Smoked Spatchcock Chicken (GF, Paleo, Whole30)
This Smoked Spatchcock Chicken comes out super juicy and delicious. A great way to cook a whole chicken at once, this post give you step by step instructions for smoking on your wood pellet grill or smoker to make it easy to understand. Includes a video!
Servings 10
Calories 188kcal
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 4 to 4.5 lbs
- 2.5 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Place the chicken on a large cutting board and dry it off with paper towels. Lift the skin on the breast section of the chicken (at the tail end) and gently push your finger between the skin and the meat to separate it. Continue doing this until the skin is separate from both breasts then do the same with the thighs and legs.
- Next measure out the spices (smoked paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt – Amazon affiliate link) with a measuring spoon and place it in a small bowl. Mix the spices together until well combined.
- Take a teaspoon or so of the seasoning mixture between your fingers and rub it on one of the breasts, on the meat underneath the skin. Repeat until you’ve rubbed salt on both breasts and both thighs and legs, reserving a little to go on the outside of the chicken. Try and get as far down as you can as any part of meat that doesn't have the brine will not be as flavorful.
- Sprinkle half of the remaining seasoning on the skin of the chicken and rub it in, then flip the chicken and do the same on the inside of the bird. Place the bird, breast facing up, on the cutting board and put it in the fridge to brine for 8-10 hours hours. You may cover it loosely with plastic wrap if you’re worried about rubbing against it, but don’t cover it too tightly as you want the skin to dry out a bit.
- Before you’re ready to smoke the chicken, remove your bird from the fridge at least 30 minutes before putting it on the wood pellet grill or smoker (we use our Traeger for this recipe). After the 30 minutes, turn your wood pellet grill or smoker on to preheat to 250 degrees F.
- Once your grill comes to temperature, remove anything that may have been covering the chicken. Place the bird in the wood pellet grill or smoker with the breasts facing up and insert a temperature probe (if you have one) into the middle of one of the breasts, making sure it’s not touching bone.
- Let the chicken smoke for about 4 hours, until the internal temperature of the breast reaches 145-150 degrees F and the internal temperature of the thighs and legs reach 165 degrees F. If you have a bigger or smaller chicken, the general rule of thumb for smoking time is 45-60 minutes per pound.
- If your chicken is taking longer to cook, feel free to bump the cooking temperature up to 350 degrees F to help it finish cooking faster.
- Once the chicken has come to temperature, remove it from the grill and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting into it. Cover it loosely with foil as it rests to retain some of the heat, then carve it up and serve!
Video
Notes
- As previously stated, this recipe uses Diamond Crystal kosher salt (Amazon affiliate link). If you have a different kind of salt, such as Morton’s kosher salt or table salt, read this article on the different types of salt and measurements by Cook’s Illustrated to help you figure out how much of each salt to use.
- Clear a spot in your fridge for the chicken before you start to dry brine it! If you started with a frozen chicken and thawed it in the fridge you likely already have a good spot, but it’s best to double check before you begin so your chicken isn’t sitting out on the counter while you rearrange your fridge.
- Check the temperature of the chicken in multiple spots before you take it off the grill or smoker to make sure all parts are cooked. We use our Thermapen meat thermometer to do this at it gives a fast and highly accurate reading so we’re not losing as much heat with the lid of our Traeger open.
- Clear a spot in your fridge for the chicken before you start to dry brine it! If you started with a frozen chicken and thawed it in the fridge you likely already have a good spot, but it’s best to double check before you begin so your chicken isn’t sitting out on the counter while you rearrange your fridge.
- Check the temperature of the chicken in multiple spots before you take it off the grill or smoker to make sure all parts are cooked. We use our Thermapen meat thermometer to do this at it gives a fast and highly accurate reading so we’re not losing as much heat with the lid of our Traeger open.
Nutrition
Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 642mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 171IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg