what's up you guys it's susie from heygrillhey.com and today i am showing you the beauty
in a simple whole smoked chicken often underrated but i think that's because people aren't always
doing it right and chicken kind of gets a bad wrap but once you try a smoked chicken
my way you're going to be making two every weekend so you can have awesome chicken
all throughout the week and i'm going to show you how to do it right now
i think the secret to a really juicy tender delicious and flavorful whole smoked chicken
starts with a chicken brine and a brine is essentially a salt and sugar liquid solution
that tenderizes and imbibes flavor into every piece of this chicken it's very simple to put
together i have a gallon of water i have a cup of brown sugar i have a half a cup of kosher salt
and my kind of special secret bonus ingredient that i like to add is a half a cup of
vinegar-based hot sauce i really like tabasco because it's high in the vinegar it gives
some acidity to the brine and it's not spicy so it's just this great additional flavor profile
whisk all together until the sugar and the salt dissolves into the liquid
all right brine looks awesome now it's time to put in our chicken
this is about a four pound whole fryer chicken and it just goes into the brine until it's
completely submerged if you need to you can put a plate or a bowl on top of the chicken to keep
it in the liquid and you want this to brine for at least 12 hours you can brine up to 24 hours
perfect put a lid on this pop it in the refrigerator
okay my friends chicken is coming out of the brine i have a little
pan prepared with some paper towels so i can pat off all of the extra moisture
we're going to take our lovely chicken and we're gonna stuff it i've got a lemon that i've cut
into slices i've got an onion that i've cut into quarters and i have a couple sprigs of fresh thyme
all of it just goes right into the cavity
i've also got some butcher's twine i'm just gonna tie these legs together
also going to tuck my wing tips
so that these ends don't burn i just take it and fold it behind the shoulder joint
next up is seasoning so i want to reinforce all the flavors that we put into the brine
i'm going to drizzle the outside with some more tabasco sauce this
is going to add flavor but it's also going to help our seasoning adhere
and finally i'm just going to sprinkle the top with my brown sugar based barbecue seasoning
this is my sweet rub i have the recipe available online or in my app or you can purchase a bottle
for yourself in the store or of course you can use your favorite brown sugar based barbecue seasoning
this is going to go on a smoker preheated to 225 degrees now typically smoking low and slow at 225
can lead to rubbery chicken skin however because we gave this a brine there should be
enough moisture in the skin itself and in the meat underneath that we're not going to have
a rubbery chicken skin problem it should be soft it should be bite through if you are somebody that
loves a crispier chicken skin or has a little more texture to it i would recommend cooking at 275
don't go above 275 because any higher than that you're really not smoking and you'll probably burn
the sugars in your brown sugar based seasoning so 225 is my go-to i like a soft chicken skin it
should take about two and a half three hours for a bird this size to reach an internal temperature
of 160 degrees if you're going at 275 you'll be looking at closer to hour and a half to two hours
our beautiful smoked chicken is ready to come off the smoker it took the whole three hours
to get cooked all the way through but now it is a perfect internal temperature of 165 degrees
fahrenheit i really really recommend having a good meat thermometer when you're cooking things like
chicken you don't want to guess when it comes to chicken doneness i cook mine to 165 degrees in the
thickest part of the breast we're gonna break this bird all the way down so that everybody can get
a piece that they like the breasts the thighs the wings the legs but of course we have to taste test
and i always like to grab a bite of the breast meat first even though i'm typically a leg and
a thigh girl i feel like if you can get a juicy piece of smoked chicken breast that is one of like
the few delights in the world and if your chicken breast is good you know the whole chicken is good
and i just like can't get enough of this beautiful smoked chicken breast now
we talked about the skin early on look at that it's bite through it's not leathery it's tender
all of the fat underneath has rendered but the brine has kept it juicy also the flavor is poppin
you get a little bit of a kick from that tabasco but the sweet brown sugar rub
on top really mellows out any of the heat and it just is absolutely delicious the
brine ensures that this turkey is juicy it's very moist it's very tender the texture is
i would describe it as delicate it's absolutely phenomenal we've cut up all the turkey you've
seen all the beauty shots you've heard about how delicious this is now it's time for you to try and
make this recipe on your own at home so you can feed the people you love and become a backyard
barbecue hero when you make this beautiful turkey snap a photo tag me online that way i can see it
and cheer you on on your journey on your journey to becoming a backyard barbecue hero as always the
recipe is available on the hey grill hey app or on my website we'll see you guys next time
oh awesome good chicken