This Whole Chicken Smoking Technique is a Game Changer
Hot and Fast Chicken With Smoked BBQ Sauce
Looking for the maximum smoke flavor from your pellet grill? Download my free “11 Secrets to Maximize Smoke on a Pellet Grill” guide.
Introduction
Crispy-Skin Whole Chicken on the Yoder
What's up BBQ fans! I realized I've done a ton of smoking videos but not many grilling videos. So today on the patio, we're doing some good old-school BBQ chicken on the Yoder YS640s: a whole chicken, grilled at high heat for crispy skin, with a little extra smoke and a BBQ sauce I smoked right on the grill. I tried something I haven't done before, so let's get into it.
Why High Heat
Chicken likes to be cooked hot and fast. Just think of fried chicken. It can take the heat, and high heat renders the fat so you get crispy skin, not rubbery skin.
I set the Yoder to 450°F and let it heat soak for about 10 minutes after it came up to temp.
The Prep
This was just a whole chicken from Costco.
Dry the skin. If you have time, dry brine it the night before. I didn't, so I patted it with paper towel and pressed on the skin to push out moisture.
Binder: a very light spray of avocado oil. It helps the skin crisp and gives the rub something to stick to.
Rub: Yardbird rub from All Things BBQ (use code: RUMANDCOOK11 to save 11%).
Tuck the wings underneath, or they'll burn.
Pro tip: timing matters after you season. Season and put it on right away, or wait 45 minutes to an hour. Don't put it on after 10 or 15 minutes, when the salt has pulled all the moisture to the surface. After about an hour in the fridge, it starts to pull that moisture back in, which helps the skin crisp.
Extra Smoke
For pellets, I ran a 50/50 blend of Bear Mountain Hickory and Bear Mountain Mesquite. This is the new part: I also added a smoke tube filled with hickory. I only filled it partway, since this cook takes 45 minutes to an hour. I lit it with the lid open, let it burn for a minute and set it off to the side.
Opening the lid lets some heat out, but the Yoder's 10-gauge steel holds heat, so it recovers quickly. The auger also feeds more pellets, which really warms up the area under the chicken. That's exactly what I want.
The Cook
Directly over the firebox, so the bottom takes the pounding from the heat and crisps up.
Slightly to the left. The back half of the diffuser plate is the hottest, since the flame comes up and across. The legs get more heat, and they can handle it.
At 30 minutes, the breast was only about 100°F, a little lower than I wanted. The chicken stuck to the grates a bit, so I lifted it with tongs and turned it 180 degrees.
At 45 minutes, the breast was at 122.5°F.
Smoke the Sauce
At that point, I put a pot of BBQ sauce on the grill, right next to the smoke tube. Any sauce works. Every 5 minutes, stir it, since the smoke sits on top. Use a glove, because that pot gets hot.
Most BBQ sauce has a lot of sugar, and at 450°F mine was simmering pretty aggressively after 7 minutes. I pulled it inside to cool a bit so the sugar wouldn't burn, but I didn't want to brush cold sauce on the chicken.
Not a sauce person? Just cook the chicken to 150 to 152°F and let it carry over. Breast meat held at 155°F for 3 minutes is safe. It looked delicious on its own. I'm a saucy guy, though.
Sauce and Finish
At about 145°F, I brushed on the smoked sauce, let it tack up for about 7 minutes, then turned off the Yoder and rested it for 10 minutes. My wife tried to steal a leg before it even made it back outside.
Taste Test
It was juicy, with moisture running out of every piece. And the skin was bite-through: no chew, no rubber. Without sauce, it would be super crispy. I like it with the sauce. You do you.
Final Thoughts
Dry the skin, cook it hot at 450°F right over the firebox, and add a smoke tube if you want more smoke flavor. Smoking the sauce on the grill is an easy bonus.
If you're looking to take your pellet grilling game to the next level, check out my Pellet Grill Mastery Bundle.
Thanks For Watching
Whether you're a seasoned pitmaster or a novice, these tips will enhance your cooking skills and leave your family and friends raving about your delicious, smoky creations. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more step-by-step videos, and let's together become the barbecue heroes we were meant to be!
*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. You will pay the same price, but I will earn a small percentage, which will help support the channel.
