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Smoked Whole Chicken

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
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Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, BBQ
Servings 0

Equipment

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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