New smoker doing a chicken

[webbo]

I just got home with a new digital smoker.  I'm doing things in a hurry, buy I seasoned the smoker, then decided I wanted to try a whole chicken for dinner tonight.  So please tell me if what I have done will kill me or not!  I pre-heated the smoker to 220F, then washed the chicken, patted it dry, then brushed it with a mixture of maple syrup and a chicken rub.  It is a 3lb bird that I set to cook for 5 hours with smoke for 4 hours.  I have noticed that the oven temp seems to wander downwards from 220F, then back up again...is this normal?

[classicrockgriller]

You ok.

I would bump up the temp for Chicken to 240 to 250*

Keep the top vent wide open.

cook to a safe IT temp.

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[webbo]

Thanks for the advice...I will go do that now!

[KyNola]

4 hours of smoke is a LOT of smoke on a single chicken.  Poultry is a smoke sponge.  If you like a ton of smoke flavoring you're going to be fine but you might want to start with a little less time smoking.

[classicrockgriller]

KN is right on the smoke time.

2 1/2 to 3 hrs is plenty and your chick should be done close to the 4 hr mark,

but go by IT and not time.