Fundamentals are important, and being able to smoke and roast a whole chicken is one of the key cooking fundamentals. There are lots of different ways to add various flavor profiles to chicken when it comes to BBQ, but really, for me personally, I like to keep it simple with chicken. The recipe below is a very simple and straightforward approach to smoking and roasting a whole chicken.
Tap/Click above to watch the recipe or scroll below to follow the steps: Video – Recteq.com
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Step 1: Wear some gloves before handling the chicken, get some paper towels, and dry off the surface of the chicken.
Step 2: Get some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and rub it over the surface of the whole chicken to provide a binder for the rub, but it will also develop that nice crispy skin when cooked.
Step 3: This whole chicken was seasoned with two rubs. The first was the Recteq 4 Letter Rub (Salt, White Sugar, Granulated Garlic, Butter Powder, Onion Powder, Pepper, Apple Cider Vinegar Powder).
Step 4: The second rub applied to this whole chicken was the Recteq Freakin Greek Rub (Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Oregano, Coriander, Cardamom, Marjoram, Thyme, Nutmeg). Make sure you season both sides of the chicken along with the cavity.
Step 5: As chicken will highlight smoke flavor, go with a BBQ pellet with a lighter flavor profile, such as Oak, Apple, or Pecan pellets, for instance. Then run your pellet smoker at a low temp (180 to 225 degrees) for the most smoke or for a 90 minute cook, set at 325 degrees.
Step 6: Insert the meat probe into the breast meat of the chicken and continue to cook the chicken until it reaches 165 degrees.
Step 7: The cook will take around 90 minutes (depending on chicken size). If you’re concerned the skin is getting a little dry, consider a light spray mid-way through the cook with water/apple juice.
Step 8: At an internal temperature of 165 degrees, take the chicken off the pellet grill and let it rest for around 15 minutes before cutting into it.
Hi, I’m Chris Scott. I started PelHeat.com back in 2007 and I have a background in pellet manufacturing. PelHeat.com is an educational resource on BBQ pellets, pellet grills & smokers. Check out our Pellet Grill & Smoker Database.
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