Smoked Whole Chicken
Chicken on the smoker — honey sriracha wings, smoked chicken legs, crispy and juicy smoked chicken, chile lime roasted chicken — for slow weekend cooking.
★ lunch
lunchIngredients
- Thawed out chicken wings
- Water
- Coarse Salt
- Spicy Dan-O’s Seasoning
- Sriracha Sauce
- Honey
- Dijon Mustard
- Splash or bourbon
Instructions
- 1Brine your chicken. Mix together 1 tbsp coarse salt per 1 cup of water. Add in optional brining ingredients above for added flavor. Place chicken in brine, and let rest for 3-4 hours in the fridge.
- 2Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towel. Season both sides with a good amount of Dan-O’s Seasoning. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees, then add your wood chips or chunks.
- 3Smoke chicken wings at 225 until they hit an internal temperature or 150-155 (about an hour). From there, either finish on the grill or crank your smoker up to 350 to crisp up the skin. Do not let surpass 175-180 degrees internal.
- 4Finish with the honey sriracha glaze the last few minutes of cooking. Remove from grill and allow glaze to and wings to cool. Enjoy!
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Open in Pepper →Smoke Does The Work For You
A whole chicken on the smoker is about as hands-off as dinner gets. You season it, you set it, and the smoke gives you skin and flavor you can't get out of the oven.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these when there's time on a Saturday, when family's coming over, or when they want enough chicken to pull for sandwiches and tacos the rest of the week.
Every recipe here starts with chicken and smoke: Honey Sriracha Smoked Chicken Wings, smoked chicken legs, Crispy and Juicy Smoked Chicken, Smoked Chicken Breast in a saltwater brine, and Chile Lime Roasted/Smoked Chicken with ancho and lime zest.
Quick Tips
- 1
Brine the breast meat
A few cups of water with a good handful of salt for 2 to 4 hours keeps white meat from drying out over a long smoke.
- 2
Dust with baking powder
A tablespoon of baking powder mixed into your rub dries the skin as it cooks, so it crisps instead of turning rubbery.
- 3
Cook to temperature
Pull the bird at 165°F in the breast and 175°F in the thigh — time on the smoker varies too much to guess.
- 4
Sauce at the end
Brush on honey sriracha or any sugary sauce in the last 10 to 15 minutes so it glazes instead of scorching.
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