First time cooking a whole chicken advice please.

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vermonter16

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 15, 2015
12
10
My husband decided at the last minute that he wants to trya whole chicken in the smoker tomorrow. Its in the sink thawing which will probably take all night.

Any kind of rub suggestions? Temp? Approximate time it should take to cook? Should i inject it with anything?

This is our first time using it after we did thr preseason the other day. Any suggestions would very much be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I usually do mine with Spog and paprika rub. I also smoke between 280* and 300+*. Depending on how big the bird is between two and half to three hours; assuming you aren't spatching or quartering.

You'd probably get more, and better, help if your mention what kind of smoker you are using!
 
I do mine with my own Chicken Rub.  I smoke it at about 275F and it goes for 2.5 to 4 hours depending on size.  I cook to internal temp (165F for the thigh) so time is sort of a moot point. 

I don't inject and don't brine.  I do make a compound butter and push it under the breast skin to keep the white meat moist. 

Scott
 
Two excellent replies. The only addition would be to crisp up the skin on a hot grill for the last few minutes. Also, you could stuff the chicken with cut up apples, it will add some flavor and moisture, but not enough to make your day. Good luck, Joe
 
So....here was my first chicken.[ATTACHMENT=2027]20150419_190736.jpg (2,064k. jpg file)[/ATTACHMENT]
 
I think it turned out pretty good for the first time. It was a fair amount of smoke and very juicy. I injected butter under the skin and used a thrown together rub with garlic, paprika, pepper, and some southwest seasoning I had. I did it at 275 for just over 3 hours. 275 was as high as my smoker will go. It has an internal temp guage but it was way off. Thankfully i had another temp guage I was able to use.
 
I'd try a spatchcock next time, great way to do a bird !

Just my 2 cents !

BTW, tasty lookin bird ! Nice job ! Thumbs Up
 
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