Try our delicious and savory smoked whole chicken recipe. The breast meat is juicy and with crispy skin. It is sure to impress your friends. When paired with our Poultry seasoning it will blow your mind. You’d better make two in order to avoid the fighting. Be sure to check out my list of favorite tools and resources to use here.

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Smoked Whole Chicken

Savory smoked whole chicken with a herb based seasoning. This chicken is flavorful and juicy. Your friends will rave about your moist chicken breast

Please note, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine American, BBQ

Equipment

Digital Thermometer

Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken
1 stick Butter

Wet Rub

¼ cup Poultry Rub You can use ours, or your favorite
3 tbsp Olive Oil

Wet Brine

¼ cup Salt
¼ cup Pepper
¼ cup Garlic Powder
¼ cup Onion Powder
Water

Instructions

Brine the Chicken

Remove the chicken from its packaging and remove any of the giblets and set aside if you want to use them for a gravy or additional dish
Place the chicken in a container large enough to hold the chicken while allowing room for the brine.
Mix together all the dry Wet Brine ingredients and 1 cup of water
¼ cup Salt, ¼ cup Pepper, ¼ cup Garlic Powder, ¼ cup Onion Powder
Add the water mixture to the container holding the chicken.
Add enough water to the container to cover the chicken
Let sit at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Wet Rub

Mix together the Olive Oil and Poultry Rub
¼ cup Poultry Rub, 3 tbsp Olive Oil
Let sit for 10 minutes

Prepare Chicken

Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse off the brine and pat it dry with a clean towel. It is important to rinse off the chicken or you will have very salty chicken
Spatchcock (Butterfly) the Chicken by cutting with kitchen scissors cut along both sides of the chicken's backbone so you can remove it. Then flatten the chicken as much as possible without crushing it.

Season and Smoke the Chicken

Preheat your smoker to 325°F¹
Slice the stick of butter into thin slices (no more than ⅛ inch thick). Insert the sliced butter into the cavity between the breast meat and the skin. Do not remove the skin.²
Rub the chicken with the previously made wet rub. Be sure to get the rub onto both sides of the chicken
Stick the temperature probe into the breast so the tip of the probe is in the thickest position of the breast.
Smoke the chicken until it reaches 165°F. Pull the chicken and let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes.³

Notes

1 – Smoking the chicken at temperatures of at least 325ºF are required to generate a crispy skin. lower temperatures will produce rubbery skin.

2 – You can also inject the butter into the breast, but you will need to wait until the temperature of the chicken reaches >90ºF (melting temperature of butter). If you do not wait the butter will harden at the tip of the injector and not go into the meat)

3 – Please don’t get impatient. The chicken needs to rest so the moisture left in the chicken can settle down and distribute itself into the meat.

Keyword Chicken, smoked whole chicken, whole chicken

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