# Smoking whole chicken



## Sailor612 (Oct 3, 2007)

This is going to be my first attempt at smoking. I decided to take my dads old electric smoker and crank it up!

Do I need to brine a whole chicken prior to smoking? I've read anything from just oil it up and throw it on, to brine for 8-10hrs....
I know it is best to brine a turkey to keep it moist, but does the same apply to a "small" chicken?
What is the ideal smoking temp? Any suggestions?!

My next project will be pulled pork! I've done pulled pork in a crockpot a bunch of times, but you can't beat the true flavor of smoked pork! I think my smoker is going to get used as much as the crockpot now! As long as all goes to plan! The problem is...i usually only cook for myself so its kind of tough finding good stuff to make that won't have 3 weeks worth of leftovers!


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## Brandy (Sep 28, 2007)

I just throw it on the smoker at 275 till done. Some smoke A little cooler and some A little hotter. Icook it until I can easily pull the leg bone out. You can do it A little faster if you half it. Its easier to season halved also. Just cut the backbone out with scissors and splay her out. your making me hungry :clap


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## flrockytop (Oct 3, 2007)

> *Sailor612 (12/11/2009)*This is going to be my first attempt at smoking. I decided to take my dads old electric smoker and crank it up!
> 
> Do I need to brine a whole chicken prior to smoking? I've read anything from just oil it up and throw it on, to brine for 8-10hrs....
> I know it is best to brine a turkey to keep it moist, but does the same apply to a "small" chicken?
> ...


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Go get ya a chicken or two or 4 . 
Soak em in salted [kosher salt about a cup of salt to 2 quarts of water add garlic and pepper if you like ] water overnight and smoke em in the morning at about 3/4 throttle [on the quartz lamp] for 5 hours Open the vent as big as your index finger with about 8 or 10 bisquettes .Let her set at about 250 on the thermo for the last 2 hours . Let them set in the smoker for a while to cool . Have your first smoked chicken of the new year !!!!!!!!!!


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