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+-- Thread: Smoking a Whole Chicken? (/showthread.php?tid=122325)
Smoking a Whole Chicken? - BarbaraS - 05-30-2011
We're going to smoke a whole broiler chicken - 4 lbs. I was thinking about 2 hours at 275 degrees. Any thoughts? And, I was going to stuff it with orange, lemon, lime, a smashed garlic clove, and some rosemary. It's a kosher bird so I don't have to brine it.
Barbara
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - cjs - 05-30-2011
sounds like a good approximate, but do you have an instant read thermometer??? It's the best thing to have handy for checking smoked meats/poultry/etc.
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - BarbaraS - 05-30-2011
Yep, we sure do! I read on one site to cover the breast with foil so it doesn't overcook.
Barbara
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - DFen911 - 05-30-2011
My 5lb birds I smoke for 5 hours at 250. Not that, that helps you any
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - labradors - 05-30-2011
I used to smoke a whole chicken, but with the help of a patch, I've managed to cut back to just two wings a day.
Seriously: I'm still hoping to finish making a smoker out of a 55-gallon drum, if my friend who cleaned/burned it out ever gets it back to me, so I'd be interested in knowing how it does turn out.
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - Mare749 - 05-30-2011
I'll be interested in hearing how you liked this, Barbara. We have done chicken in our smoker, but I only use thighs because they have some fat, which I think you need when smoking poultry. The last time we did this, we smoked them for 2 hours, but then finished off on the grill because Ron likes the skin better that way. The one time we left the chicken in the smoker for 3-4 hours, we didn't like the skin at all. It was like rubber. But, the chicken was great!
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - BarbaraS - 05-31-2011
It was AWESOME!!!! Aside from the hickory smoke flavor from the chips Hubby decided to use...
Here's what we did:
4 lb Empire kosher chick (no brining needed)
Patted the chick dry and seasoned the cavity with salt and pepper. Then I stuffed the cavity with a couple sprigs of rosemary, 2 smashed cloves of garlic, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime, and 1/2 orange.
Left it uncovered in the fridge until 1 hour before smoking to dry out the skin.
Put the chick in the smoker with the temp turned to high - 300-325 - for 30 minutes, then turned it to medium for another two hours.
We started this at 4 pm and at 6 pm the instant read thermometer showed 180 at the thigh. Took it out and let it sit at 6:20 and scooped out the stuffed innards.
The skin was cooked and crispy brown, too. When I cut off the breast, it literally fell away from the rib bones! It was the most moist chicken we've ever had!! A definite do-over, but without the hickory chips.
What chips would you recommend?
EDIT TO ADD: I put pats of regular butter under the skin, too. Just half a stick. I'd prefer to save the white truffle butter for an oven job. The High-Crisp Butterflied Chicken Over Sliced Potatoes comes to mind...
Barbara
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - Mare749 - 05-31-2011
Glad to hear it turned out so well, Barbara. We have an old apple tree that Ron cuts branches off of once in a while and he saws them down to use in the smoker. We like to use chunks that are approx. 2"x4" and usually soak them overnight. Any fruit wood is good with chicken. We use hickory or mesquite sometimes when we're going pork.
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - BarbaraS - 05-31-2011
Thanks Maryann!! We were just thinking that any kind of fruit wood would be good, especially apple! And maybe some cherry wood.
Barbara
Re: Smoking a Whole Chicken? - cjs - 05-31-2011
cherry and apple are my favorites.