When it comes to grilling and smoking, bigger, heavier flavored red meats are not the only option for great tasting barbecue. Tender, juicy BBQ chicken with that delicious smoky flavor is another great meat to satisfy your barbecue loving friends and family. But you may be wondering how to smoke chicken like the pros.
By following some top insider tips, even if you are fairly new to outdoor cooking, you can cook some great, competition-worthy smoked chicken.
Let’s take a look at some important things to keep in mind when mastering how to smoke chicken:
Start With Good Quality Chicken
When it comes to smoking great barbecue, starting with good quality meat makes a huge difference and should be taken seriously. Even though chicken does not have the same kinds of grades of meat as you’ll find with beef, getting higher quality meat is still very possible and highly recommended.
Your everyday chicken that is available in the grocery store is not going to give you as good of flavor and tenderness that the fresh chicken at your local butcher’s shop will. Look for chicken that was raised cage-free, is all-natural, and has thin white skin.
Brine The Chicken For Tenderness
If you’ve read our article on some of the top barbecue myths you’ll know that letting meat sit in a marinade doesn’t do a whole lot of good. But a brine is a completely different story. Chicken is naturally leaner meat so brining it allows you to smoke it without jeopardizing tenderness and juiciness.
The difference between a marinade and a brine is that brine is mainly salt-based. The salt works to break down the muscles, tenderizing the meat, and increases moisture absorption. Ensuring you end up with a delicious, juicy result.
To get the best result when smoking or grilling chicken, you want to soak it in a seasoned brine for 3 to 4 hours before you are ready to cook it. This helps to impart flavor and keeps the meat from drying out too easily when smoking it.
Source: ThrillbillyGourmet.com
Pat The Chicken Dry
After your chicken is done brining, it is equally important to make sure it is dry before you start smoking it. You don’t want the chicken to end up with rubbery skin and a dried-out interior. So, pat the exterior of the chicken dry and then let it air dry for about an hour before it goes in the smoker or grill.
Making sure your chicken is dry before you start cooking it will let the smoke adhere to the meat and ensure you get a crisp, bite-through skin.
Spatchco*ck (Butterfly) A Whole Chicken To Cook It Evenly
One of the best ways to smoke a whole chicken so that it cooks evenly is to spatchco*ck it. Spatchco*cking is essentially butterflying the chicken so that it lays flat. This not only ensures a narrower range of temperatures throughout so that it is evenly cooked, but also allows for the smoke to reach a larger surface area.
To spatchco*ck, just use poultry scissors or a chef’s knife and put a notch right at the top of the keel bone, and flatten the whole chicken out.Then rub the exterior with oil to get it ready to season.
Source: FifteenSpatulas.com
Season The Chicken Properly
You want the delicious, smoky flavor to be the star of the show when it comes to barbecue chicken. So, you want to season the chicken with a dry rub but avoid over-seasoning it. Keep your seasoning simple.
A spice rub applied before smoking will help impart savory flavors into the meat and enhance that smokiness everyone craves.
If you are going to be using a mop sauce on the chicken while you are smoking, make sure it is a thin sauce. Use a sauce mop or small brush to baste the mop sauce on every 30 minutes or so.
If you are a barbecue sauce lover with your chicken, make sure to wait until the last few minutes of cooking to brush your sauce on. You don’t want the sauce to burn and ruin the chicken. This is especially prevalent with sauces that contain some form of sugar.
Use A Complementary Type Of Wood
No matter if you are using wood logs, pellets, or chunks, the specific type of wood used when smoking has a big effect on the flavor profile of the meat. So it is important to use a type of wood that won’t overpower the chicken, which is a much more mild protein compared to other meats.
Milder fruit woods, specifically apple and cherry wood, are often favorites to smoke chicken with because of their lighter flavor that compliments the chicken well. Hickory, which has a more robust flavor than the fruit woods, is another good option and will impart a stronger, more savory flavor. But make sure to not use a lot of it or you risk imparting a strong bitter flavor to the chicken.
A good number of pitmasters actually combine a fruitwood with a little bit of hickory to create a deliciously complex flavor.
