Smoked chicken

kiyotei · January 13, 2008, 06:30:13 PM

I did my first whole chicken today. We finally had some sunny weather in Seattle. Put 6 red bell peppers in the smoker while I prepared the chicken. I smoked the peppers with Mesquite. I didn't expect nice weather so I had to run out and buy a chicken this morning. I got a 3.79lb whole chicken, organic. I didn't have time to brine. I loosened the skin so I could rub a mix of kosher salt, course ground pepper, small amounts of garlic and onion powder. I also rubbed this all over the outer skin and poured it into the cavity. I heated the smoker to around 200 degrees and put the bird in cold. I smoked it with hickory and maple mix. I smoked it about 2.5 hours and then transfered to an oven. I set the oven at 280 cooked it another hour with a piece of foil covering it. Before putting it in the oven I did take its temp and the breast meat was around 160 degrees. I took a small taste as I cut the bird up and its very good. I plan on eating it tomorrow. Here's a pic:

KyNola · January 13, 2008, 06:53:12 PM

Beautiful color on the skin. Nicely done!

KyNola

Habanero Smoker · January 14, 2008, 03:16:42 AM

Nice looking chicken.

If you want to kick that rub up a bit, add some Bell's Poultry Seasoning, and Old Bay Seasoning. It's a great combination.

begolf25 · January 14, 2008, 09:20:45 AM

kiyotei,
Great looking chicken! Sure it was a great meal.

Habs,
Old Bay is good on just about anything ;D Being from Maryland I grew up on that stuff.

kiyotei · January 14, 2008, 02:46:12 PM

Thanks for the spice advice. I ate some chicken for lunch today and it was perfect. It is very moist, and the smoke flavor is just right, not too strong so that the meat is over powered. Wow is all I can say. I'm particularly surprised since I didn't brine it. Maple and hickory made a great mix.

La Quinta · January 14, 2008, 06:48:26 PM

WOW Habs...never used Old Bay on/in anything but seafood? Does it work alone or only in combo with the other seasoning you mentioned?

Habanero Smoker · January 15, 2008, 03:08:36 AM

Just Old Bay may be a little over powering for poultry. I got the recipe from a chef, but the thought of adding onion and garlic powder sounds good.

The original recipe is:
2 parts Kosher Salt (Morton's)
1 part Bells Poultry Seasoning
1 part Old Bay

This works great on turkey. For chicken I reduce the amount of kosher salt to 1.5 parts.

La Quinta · January 15, 2008, 05:14:23 PM

Have some thighs in the fridge...gonna try that rub...with onion and garlic!!! Thanks!