Offset Smoker Whole Chicken
Nothing says summer like chicken on the offset smoker.
Whole chickens are great for summer dinners for the entire family. Just carve them up and pass the serving tray to get your favourite piece.
2 WHOLE CHICKENS | 3 HOUR COOK | OFFSET SMOKER
******INGREDIENTS******
BRINE
Meat Church Bird Bath Poultry Brine
INJECTION
Meat Church T-Birds Chicken Injection
RUB
Meath Church Fajita Seasoning & Holy Voodoo Rub
COOKWOOD
Furtado Farms Sugar Maple Cookwood Logs
******PREPARATION******
NIGHT BEFORE
The night before your cook is getting these birds into a brine. We like to use free range chickens from TruLocal. These are farm fresh and not supermarket products. Really a superior product. You can make your own brine or you can get Meat Church Bird Bath Poultry Brine from our online store.
Clean the chickens rinsing under cold water and trim as required. You'll want to leave the chickens in the brine for at least 6 hours. Remove from brine and pat dry. Place chicken in the refrigerator overnight to dry out the skin. We want crispy skin and the process of overnight in the refrigerator helps with that process.
MORNING OF THE COOK
For this cook we are using an Old Country BBQ Pits Offset Smoker. This is a wood fire offset smoker. You will have to give yourself enough time to get your fire started and set up to maintain cooking temps of 250-275 degrees. You can use any cooker here. Charcoal, Pellet, or Gas grill.
Take the chickens out of the refrigerator and get your injection mixed. Inject the entire bird concentrating on the breast section. We want moist chicken breasts.
Now we want to stuff the chickens. Chop up 2 lemons, 8 cloves of garlic, and 1 whole onion. Mix them together and add rubs you're going to use on the chicken. Stuff the chickens and tie off the wings and legs.
Spray the chicken skin. Here you can use Olive Oil, Grape See Oil, or Duck Fat.
Now season your chickens equally with both rubs and set aside for about 30 minutes to let the rubs set in.
THE COOK
Now it's time to get your chickens on. Fill a water pan with warm water and add what you like. Chopped onions, garlic, and lemons work well here as that's what we stuffed the birds with. Again watch your water pan to make sure it doesn't dry out.
Place a probe in both chickens in the breast section of the bird. We want to watch internal temps as we don't want an overcooked bird. Set a probe alarm for 150 degrees so you get an alert that you're close.
If you're using an offset wood smoker or charcoal grill you'll have to maintain temps and manage your fire. If you're using a pellet grill you can set it and leave it.
During the cooking process spray the chickens with the same spray you used when you were seasoning. This creates a nice crispy golden skin. Spray as required during the cook.
GLAZING
When the internal temperatures reach about 155 - 158 this is where you can add some glazing to create a rich sweet flavour to the outside.
Using a mop gently drizzle a sauce of your choice over the chickens. Be sure not to touch the chickens as we don't want to take the rub off. Just give them a nice drizzle. Here's a nice sauce to use. Lane's Kinda Sweet Sauce. This pairs very well with the Meat Church Holy Voodoo that has that back end heat we used when we seasoned the chickens.
It's important here not to glaze too early or the sugars in the glaze may burn. We only want 15 minutes or so prior to reaching final temps to do this.
THE REST
Just like any other cook the rest is important. We want the juices to distribute back into the chicken. Let them sit tented in foil for 20 - 30 minutes.
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
Ok it's time to eat. You can carve these up table side or prior removing the legs, thighs, wings, and breasts on a platter and serve them around the table.
Pair them with some fresh corn on the cob, potato salad or fries. You do you.
Enjoy!
