First time smoking a whole chicken

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jack bbq

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2016
15
10
Boston, MA
I started by brining a 4 pound bird overnight. The next day I rinsed the bird and applied a rub on and under the skin for 24 hours. I smoked at 250 for 2 hours and 15 minutes until the internal temp was 165 using mesquite chips on my MES 30. Here is the result:
I was going to be gone all day, so the plan was to smoke it in the morning and heat it up for dinner. To reheat the chicken and crisp up the skin, I put it in an oven at 425 for about 25 minutes:
And here is the leg quarter plated:
I had great smoke flavor and lots of juiciness. My only complaint was the skin was a little salty. Overnight might have been too long to leave it in the brine.
 
Looks tasty.

What was your brine recipe? What was your rub? If both had salt and looking at the times you stated for brining and allowing the rub to sit on the bird would explain the saltiness.
 
Looks tasty.

What was your brine recipe? What was your rub? If both had salt and looking at the times you stated for brining and allowing the rub to sit on the bird would explain the saltiness.

My brine was a cup of Kisher salt and about a third of a cup of brown sugar. My rub did have some salt in it, but was heavy on pepper, along with lemon pepper seasoning (first ingredient: salt), garlic powder and ginger.

Next time I'll brine for less time and be more careful with the amount of salt in the rub.
 
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