Description
Smoked Spatchcock Chicken (crispy skin) – a delicious and easy smoked spatchcock chicken recipe with homemade dry rub!
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken:
- Approx. 4 lb whole chicken
- 2–3 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
- 2–3 tablespoons butter, melted (for basting)
Dry Rub:
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
Instructions
- (Optional) Make a batch of our Smoked Chicken Brine and let your whole chicken brine for 12-24 hours. Remove from brine and pat dry.
- Preheat smoker to 225 degrees F.
- Ensure the chicken is fully thawed and prep by removing any gizzards that are stuffed inside the cavity.
- Place chicken on a poultry-safe cutting board and flip chicken over so that it is breast side down.
- The backbone will now be running right down the middle of the chicken. Take a pair of sharp kitchen shears/kitchen scissors and cut along one side of the backbone.
- Then cut along the other side of the backbone.
- Remove the backbone (feel free to freeze it and use it the next time you make homemade chicken broth).
- Next, using a sharp knife cut into the cartilage at the top of the breastbone so that when you flip the chicken over it will lay flat. Alternatively, you can press down on each of the wings at the same time and the breastbone will simply crack, allowing you to flip it over and lay the chicken flat. Once you flip the chicken over feel free to press down on the breast bone until you hear and feel a small crack.
- Pat the chicken dry with a clean paper towel.
- Drizzle with olive oil and ensure fully coated.
- Combine Smoked Dry Rub ingredients and rub all over (under the skin where you can) and in every nook and cranny.
- Place chicken (breast side up) on the smoker and close the lid.
- Baste every 30 minutes or so with the melted butter (be quick though!).
- Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F, approximately 3-4 hours. (See Notes about getting a nice crispy skin finish). Use a digital meat thermometer or probe to track the internal temp.
- Remove from smoker and let rest 10-15 minutes (cover with aluminum foil).
Notes
- Smoke Time: the best way to track when your bird is done is to keep an eye on the internal temp. Every smoker can be different and there are always so many variables at play when when determining how long it will take to become fully cooked (such as humidity, hot spots on your smoker, wind, etc). Use an internal meat thermometer or probe to track your internal temp – if you feel like your internal temp is plateauing you can always turn up the heat a bit (say to 235 or even 250) towards the end of cooking time.
- Brine: if you want to brine our Smoked Chicken Brine before you smoke – feel free! It still turns out amazing even without the brine, but if you have time and want to try something different it is a good one!
- Hot Finish/Crispy Skin: if you want a more charred/crispy skin finish pull your chicken off when it hits about 160 degrees internal temp. Either have a grill preheated to high heat (500 degrees F.) or crank up your smoker as hot as it will go and carefully place your chicken down (breast side down/skin side down) for about minute or two (or until the skin is charred). Remove and let rest.
- Pellets: you really can’t go wrong with your pellet choice, but we love apple, cherry, hickory, mesquite or pecan.
- BBQ Sauce: want to make things saucy – brush on some bbq sauce for the last 10-15 minutes and crank up the heat so the sauce gets tacky.