The guidelines to a perfected smoked chicken.
Buying: When buying your almost perfected whole chicken you need to look out for some things. First, buy a fresh chicken (I’ve never used a frozen chicken, which would work in some cases) around 4 lbs. I used a 4.8 pound chicken. Buy the chicken the day before you smoke it because you will want to brine it- brining the chicken is essentially marinating the chicken and keeping it juicy throughout the smoking process. You will also need coal and your choice of wood. I used hickory, but you can use any type of fruit tree wood.
Preparing the day before: Cut open the seal and remove guts from chicken including all the juices. Set the chicken aside. In a very large bowl or bucket that is able to fit the whole chicken and be able to fit in the fridge. In the bucket put one and a half gallons of water, 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 tsps garlic powder, 2 tsps onion powder, 2 tsps of spicy Cajun, 2 tsp celery seed, 2 tsp hot chili powder and stir until everything mixes together. Place chicken in bucket or large bowl and set in fridge for at least 2-3 hours. I let my chicken brine over night.
Whichever wood you bought, soak the wood in water over night to help the chicken not burn as fast.
The day of brine: Take chicken out of brine, pat whole chicken down dry. I used paper towel. Then, you can use either vegi oil or butter and rub on the chicken skin. This helps the skin stay moist and allows your spices to stick on the chicken easier. I used the beer can stand method to place the chicken on to. Get smoker to 250 degrees Fahrenheit using coals. Once you get to 250F throw wood on to coals Place chicken on rack. Use thermometer to stick in the chicken breast. Your whole chicken should be ready when the inside is 165 degrees. Let chicken sit for 30 minutes, wrapped in tinfoil.
Take off tinfoil and enjoy!