How Long Should I Keep the Chips Going for a Roasted for Smoked Chicken

Slow-Smoked Barbecue Chicken

May 19, 2015

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Photo by William Hereford

Barbecue chicken is so common that we often overlook it. But when done well, it's one of my very favorites, and it's also one of the most forgiving meats to smoke. I simply took our house dry rub and turned it into a brine. You can make this the same way, or skip the brine and apply a smaller amount of dry rub to the skin—just don't brine and rub the bird, or it will be too salty.

Ingredients

Serves 4

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup ground espresso beans

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), giblets removed

Special equipment:

Charcoal kettle grill, chimney starter, heavy-duty fireproof gloves, disposable aluminum tray, instant-read thermometer, hardwood charcoal, wood chunks or soaked wood chips, large non-reactive 5-gallon container.

First, make the dry rub:

Step 1

Combine all the ingredients except for the chicken in a resealable container, cover tightly, and shake well to combine. (Dry rub can be stored, covered, in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months.)

If brining:

Step 2

In a stockpot, bring 1 gallon water and 1 cup dry rub to a boil, stirring until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let the brine cool to room temperature, then transfer to a nonreactive container and refrigerate until chilled. Add the chicken to the cold brine and refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours.

Step 3

Set a wire rack on a baking sheet. Remove the chicken from the brine, pat dry with paper towels, and place on the wire rack. Discard the brine. Refrigerate for 6 hours.

If using the dry rub instead of brining:

Step 4

Put the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet and coat the chicken lightly all over with 1/2 cup dry rub (you may not need all of the rub) and set aside.

Prep your kettle grill:

Step 5

Remove any ash and debris if the smoker has been previously used and clean the grates. Fill a chimney starter about halfway with hardwood charcoal. Loosely crumple a couple of pieces of newspaper and drizzle or spray them with vegetable oil (this helps the paper burn longer and speeds up the charcoal-lighting process). Stuff the paper into the chimney's lower chamber place the chimney on the smoker's top grate, and light it. Let the charcoal burn until the coals are glowing red and coated in gray ash, about 15 minutes. Put on a pair of heavy-duty fireproof gloves and carefully dump the charcoal into one side of the grill—over the bottom air vent if your grill has one—leaving the other half free of coals. Place a disposable aluminum tray on the other side to use as a drip pan.

Step 6

Place a few hardwood chunks or a foil packet of wood chips over the coals. Add the top grate and put your meat over the drip pan. Cover the grill, placing the air vents in the lid over the meat. Open both vents about halfway.

Step 7

Place the chicken in the smoker and smoke, maintaining a smoker temperature of between 200° and 225°F, replenishing the wood chunks or chips as needed, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a leg registers 165°F, 3 to 5 hours. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.

Step 8

At this point, you can cut the chicken into quarters or tear the meat into shreds to make pulled chicken. Or, if you want extra-crispy skin, you can briefly roast the chicken in a 450°F oven, or prepare a grill with hot and cool sides, put the chicken over the cool side, cover the grill, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes.

How would you rate Slow-Smoked Barbecue Chicken?

Reviews (8)

Hands down the best chicken we've made - it was even breakfast the next day for a couple of the crew
I prepared this using the brine - which means you don't apply the rub directly to the chicken. I used a combination of charcoal and applewood chunks. It turned out moist but not flavorful. If I make this again, I will make a version of the rub without the salt and apply it after the brine.
I brine my birds and smoke them for about 2.5-3 hours. Then I remove from the smoker and finish in the oven in a covered roasting pan (at 325). They usually finish in about 20-30 minutes. There are two advantages to this method. A. you can judge very closely when the bird will be done and B. you get a much juicier bird. The bones and drippings make a wonderful broth.
Excellent rub! Smoked for 5.5 hours on Kamado BigJoe @ 225. Some of the best chicken I've EVER had. Sweet/savory rub that crusted enough to keep chicken moist and very tender. I'll be using this recipe again (soon and often).
Made this last night. Holy cow - it was amazing. Our four year old gobbled it up, my 15 year old proclaimed that it was the best chicken he ever ate (he even wrapped the leftovers in foil and wrote "World's best chicken" on it). It was as tender as any chicken I've ever eaten and so flavorful that it needed no sauce. I brined the chicken (8 lb) per the directions for 5.5 hours, after removing, I patted dry and made the rub all over again, omitting the salt. I put the rub between the skin and the meat, but then put the extra on the skin. Electric smoked upright (chicken was upright on a stand) for 3 hours (with Mesquite) at 225, then up to 250 for the last 45 minutes (the breast meat was still at 150 degrees and I was going for 160). I gave up and decided to microwave it if it wasn't cooked. Everything was cooked to perfection - no radiation required! I'm hungry just writing this review. World's best chicken, indeed! :)
This rub is fantastic. I have used it on chicken and brisket to rave reviews. I am about to use it on some baby backs today! I did it to the recipe for the chicken. The changes I made were pretty small. For the brisket, I used cocoa powder in addition to everything else. Cocoa goes well with coffee and beef, added a subtle flavor everyone liked but couldn't identify (always gotta have your secrets!). I added extra sugar for the ribs since I marinated them in beer. This will offset some of the natural bitterness (but high alcohol content) of an IPA...that way I get the benefits of beer without the bitter.
i prepared the rub by eye-balling all the quantities and accidentally doubled the sugar. I had more than enough to thoroughly dry rub 2 x 3 1/2 lb chickens. Then I smoked it for 4 hours at 220 in my Weber digital smoker with mesquite pucks. All our guests raved "Best chicken ever!" Seriously moist and flavourful. I will be making this again!!
Great rub on chicken. Will definitely use this rub again. I didn't smoke the chicken just grilled it. Everybody that ate it loved it. Gonna try it on pork real soon!!

How Long Should I Keep the Chips Going for a Roasted for Smoked Chicken

Source: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/slow-smoked-barbecue-chicken-56389582