gimme your recipes!my wife and kids are itching for smoked chicken as I've done nothing but beef and pork for a while. I've smoked whole chickens but my wife went to Babes in Burleson and has requested smoked chicken thighs/legs/breasts like they do. Any recipes you guys have that have been winners? I usually brine my poultry before smoking so let me know if you have any brine recipes. This will be during Ole Miss game and I plan to try several recipes in one smoke and see what works. I appreciate it!

Definitely brine it first. I'll tell you something else I've done after brining, cover the meat in mustard (I don't like mustard so hear me out) and then whatever seasonings you like. The flavor of the mustard is cooked off and not tasted, but it keeps the chicken very moist. My two cents

I just hit mine with grub rub and then throw on the smoker until they reach temp.

It was a long time ago, but I asked what type of wood they use to smoke the chicken and I'm 80% sure they said Hickory.

Run your smoker as hot as you can, and pour the smoke on for the first 20 minutes. If you can cook them around 450-500, even better. You almost can't overcook leg quarters. The hotter you go, the better chance you have of getting crispy skin. If you cook them hot, you can get them done in about 30-45 minutes.

I like to smoke chicken with cherry wood. 225 degrees for around 2 hours. I don't brine myself.

Overnight in Shiner Bock is tasty.

Smoked 5# whole bird done in one hour.

nice! what temp/rub/etc? how was it?

I smoke chickens at most of my tailgates. Usually get 5 lb whole birds, butterfly them at the breast bone and season with McCormick Smoke House Maple. Cook them at 225-250 indirect heat skin side up for approx 2 hrs. Then flip them skin side down and put zesty Italian dressing in the cavity and cook another 2 hrs or so until the leg bones will twist out of joint. They always come out nice and juicy. Get tons of compliments including 2-3 that claimed it was the best chicken they had ever had.

Put your favorite seasoning on and cook skin side up. Don't flip. Takes a little longer but worth it. After warm and skin softens( bout 10 minutes) melt some butter with garlic salt and brush on. I mix in a little head country too. I'll do this about 3 times. Best damn chicken you'll ever eat.

Ill take your word for it but the skin on that bird looks burnt to **** to me.

Good smoked chicken is my favorite bbq meat behind brisket.

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Ill take your word for it but the skin on that bird looks burnt to **** to me.

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Yep

I cook at 275. I like my skin perfectly browned to a dark tan. Wanna know the real trick to the best smoked chicken ever? Transglutaminase aka meat glue. Fuses the skin and meat so they become one. The skin still gives you a nice bite, but, becomes part of the meat like the fat in pork. Modernist chef meets bbq redneck

Should not have opened this thread. Now I'm hungry.

I've been loving me some good chicken quarters lately.

Here's what I do:
* Trim off the fat and rib cage, and any excessive skin
* Take Weber's Roasted Garlic & Herb and run it through a grinder to get a nice fine powder
* Pull the skin back and dust the meat with the powder seasoning and then lay the skin back on the meat
* Place in the smoker with a cherry/pecan mix, skin side up
* Smoke at 225 until you hit 160 internal, which is roughly 2 hours
* Prepare some olive oil with some non-ground up roasted garlic & herb seasoning in a bowl. Let it sit a bit, as the oil will unlock more flavors as it soaks into the garlic
* Pull the chicken off the smoker and baste both sides of the piece with the oil and seasoning mix
* Toss on the grill with a temp ~350 to fry up the skin. You'll be able to tell it's done as the skin starts to take on a nice darker tone.
* Pull them off and enjoy!

^
That looks perfect


I put the transglutaminase in my rub and season like you between the meat and the skin first pulling back and then replacing. I'll wrap it overnight and the next day it sticks together. One of these days I'm gonna throw a bacon layer in there as well.

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Ill take your word for it but the skin on that bird looks burnt to **** to me.

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The camera and lighting make it look darker. It wasn't burnt, just got a lot of smoke on it.

I use Tony Chachere's butter injection into the leg and thigh, a good dry rub, then 225 on the smoker, skin up, and very little lid lifting until it hits 160. Which is about 2.5 hours on my smoker. Easy Peasy.