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MeatyOakerSmoker
02-05-2011, 11:45 PM
Hello

In the past I've smoked chicken at the low and slow 225-250 range. However when I asked about smoking a turkey around Thanksgiving people were recommending cooking it more around the 375 range. Is that just true turkey or do people also cook their chickens at a higher temp?

In the low and slow range it is seriously slow to get to 165 internal temp on a chicken. I'm wondering if I'm wasting time or doing the right thing.

Thanks
Sam

bigabyte
02-06-2011, 12:02 AM
I do chicken in the 350-375 range, same as turkeys.

BBQ Grail
02-06-2011, 12:05 AM
I smoke everything at 225 to 245 degrees. Doesn't matter what it is.

SirPorkaLot
02-06-2011, 12:10 AM
I smoke whole birds in the 250 range. I grill chicken breasts at 350-375. I smoke wings, at 225, but in a sauce bath to keep them from drying out.
When I spatchcock a whole chicken, I treat it as I would breasts

gtr
02-06-2011, 12:20 AM
Lately I've been going from 300-350 for chicken & I've been getting results more to my liking - skin is much better and chicken is still really juicy.

NorthwestBBQ
02-06-2011, 12:50 AM
350 or you will eat rubber.

SirPorkaLot
02-06-2011, 12:54 AM
350 or you will eat rubber.

Skin crisps up nicely if you put it on high heat at end, but I do put butter under skin to avoid the rubber chicken

Crash
02-06-2011, 04:45 AM
I agree with most of the others...high heat it!! You can rock some nicely trimmed thighs in about 30 minutes if you push your temps to 375+.

smokeyw
02-06-2011, 06:46 AM
Chickens like higher heat. If you don't want it rubbery I would go 350 to 375.

Big Jim BBQ
02-06-2011, 07:05 AM
I like it in the 350 range myself. I don't like my chicken to have too much of the smoke flavor. 350 until breasts are about 165 IT and thighs at 175 works best for me.

RedPig
02-06-2011, 08:31 AM
You'll get rubbery skin at lower temps. I really don't see a need to go low with chicken. It takes smoke readily, in fact you can easily over smoke if your not careful. Minimum I try to go is 275 and I generally hover around 325 depending on the cut.

Bigdog
02-06-2011, 10:40 AM
I smoke everything at 225 to 245 degrees. Doesn't matter what it is.

Same here but I cook the chicken in the hottest part. You can then do a reverse sear on them at the end to crisp up the skin. And sometimes when smoking, I use skinless.

ZILLA
02-06-2011, 10:45 AM
I prefer cooking birds in the hot spot at 275* in the offset. I think it gives a nice balance of smoke for the meat and sizzle for the skin as well as keeping the cook time reasonable.

MeatyOakerSmoker
02-06-2011, 10:58 AM
Thanks everyone... I'll give it a try and report back with the results.