sensitive palates; everyone thought it could use the additional heat so now I make it with 2)
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Instructions

Make the Dry Rub:

  • Combine the brown sugar, paprika, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, dry mustard, salt and pepper in a container and mix well.

Make the Chipotle Peach Barbecue Sauce:

  • In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook for just a minute; do not let it turn brown.
  • Add the ketchup, peach preserves, bourbon, lemon juice, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, lemon peel, chiles with adobo sauce, liquid smoke and dry mustard.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20-25 minutes until thickened, stirring often. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Make the Chicken:

  • Put the chicken legs into a large ziploc bag or bowl.
  • Season the chicken generously with the rub and make sure all the pieces get covered. Put the chicken in the fridge for 4-24 hours.
  • Preheat your smoker and place the seasoned chicken legs on the smoker racks.
  • Smoke for 2 hours; remove from smoker and put the legs into a large dish, generously slather with the Chipotle Peach Barbecue sauce and cover with foil.
  • Put the dish of legs into the smoker for another half hour or until done (should register 175 degrees internally).
  • Serve with additional sauce.

Notes

I like to cook dark meat longer than traditional times indicate; I think those extra degrees are what makes it fall off the bone!

Nutrition

Serving: 1grams | Calories: 963kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 105g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 25g | Cholesterol: 546mg | Sodium: 1101mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g