Do you love BBQ? I know I do, which is why I ended up asking for a smoker for my birthday a couple years ago. The first time we used the smoker I was super intimated! Give me a frying pan or the oven and I know what to do. A smoking metal tube in my backyard? Whoa!
That’s why I made this video, because it turns out smoking meats is EASY! I’ll also let you in on a little secret – we don’t eat roast chicken in our house anymore. Nothing I can make in the oven even COMPARES to how juicy, tender and flavorful a smoked chicken is!
Enjoy the video and our super simple recipe for smoked chicken!
The Recipe – Time: about 30 min active time: total about 4.5 hours
How to Smoke Chicken
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 1 chicken
Learn how to smoke a chicken for the best smoked chicken of you life!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- Salt
- Favorite spices
- 1 whole chicken
Instructions
- Prep your chicken – First spatchcock it with your kitchen shears. ( Video on this method coming soon)
- Use about 2 tablespoons salt and sprinkle on both sides of the meat.
- Use your favorite spice blend and sprinkle it on both sides of the meat. We used 2 teaspoons Italian season, and a tablespoon each of garlic and onion powder. Set aside.
- In the bottom bowl of your smoker, add a layer of smaller pieces of charcoal
- Give the coals a good spray of the lighter fluid and let soak for 5 min
- Put the bowl into your smoker and carefully light coals in a few places
- Let burn uncovered for about 15 min
- Soak 3 large handfuls of wood chips in water
- After 15 min, fill the bottom bowl with charcoal and top with the wood pieces. It should start to steam/smoke.
- Fill the second bowl with hot water.
- Place your grate in the smoker and then your chicken skin side up on the grate.
- Insert the meat thermometer in the thick part of the breast. Keep the probe horizontal. Cover with the lid.
- Check the temperature about every hour. The cooking time depends on the smoker, the amount of fuel and the ambient temperature. Ours usually take 3-4 hours. Its ready to be grilled at about 145-150, as it will get cooked some more on the grill.
- When you get closer to temperature – heat up your grill or warm up your oven by turning on the broiler if you prefer to broil
- When you hit 145-150 degrees take the lid off the smoker and brush the skin with some cooking fat like butter.
- Remove the chicken from the smoker and place skin side down on your grill. Watch for big flare ups of your grill so you don’t burn the skin. Let cook for just a minute or 2.
- Alternatively, you can put your chicken under your oven broiler skin side up to crisp up the skin.
- Once done let the chicken rest on a cutting board covered with foil. That will let the juice redistribute so the meat stays super moist. I let mine rest 15-30 minutes.
- Cut and serve! We usually eat the legs that night and save the rest for salads, tacos and eggs during the week. It makes GREAT leftovers!
Notes
A note about ingredients - I like to use grassfed butter (Kerrygold brand). If you would prefer to use another fat, lard, Ghee etc go for it! I get my organic chickens (Coleman brand) from Costco.
Helpful Equipment-
- Smoker
- Meat thermometer
- Hardwood charcoal
- Wood chips
- Lighter Fluid
- Sharp scissors for spatchcocking the chicken- these are super highly rated and CHEAP on amazon. I use them all the time!
Courses Dinner
Cuisine american/BBQ
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 ounce meat
Amount Per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|
Calories 68 | ||
% Daily Value |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
I hope you give this smoked chicken recipe a try and enjoyed my simple smoked chicken video!
Cheers,
Heather
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Awesome! I love how spatchcock chicken looks. Fun little video too 🙂
Yum! I have never cooked something like this before. Great information.
Thanks so much for the comment! Would you ever consider getting a smoker? We got ours a home depot for around $100 and cook with it all summer long!
You video really makes it look quite easy! I’ve been contemplating getting my husband a smoker for Christmas. Maybe this will be the year!
Hi Jenny! ou should really get a smoker! It’s a very easy way to cook, and it does not heat up the house! I highly recommend it!
I must admit that I had never even heard of a smoker, but it seems to work very well. I love how detailed the instructional video is. And of course, the chicken is mouthwatering!
If you have a yard or a little deck, a smoker is such a fun way to cook and it makes meat delectable!!
I’m excited to try this, I’m new to smoking meat!