Smoking a whole chicken

[nikgregory]

This was my first experiment with smoking anything. I attempted to reproduce the smoked chickens that I buy from a poultry farm near me.

The Birds:
2 5lb whole roasting chickens with giblets
The Brine:
1c kosher salt
1c brown shugar
3 tbls fine garlic powder
1 gal cold water

mix with immersion blender till salt and sugar are dissolved

Brine the chicken and giblets overnight

Drain the birds and dry and rub with olive oil and Sydney's magic rub (have to find the recipe)
Stuff one bird with all the giblets

4 oz of the hickory that came with the #2

intended cook using auber
1.5 hours @ 225
then 225 till thigh @ 165

real cook
1.0 hour @ 140 (oops I did not read the program right)
0.5 hours @ 225
then 225 till thigh @ 165

The results:
Bird:
Thighs and legs fabulous!
Breast (unstuffed bird) ok not as smoked as the legs
Breast (stuffed bird) not as smokey as the unstuffed birds

Giblets:
neck - underdone
gizzards - just plain gross (I like gizzards)
heart - yum
liver - OMG like smoked butter I am thinking of buying a flat of chicken livers and smoking them

Skin: bitter and flaccid.

My questions:
- Too much wood?  the meat is good, the skin not so much.  Should I try a milder wood?
- I would like better smoke penetration.  lower, longer initial cook?  at what temp?
- Finish with a blowtorch to crisp the skin?

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[Pork Belly]

Ten pounds of meat in a gallon brine is pushing the capacity.
Overnight for chicken is too long of a swim, 3 hours would have been good.
Spatchcock the birds so they lay flat, and cook even.
Use half that much wood, 2 would have been good 3 oz would have been maximum.
Smoke the giblets separate on a small screen or skewered.
Crank the heat to 250 from the start. If your using an Arbur go higher.
Use a Probe Thermometer on the chicken. Cook it to 150 if you are going to sear it on a grill or broiler. 165 if not.
Never plan on good skin and you wont be disappointed.

I agree with you on the smoked liver. Good luck in the future, not every smoke is fantastic eats but they are fun to do. Try this sometime http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1866.0

[DivotMaker]

Nik - I agree with Brian on the amount of wood; 2-3 oz max.  Also, run the temp at 250 the whole time.  If you have bypassed the stock controller on your smoker, you can safely go up to 350 with the Auber.  Chicken doesn't benefit from low and slow, like beef or pork, so higher temp is good.  I disagree that spatchcocked birds are better than whole.  While laying them flat speeds cooking, I don't like the way the skin shrinks and pulls away from the meat....whole is best, imo.  I'm a fan of stuffing my whole birds with "mire poix," which is a fancy way to say equal parts of chopped onion, carrots and celery.  This type of stuffing really stabilizes the cooking, keeps the bird moist, and adds really nice flavor to the meat.  Try this sometime:

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1054.0

[bigbassnutt]

Tony, do you eat that stuffing or discard after cooking? I am thinking about trying a whole turkey soon and have never tried to stuff one with anything.

[nikgregory]

So... picked and overnight with the skin in the fridge has improved the breast meat.  I made a chicken salad for the spawn today they said it was excellent (perhaps I am a stronger critic of myself).

My thinking on the lower temp was not for tenderness, it was for better smoke penetration. Something I read on here mentioned that when the meat temperature gets to above 140 there is no more smoke penetration.  I was using the chicken as practice for eventually doing a whole turkey.

I was not worried about the time in the brine.  I simply did not have the time to get the chicken going other than to let it brine overnight.  To be honest I was considering not brining at all. I do not brine my turkeys when I grill them, I rub them with olive oil, bells seasoning and kosher salt and let them stew overnight.

I will reduce the wood amount next time. As a side question, I had left over charcoal after the smoke.  it is any good?  The scientist in me would think that a wholly black chunk of wood is pretty much nothing but carbon and no aromatics. so do you chuck them?

[NDKoze]

Tony, do you eat that stuffing or discard after cooking? I am thinking about trying a whole turkey soon and have never tried to stuff one with anything.

