How to Smoke a Chicken on an Upright Gas Grill
Smoking a chicken in an upright gas grill will give your chicken a delicious flavor. Smoking chicken allows you to cook a whole chicken in less than two hours if you follow the spatchcock method. When you spatchcock a chicken, you completely remove the backbone. Removing the backbone reduces cooking time and allows you to add additional smoked flavor directly to the meat. Once you prepare the chicken for smoking, you can sit back and relax while your grill finishes your hard work. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 1 gallon water
- Large container
- Whole chicken
- Paper towels
- Kitchen shears
- Vinegar
- Garlic butter
- Chicken rub seasoning
- 4 cups soaked wood chips
- Vegetable oil
- Meat thermometer
Instructions
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1
Combine 1 1/2 cups kosher salt with 1 gallon water in a large container to create the brine mixture.
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2
Place the chicken in the brine mixture, and brine the chicken in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
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3
Remove the chicken from the brine mixture. Rinse the chicken under cool water, and pat it dry with paper towels.
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4
Locate the backbone of the chicken with your fingers. Find each end of the backbone, and remember its width.
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5
Cut along the side of the chicken from the neck to the rear with kitchen shears, following the backbone.
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6
Make another cut along the other side of the chicken's backbone. Remove the backbone once the two cuts are complete. Discard the backbone, or store it in the refrigerator to make soup stock.
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7
Flip the chicken over with the breast facing toward you. Flatten the chicken with the palms of your hands---place your palms on each chicken breast, and push until the chicken cracks.
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8
Rub vinegar over the whole chicken to help tenderize the meat. Allow the vinegar to sit on the chicken for 10 to 15 minutes, and then dry it off with paper towels.
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9
Place garlic butter underneath the skin of the chicken breast. Cover the chicken with rub. Peel back the skin to apply the rub directly to the chicken, and then place the skin back over the chicken to protect the meat while it cooks.
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10
Preheat the gas grill to 225 degrees F. After 15 minutes, turn two burners to medium heat and the third burner off. Maintain a temperature of 225 to 240 degrees F.
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11
Pour 4 cups soaked wood chips in a smoker box. Position the smoker box over the flames on the grill.
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12
Coat the grill grates with vegetable oil. Place the whole chicken over the turned-off burner to indirectly smoke the meat.
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13
Close the lid on the grill. Check the internal temperature of the chicken after one hour. Once the temperature reaches 155 to 165 degrees F, remove the chicken. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
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