Smoking a whole chicken

[ddog27]

This weekend I am smoking a couple of whole chickens. Up to this point I have only smoked chicken pieces. Do you do anything different when you are smoking a whole chicken vs chicken pieces?

:spani:

 

[LarryWolfe]

Dog,
Obviously the whole chicken will take longer than individually pieces. The only thing you need to do differently is to monitor the temp in the breast of the bird and pull it around 165-170. Otherwise you're gonna have a tasty but dry breast. If you have a bird that has one of those pop up timers, leave it in the bird but do not judge the doneness by when it pops up. They are set to go off at 180*, by then your breast will be quite dry. Good luck and post lots of pics.

 

[ScottyDaQ]

Doing the beer can thing? Yummy stuff. Maybe try it on one?

 

[Bruce B]

I'm with you TL, I would much rather do quarters, thighs or just legs. I've done whole birds and they turn out fine, but there nothing like getting a whole bunch of quarters or thighs piled high on a platter and just dig in.