First Chicken Question

[kendec65]

I am going to smoke my first chicken tonight and have a question on temperature.

As I would like crispy skin, should I set my temp to say 350 and keep it there the

whole cook or start lower then at the end go higher or start higher then go low?

Any advice and a rough estimate for a 5lb chicken would be greatly appreciated.

Ken

 

[hawgrider]

350 to 400 degrees for crisp skin that doesn't chew like boot leather.

For poultry use apple or cherry wood.

 

[kendec65]

Thank you!  Would you say about 2 hours?

 

[lancep]

Whole or spatchcocked? Spatched at that temp would be about an hour and a half.

 

[kendec65]

Whole

 

[hawgrider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kendec65  
 
Thank you!  Would you say about 2 hours?

Time is determined by inserting a temperature probe and reaching the safe internal meat temp. Which for me chicken is 165 degrees. Check the breast and the thighs for 165 degrees.

A five pounder may go 2 hours or so... give or take or there abouts.

 

[SmokinAl]

I like to pull mine when the breast hits 157. a short rest on the counter & the carryover cooking will bring it up to 165.

IMHO, spatchcocking is the way to go, you get a much more even cook.

325-350 for crispy skin.

Al

 

[Rings Я Us]

That sounds about like grilling. Could just use indirect heat on a covered grill with chips and do that.

 

[Rings Я Us]

IMG_20170725_193135.jpg

• Rings Я Us
• Jul 26, 2017

My set up is different maybe . 225 till its 165 IT

 

[Rings Я Us]

IMG_20170725_192301.jpg

• Rings Я Us
• Jul 26, 2017

Then i take the body off the ECB to put the chicken over coals to crisp.. turn it roll it.. and presto! Done!

 

[tallbm]

It may go to 2 hours but at 350F I bet it finishes faster.  

Also know that in under 2 hours I personally don't get enough smoke on chicken for my preferences. 

I use an electric smoker with the AMNPS and pellets and my solution is to double up on the smoke by burning 2 rows of pellets at once.  This does the trick for me but you may not have a comparable approach.

Just wanted to give you a heads up.  Best of luck and be sure to show some pics of it finished :)

 

[kendec65]

Thanks for all the advice and it turned out very good.

I did not take pictures since I read that request after the fact.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Cool.. glad it was ok.. I'm not sure if I ever had tough skin on a chicken before. I do mine real low 205 -240 . But at the end as you can see , I can toss the chicken on the coals and almost evaporate the skin. [emoji]128512[/emoji]

I'm not going to bother smoking chicken most of the time. It tastes to darn good on the grill and it's faster. [emoji]128077[/emoji]