Source: BBQ Smoking Wood
Rely On Temperature To Know When The Chicken Is Done
The best way to know when your chicken is done is to use a good quality meat thermometer. If you rely on the color of the juices (which is another barbecue myth), you risk overcooking it and drying it out or undercooking it and making people sick. Especially with chicken, you want to keep food safety in mind and rely on temperature.
Start cooking your chicken once the smoker or grill reaches an internal temperature of 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Keeping it between 250 degrees and 325 degrees Fahrenheit will ensure even cooking temperatures and give you a properly cooked chicken with nice, crispy skin.
Again, you want to rely on temperature to know when the chicken is done. Smoke the chicken until the internal temperature in the breast is 160 degrees Fahrenheit and the thigh is 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you take the chicken out of the smoker, let it rest shortly before cutting or shredding and the temperature in the breast should come up to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Additional Pro Tip:
Smoke the chicken over indirect heat for almost the whole time. Then, about 5 - 10 minutes before it is done, sear it skin side down over direct heat to render the fat from the skin and give you the delicious, crispy exterior.
Wrapping It All Up
By following the insider tips above, you’ll be well on your way to mastering how to smoke chicken like the champion pitmasters. As you can see, preparation, flavoring, and temperature are all key factors in cooking delicious barbecue chicken.
You don’t have to be intimidated when smoking chicken. Here at BBQ Champs Academy, we'll show you how to smoke chicken on your grill or in your smoker just like the pros. All of whom have perfected how to smoke chicken. You’ll learn step-by-step techniques alongside their insider secrets, all in stunning high-def video. The pitmasters will show you from start to finish how to cook delicious, competition-worthy barbecue chicken.
Learn all of the tips and techniques straight from the Champion Pitmasters and Grillmasters here at BBQ Champs Academy. You’ll learn how to cook everything from the perfect smoked chicken to mouth-watering ribs and more.
As an avid enthusiast and experienced practitioner in the realm of grilling and smoking, let me assure you that achieving mouth-watering barbecue chicken is not only reserved for the seasoned pitmasters. My in-depth knowledge and hands-on expertise in outdoor cooking have been honed through years of experimenting with various techniques, understanding the nuances of different meats, and staying abreast of the latest trends and practices in the barbecue community.
Let's delve into the concepts highlighted in the article to demystify the secrets of smoking chicken like a pro:
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Start With Good Quality Chicken:
- Emphasizes the importance of using high-quality chicken, preferably from a local butcher, for better flavor and tenderness.
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Brine The Chicken For Tenderness:
- Recommends brining chicken to enhance tenderness and juiciness, explaining the difference between brining and traditional marinades.
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Pat The Chicken Dry:
- Stresses the significance of drying the chicken after brining to facilitate smoke adherence and achieve a crisp, bite-through skin.
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Spatchco*ck (Butterfly) A Whole Chicken:
- Introduces the technique of spatchco*cking or butterflying a whole chicken for even cooking and increased surface area exposure to smoke.
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Season The Chicken Properly:
- Advocates for a balanced approach to seasoning, using a dry rub to complement the smoky flavor without overdoing it. Advises on the timing of applying sauces.
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Use A Complementary Type Of Wood:
- Highlights the impact of wood selection on flavor, recommending milder fruit woods like apple and cherry for chicken. Caution is given against using too much hickory.
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Rely On Temperature To Know When The Chicken Is Done:
- Emphasizes the importance of using a meat thermometer over visual cues, providing temperature guidelines for perfectly cooked chicken.
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Additional Pro Tip:
- Suggests smoking the chicken over indirect heat most of the time and searing it over direct heat towards the end for a crispy exterior.
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Wrapping It All Up:
- Summarizes the key factors—preparation, flavoring, and temperature—for cooking delicious barbecue chicken, reassuring readers that smoking chicken need not be intimidating.
The comprehensive insights provided in this article showcase a holistic understanding of the smoking process, combining both the art and science of barbecue. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned enthusiast, these tips, backed by practical knowledge, will undoubtedly elevate your smoked chicken game.
