Maple syrup chicken

[Perkolater]

Smoking a pair of  yard birds in the #2 and With only a class C smoking license there’s not much I can lend to the many more, class A licensed smokers on this forum who’ve helped me get to this point.

For other semi-pros like me here’s just a few things I did or learned on this smoke:
1. Prepare things ahead- brine, the grill,etc because all those recipes that say “20 minutes prep time”, really mean if you done it 100 times and have everything you’ll possibly need within one foot of where you stand
2. Brined 2 fresh chickens for 4 hours using DM’s recipe substituting fresh rosemary for ground.
3. Thoroughly rinsed although Im not really seeing much of anything being rinsed?
4. From here, I followed a Jeff Phillips recipe for Smoked Maple Barbecue Chicken using maple syrup binder but a couple rubs of my own.
5. Let the rubbed birds rest uncovered in the fridge for…uh let me see what time did I get back up from the recliner?...yeh, the rubbed birds and I rested for about 3 hours.
6. Used about 1oz hickory and 1.5 oz wild cherry (I say ‘about’ because my $10 kitchen scale decided to fritz out possibly from the heat and humidity here?)
7. Smoked for 2hrs 50 minutes  and pulled at 165IT
Other thoughts:
 A dog is man’s best friend especially when the man is cooking chicken

Remember to put your nitrile gloves on BEFORE your hands are completely covered with maple syrup and rub.

 Preparing 2 of anything with different rubs for comparison provides a legitimate excuse to eat twice as much

Good smoking!

 

[DivotMaker]

Man, Dave, those yard birds look fantastic!  Sounds like you had a good experience!  Hope they tasted as good as they look!! 8)

 

[SconnieQ]

Those are PRETTY! Beautiful color. Usually the skin shrinks on the top side, so I'm thinking that's why the picture of the bottom side. Edible skin on smoked poultry is near impossible, unless you are not too fussy. You probably figured that out.

 

[drains]

Looks like you hit it out of the park on those birds Dave! They look great and I'd wager they were ad delicious as they look. Great job!

 

[Perkolater]

Those are PRETTY! Beautiful color. Usually the skin shrinks on the top side, so I'm thinking that's why the picture of the bottom side. Edible skin on smoked poultry is near impossible, unless you are not too fussy. You probably figured that out.

Thanks Kari
So maybe I just got lucky but the recipe specified cooking breast side down and then basting every 30 minutes after the first hour using a mixture of about 4 oz of maple syrup and 2 tbs of rub.  It seemed like you could see the color darken each time I basted.  Anyway, reading all the comments about chicken skin, I wasnt expecting that rich a color and I didnt eat any but it looked like you might if necessary. The ckicken was fantastic and my dog loved the skin

 

[Perkolater]

I'd wager they were ad delicious as they look. Great job!

It was great to get one out of the park Dale 8)
The birds had a smoky maple syrupy taste that Im sure I'll do that one again.  As good as it tasted just coming out of the smoker last night, my wife cubed some up cold and served it on a garden salad for lunch today and mannn!...I'm not sure which way was best

 

[DivotMaker]

Nothing better than cold, day-after BBQ, Dave!  I can't get enough of cold ribs, the day after!  Don't even heat them!