When people think of BBQ smoker recipes, they generally think of high fat pork butts and ribs. Smoking chicken can be a tasty and delicious alternative.
To successfully smoke a chicken on your water smoker, you’ll need to start with a 3 – 3.5 pound whole chicken. My recommendation is to buy as natural as possible. If you can afford to buy locally, then do so. If not, then look for a bird that hasn‘t been injected full of solution. Look for terms such as “all natural” or “minimally processed” on the package.
Brine your chicken in a sugar and salt solution for four hours before cooking. Mix 1 gallon of water with a cup of sugar and a cup of kosher salt. You can also add fruit juice, wine, spices, Worcestershire, peppercorns, etc. Make sure the chicken is completely submersed in the brine. A good idea is to place a few plates on top to keep the chicken from floating.
You’ll need enough charcoal to maintain a temperature of 225 degrees for 3 hours. Use your charcoal chimney to get your charcoal started. Once it has ashed over, you can put it in the charcoal pan of your water smoker. Also, don’t forget to fill up your water pan. There is nothing worse than a water smoker with no water.
Place the chicken on the water smoker breast side down. You will want to add a foil envelope of soaked hickory chips on top of the charcoal. Let the chicken cook breast side down for 1 1/2 hours. At this time, flip it over the remainder of the time. Remove the chicken when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Make sure you monitor the heat, adding hot coals whenever needed. You will also need to add more wood chips whenever the foil pack stops producing smoke.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I do. The internet contains a wealth of smoker recipes. All you have to do is search. Don’t be afraid to try new things or combine different recipes. Using a water smoker is all about experimentation. Have fun and keep smoking!
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