Karin's Week Twenty-Seven Recipe: Smoked Chicken

A few weekends ago we ventured 'Up North' to visit my Farm Grandpa and aunts/uncles/cousins and their various offspring. My aunt and uncle have a nice cottage on a lake which provides a wonderful gathering place for all ages and species (i.e. our dog, who was introduced to the fun that a 2.5yr old boy can be). As is always occurring in these family gatherings, the women sat in the backyard watching over the wee ones, and the men sat around the grill and smoker attending to the meat preparation. One of my cousins had brought a brisket to be smoked for lunch the following day, and all the men felt the need to give their input on how it should be cooked. Apparently this was much easier than either Nate or I had thought.

It was tasty, and on the way home, there was a discussion in our car concerning the smoker that has resided in our garage since who knows when. It had never been used by Nate in its smoker capacity, only as a grill, and he's had it since college. We decided that the smoked brisket was tasty enough that we could try and smoke a whole chicken in ours.

Smoked Chicken

1 whole chicken, about 3lb, with all innards removed
3 T Penzey's Tuscan Sunset seasoning
1 T kosher salt
3 twists of pepper grinder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 hunk of wood, soaked overnight - we used a piece of maple

1. Prepare smoker by lighting coals, or preheating if gas, and drip-drying wood.
2. Mix all seasonings together in small bowl. Loosen the skin on the chicken breast, thighs and legs. Rub spice mixture on chicken meat under skin. If you have leftover spices, rub inside chicken cavity.
3. Place wet wood piece into smoker, and then place chicken on rack just above.
4. Smoke chicken for about 2-2.5 hours until done, adding coals as needed to maintain even temp.
5. Serve either hot or cold.

This was a big hit, and made enough for dinner and several lunches. The chicken flavor tasted good both right out of the smoker, and straight from the fridge as leftovers. I think we'll be trying this again, and possibly with other meats now that we know how easy it is.