I decided to try something different from a seasoning point of view. Seasoned with Old Bay inside and out. No extra salt. Sugar Maple from SI for the smoke. Sometimes it’s nice to shake things up.
Turned out great. The sugar maple is a nice mild smoke. I smoked some chicken with salt, pepper and paprika and the maple smoke was very nice that way. In fact it was very nice. The old bay is a bit more accretive. I’ve smoked chicken with old bay and cherry and that works better. Always nice to try new combinations.
Old bay is different than other seasonings. It’s popular with seafood and chicken. It definitely has a good shot of celery seed and the sodium levels are reasonable. It’s not going to replace your rib or beef rub. I used it in a citrus based marinate for smoked shrimp and it was great. It’s a nice short smoke with a mild wood like apple or maple.
This was a 5 pound bird. Smoked at 150 for 30 minutes, 200 for 30 minutes and 250 for another 3 hours to an IT of 162. I let the bird rest in the smoker for about an hour.