Mike, you would NOT want to eat the "Mire Poix". It is for flavor and heat stabilization only.

I brine all of my poultry and quite often leave it in overnight and it is fine for me and my family. But to each his own on that.

[bigbassnutt]

That's what I was thinking Gregg, but seemed like I have seen people stuff a turkey and then use it as stuffing but maybe that's just where I thought the stuffing came from when I was a kid lol.

[NDKoze]

That's what I was thinking Gregg, but seemed like I have seen people stuff a turkey and then use it as stuffing but maybe that's just where I thought the stuffing came from when I was a kid lol.

My Dad still stuffs his Thanksgiving turkey and also makes another whole roaster of stuffing because we have a big family. But what he makes is actual stuffing with Bread crumbs, sausage, celery, liver, gizzards, heart, etc.

What Tony is recommending is just the mire poix. These veggies basically give up their goods during the smoking/cooking process and wouldn't really be much to eat by themselves.

Tony can clarify if I didn't quite get it right.

[DivotMaker]

I don't eat the mire poix, but I'm not certain you couldn't.  After all, they're just veggies inside a fully-cooked bird, right?  There's nothing in raw onions, carrots and celery that will "go bad" during the low-heat phase of the cook. Where people get into trouble with bread-based stuffing is there is things that can get funky, while slowly cooking (bread, egg, etc...).  The veggies add great flavor, but I pitch them after they've given their all!

[BrewsandBlues]

I just loaded my #3 with 2 large 9lb roasting chickens. I used my memphis dust on it, but did not brine it. I decided to put a small amount of orange juice in the pan mixed with water just for someting different and 4 ounces of hickory.

I'm running it at 250 and will pull when the IT hits 165.

I did take all of the skin off the chickens prior to the rub, I figured it would be kind of rubbery.

Hope it works out well!

[DivotMaker]

I just loaded my #3 with 2 large 9lb roasting chickens. I used my memphis dust on it, but did not brine it. I decided to put a small amount of orange juice in the pan mixed with water just for someting different and 4 ounces of hickory.

I'm running it at 250 and will pull when the IT hits 165.

I did take all of the skin off the chickens prior to the rub, I figured it would be kind of rubbery.

Hope it works out well!

First off - 9 lb chickens?  Holy cow!  I thought we raised them big in Arkansas, but the biggest I've ever found is just about 6 lbs.  Sure those aren't young turkeys? lol. 

I've never done a whole chicken skinless, so I'll be particularly interested in how that works out! 

[tuthdoc]

Hello, I'm new here. Just got my #2 this afternoon and have it "seasoning" as I type this. It should be good to go in about another hour and a half.  I'm itching to try it out, so I thought I would put several whole chickens in it to smoke for my first effort to bring to my starving college students (children) when I go up to visit them this weekend. I figure if the chicken doesn't turn out well, my kids won't know the difference anyway, hungry college kids will eat just about anything.  Any estimations on the time it will take to get 4 whole 2-3lb chickens up to temp? (I still need to get the thermometer to feed through the hole in the top of my smoker.) Also, what rubs are good with poultry? I personally like lemon pepper seasoning on my wings. Does lemon pepper seasoning go well with smoking? Any hints or advice from you experienced smokers would be much appreciated.  I have smoked meats a little bit in the past, but this is the first decent smoking unit I've owned. Thanks, an have a great day!!

[Kal]

Tuthdoc,
Just some pointers.

First, go to "Basics for Beginners" and read the entire category, then go to Smoking Temps and Times and read that category, it will help you quite a bit and save you from disaster!

DO NOT use a lot of wood on the chicken, the skin absorbs quite a bit of smoke. The skin, depending on the cook time, may not crisp up, grilling at end will help as you get close to your final temp.

Good luck
Kal
#2 Newbie

[DivotMaker]

Welcome, Doc!  Kal pointed you in the right direction.  Also, head over to the Introductions section and tell us about yourself there.  Glad to have you with us!

[NDKoze]

I also strongly recommend brining your birds. It really makes a difference.

Lots of information on poultry brine in the chicken recipe section.

I usually just go with Montreal Chicken Seasoning after a swim in the brine.