Whole Chicken

[firewife]

Hi fellow smokers and happy Sunday.

I'm smoking a whole chicken today.  No beer can.  It was kind of a last minute idea since I found out my fireman hubby is coming home from a strike team working on a fire for 4 days and I wanted to surprise him with a tasty dinner.

I'm doing a short brine of just under two hours.  Should I put some rub on the chicken or does that make it too salty?

My chicken is 3.5 lbs, she's real petite.  What temp would you recommend?  I'm all about the low and slow so I was leaning toward 225 but how do you crisp up the skin?  Can I turn the temp up toward the end to do that?

Also, do I start with breasts down and then flip?

I'm working on my GMG.  Thanks in advance.

 

[timberjet]

As long as you wash the brine off and dry real good before you season it will not be too salty. You can cook chicken at higher temp. I do whole birds at around 275 and some people go even hotter. I like to spatchcock whole birds. I think they get done more even and quicker too. I go breast up and don't flip unless I need to crisp up the skin at the end over the heat. If you have not spatched a bird before try it. I think it makes for a nice presentation as well. Hope this helps and god bless the fire fighters. I used to be one of those guys.

 

[short one]

IMHO chicken doesn't benefit from low and slow like other meats. Cook at 300 to 325, maybe even 350. Season as you like, like you say watch the salt, and cook to proper IT. Take care of you firefighter, from a volunteer from Missouri.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Firewife , you go Girl. That Chicken should be about ready to chow down on , or close.

 

excuse my drooling , I anticipate the pictures you will send of the finished  Bird and maybe one of 'Hubby' enjoying it, (we hope )  Remember , 

.

Have fun and . . .

 

[themule69]

I do low and slow if I have time. I like lots of smoke. Then I kick the heat up for the last little bit to crisp up the skin. I brine, inject then rub most of my birds. As mentioned above I also like to spatchcock birds. I think they look better

.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[firewife]

Ok I would have taken pics but it wasn't a very pretty chicken because I did it breast down for the first hour.  However it was delicious...  My toddler is super picky about protein and I can't remember the last time she ate so much chicken.

Therefore...  I'm doing another one today!

I cooked it at 250 until it read 155 and then turned up to 350 until it read 161 and pulled it off...  total cook time was from 1:30-5:00.  However after a rest it wasn't quite done so I quartered it and finished it in the oven for 20 mins at 350 and it turned out great.

I think today I'm going to up the temp so my cook time stays closer to the 3-4 hour mark.  275, 300?

I'll post pics this time.  Can I cook it back side down the whole time so it's pretty or no?  I like spatchcocking in theory but I'm terrible at cutting chicken esp when it's raw :/

Hubby was very happy :)

 

[themule69]

Yes you can up the temp. Yes you can do back side down. I prefer spatchcock then on a vertical rack next. cook to IT of 165° in the breast. It is easy to cut the back out of a chicken.

Happy smoken.

David

  oh by the way

 

 

[firewife]

IMG_4153.jpg

• firewife
• Aug 18, 2014

 

[firewife]

I ended up putting her on a beer can, smoked at 275 from 1:30-4:00 and she turned out perfect.  My picky toddler must have eaten more protein tonight than she has all year.

 

[noboundaries]

Happy Hubby and Chicken Picking Toddler...........doesn't get any better than that.  Congrats on making everyone smile.  Great looking beer can chicken BTW!