Poultry Got a good whole-chicken recipe?

[M.Wong]

So far since November, I have had good luck with three kinds of ribs, Chinese roast pork, and pulled pork butt. But two whole chickens… not very impressive.

Brine (water, salt, brown sugar) overnight
Inside - ¼ yellow onion, garlic cloves, fresh thyme
Outside - minced garlic and rub
Traeger at 225 super smoke to 145 degrees internal temperature
Traeger up to 350 to 160 degrees internal temperature
Rest in cooler one hour, internal temp to 167

Came our moist and well-cooked but flavor was very meh. (Coulda bought a Costco rotisserie chicken and saved time and money!)

Skin came out rubbery and inedible. Should I have raised the temp earlier or throw it on the Weber gas grill at the end?

 

[JPSBBQ]

One of the most important steps in cooking chicken is buying a quality chicken. Make sure you get a free range bird. Second recommendation is to spatchcock the chicken. Thirdly, I would forego the smoke portion of the cook and grill it at 350-400 until the breast is 160-165. Chicken is often over-smoked IMO. Let rest 15-30 minutes and serve. I part out the pieces and then remove the breast meat from the bone and cut it into thick slices. Try Dizzy Pig Raging River for a rub. Obviously everyone has different tastes.

 

[GrillMeister]

If your cooler is closed, the moisture will soften your crisp skin.

 

[HotSpringsBBQ]

How I boost the flavor is always inject the bird with 1 can of beer mixed with your favorite dry rub. Adds great flavor and moisture. Its easier and must faster than the brining process. Also add a layer of butter outside before the rub, it helps absorb the smoky flavor.

 

[JPSBBQ]

I’m a fan of brining chicken. I love the brine they sell with those briner buckets. It’s better than anything I’ve ever made or bought. That said, great chickens taste great. Mediocre chickens taste mediocre. You can ruin good meat but it’s hard to make poor meat great.

 

[CMTiger]

This worked for me a week or so ago.

4.9 and 5.1 pound whole chicken
Meat Church Gospel
Butter for basting

Set out chicken overnight in fridge uncovered.
Spatchcock breast and season liberally with seasoning on all sides.
Set Traeger to 300 degrees (actual 275-285) and let it come to temp.
Baste with butter every 45 minutes to an hour.
Takes ~ 1 hour 45 minutes
Let sit for at least 15-20 minutes.

 

[JayHog]

Every time I cook chicken at a low temp on the Traeger, I get that weird rubbery skin, too. I agree with others, start at 350, spatchcock the bird and cook on upper rack if you have room. I use a smoke tube under it and I think that helps in getting the skin just right.

 

[M.Wong]

I am new to Traeger, so thank you all for the input. I will figure out something and try again. (I might have to first re-do one of the things that came out well to get this one out of my mind!)

 

[MDY]

You need to have dry skin going into the smoker to avoid flabby skin at the end. Either: 1] pull from the brine in the morning and let the chicken sit on a rack in the fridge for ~6 hours to dry out; or, pull the chicken a couple hours before smoking it and put it in front of a small fan to dry out the skin.

 

[Jacob_Sausalito]

I have had a lot of success with whole chickens using Grill Grates. The skin comes out very crispy.

• Spatchcock the chicken
• Season liberally with Taeger chicken rub
• Wait 1 hour for bird to come to room temp
• Set Traeger to 375 - give a little extra warm up time for grill grates to get really hot
• Put chicken skin down on grill grates
• Cook until skin looks perfect (about 20 minutes)
• Flip and cook until the breast reaches 160
• Pull - rest 15 minutes - carve
• A guaranteed winner

Simple, easy, quick, delicious. Good Luck!

 

[JPSBBQ]

I have had a lot of success with whole chickens using Grill Grates. The skin comes out very crispy.

• Spatchcock the chicken
• Season liberally with Taeger chicken rub
• Wait 1 hour for bird to come to room temp
• Set Traeger to 375 - give a little extra warm up time for grill grates to get really hot
• Put chicken skin down on grill grates
• Cook until skin looks perfect (about 20 minutes)
• Flip and cook until the breast reaches 160
• Pull - rest 15 minutes - carve
• A guaranteed winner

Simple, easy, quick, delicious. Good Luck!

I know the recipe says season "liberally" with the Traeger chicken rub, but I would caution folks that it is quite salty. I would taste that particular rub before applying it. It is a great rub, but I go a bit light with that particular rub. Personal taste thing. I'm not anti salt by any means in case anyone is wondering. The rest of the recipe sounds great to me.

 

[HotSpringsBBQ]

I know the recipe says season "liberally" with the Traeger chicken rub, but I would caution folks that it is quite salty. I would taste that particular rub before applying it. It is a great rub, but I go a bit light with that particular rub. Personal taste thing. I'm not anti salt by any means in case anyone is wondering. The rest of the recipe sounds great to me.

Yes I agree, it is salty.

 

[Big Daddy’s Grill]

I agree with the general comments that the smoke phase on chicken isn’t really necessary, and that a higher heat will make it crispier. Also be sure to dry skin before rubbing.

Brine if you can, but not a deal breaker if you lack the time. Also, be cautious not to brine too long. Overnight is great for a large Turkey. But likely too long for a whole chicken. It will get way too salty. Chicken wings? Never longer than 2 hours. Use your best judgement from there and experiment.

Smoke on…

 

[Big Daddy’s Grill]

Coincidentally, I just cooked a whole chicken from Vons. Fresh. No brine. Washed it, coarse salt in n out, dried it, rubbed it with a couple of my favorite chicken rubs, threw it on the Traeger at 275°. I hit target temp of 165° in the breasts, and the thighs were pushing 175° after 3-3.5 hours. Pulled, sliced with an electric, and served. Sooooooo juicy and perfect. Flavor off the hook, nice skin, and tender-hella-juicy!!! Brine would have been overkill. Prep was 5 minutes. Cook was <3.5, and the heavenly flavor will last on our pallets for hours. Perfect.

 

[M.Wong]

I bought a Briner bucket a year ago but never got the courage to use it. It was still NIB and last month, my family's "Secret Santa" pick requested, among other things, BBQ tools. He got some tools and the bucket... is it a re-gift if I bought it for myself then gave it away???

I still haven't' taken the time to try new things with chicken.