Mouthwatering smoked whole chicken with crispy, golden-brown skin. Brined overnight and slow-smoked to perfection, this juicy BBQ bird is loaded with flavor in every bite.
A whole smoked chicken is one of backyard barbecue’s showstoppers and is one of my favorite meats to cook on the offset. If brined and seasoned properly, this is one of barbecue’s best meats. With a crispy skin and meat that takes on smoke really well, and practically falls off the bone, there’s nothing quite else like it.
Because of the composition of chicken, varying with thick breast meat, dark thigh meat, thin wings, there’s a misconception that whole chicken is hard to do right. This isn’t true. With a good brine, a bit of twine, and a low temp, we can cook beautiful whole chicken to perfection.
There’s no more delicious way of cooking a chicken. The smoke yields deliciously golden crispy skin, and ridiculously juicy meat.
Meat Prep
Good meat prep is everything with this recipe, starting with using a good wet brine. A good brine will help ensure our meat doesn’t dry out over the course of several hours on the smoker. The salt in the brine helps break down some of the proteins in the chicken, which helps it absorb and retain moisture better. Meanwhile, the other ingredients (like the lemon, herbs, and spices) in the brine infuse a little extra flavor. Here’s how to do it:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add salt, lemon slices, fresh rosemary, thyme, minced garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, and honey. Stir in and then allow it to simmer for a few minutes to allow the ingredients to blend and for the salt to completely dissolve.
- Remove the pot from the heat and allow the brine to cool completely (we don’t want any heat to cook the chicken). Once cool, submerge the chicken in the brine. You can do this in a brine bag, but I tend to just do this directly in the pot. Just ensure that the chicken can be mostly submerged in the brine mixture.
- Transfer the covered chicken to your fridge and leave to brine for at least a few hours, but ideally overnight.
- Once the chicken has finished brining, pat down the skin with paper kitchen towels to remove any excess moisture. Drying the skin will help to create a crisp and golden exterior as the chicken cooks.
- Finally, truss the bird by crossing the chicken’s legs, tie them together with kitchen twine, and tuck the wings underneath the body. This will help all the different parts of the chicken cook more evenly, despite their differing thicknesses and amounts of meat.
How to Smoke a Whole Chicken
1. Fire Up
Fire up your smoker to 250°F (120°C). This is a relatively low temperature but this is to allow the chicken to cook slowly without drying out.
2. Season
Tie the chicken legs together and wing tips behind the shoulders with kitchen twine. Apply a thin layer of olive oil across the surface of the chicken.
Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl: Paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, and black pepper. Sprinkle the chicken with the dry rub, covering all over.
Leave the chicken sitting at room temperature for the next step. This will help the chicken cook more evenly and take on the flavors of the seasoning better.
3. Smoke
With the smoker warmed up to our target temperature, place the chicken on the smoker grates with a filled water pan. Leave to smoke to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part of the meat, and 175°F (79°C) in the thigh. This will take about 2-3 hours.
4. Serve
Pull the chicken from the smoker, cover in foil, and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes. Carve to serve.
Quick Tips
- Truss the Chicken: Use a bit of kitchen twine to keep the legs and wings close to the body of the chicken. This will create a more compact shape and stop the thinner parts of the chicken from cooking faster than the thicker parts of the bird (it also looks a lot neater!)
- Bring Chicken to Room Temperature: After applying the dry rub to the bird, allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before placing it in the smoker. This will help it cook more evenly.
- Oil the Skin: Before you apply any seasoning, rub a bit of olive oil to the surface of the chicken. This will help keep the skin moist as it cooks, as well help the seasoning adhere to the skin.
- Don’t Skip the Rest: Allow the smoked chicken to rest for 15 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute and give you a much better tasting chicken come carving time.
Smoked Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 lbs whole chicken
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Brine
- 8 cups water
- ½ cup kosher salt OR ¼ cup table salt
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 lemons sliced
- 6 cloves garlic smashed
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
Dry Rub
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the salt, rosemary, thyme, lemon slices, garlic cloves, honey, and black peppercorns. Lower the heat to simmer, and cook for 1-2 minutes until the salt has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
- Place the chicken inside a large resealable bag or sealable container. Pour the cooled brine over the chicken, seal tightly, and place in the refrigerator overnight (or for at least 12 hours)
- Once the time is up, discard the brine and use paper kitchen towels to pat the chicken skin dry
- Fire up the smoker to 250°F (120°C)
- While the smoker warms up, truss the chicken by tying the crossed legs together and tucking the wings underneath the body
- In a small bowl, make the dry rub by combining the brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, black pepper, and salt
- Massage the olive oil into the chicken and then coat all over with the rub
- Place the chicken inside the smoker and cook to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C), about 2½ – 3 hours
- Pull the chicken from the smoker and cover in foil. Rest the chicken at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before carving and serving.
