Traeger Whole Chicken Recipe | Bubba's Smoked Chicken - Shelf Cooking (2024)

FAQs

What temperature do you cook a whole chicken on a pellet grill? ›

Smoke for 1 hour at 225°F. Increase the heat on your grill to 375°F and continue roasting approximately 30-60 minutes, or until the white and dark meat reach an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for 15–20 minutes.

"For chicken, fish, and turkey it is always apple." After you choose your smoke flavor, set the pellet grill to 225 degrees Fahrenheit, or the Super Smoke setting on your Traeger. Preheat with the lid closed for 15 minutes. Remove chicken from the brine (if used) and pat dry.

Using an approximately 4lb whole chicken (fully thawed and cavity empty) and smoking at 225 degrees F. it will take approximately 3.5 – 4.5 hours to smoked a whole chicken. That being said the best way to track when your bird is done is to keep track of the internal temp.

To gently warm your smoked chicken, preheat your oven to 325°F. Place chicken in a roasting pan and add 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and heat for approximately 15 minutes per pound or to an internal temperature of 120°F.

Smoker temps for smoked chicken

Cook your chicken at 225–250°F (107–121°C) for an hour to imbue the meat with smoky goodness. The slow smoking not only gives us flavor, but it also cooks the meat quite gently for that first hour. Once that's done, though, it's time to crank up the heat.

If you're making a whole smoked chicken (or several), it can take up to 4 hours to fully smoke at 225°F. At that point, the smoked chicken internal temp should fall between 160°F and 165°F in the thickest part of the chicken breast, and the thighs should be between 170°F and 175°F.

Place the chicken directly on the grill grates, close the lid, and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 160℉, 2 1/2-3 hours. Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for 15 minutes before carving. The internal temperature will rise to 165℉ while the chicken rests.

Cooking a chicken should take about an hour at 375 degrees, but it can vary depending on the size of the chicken, the outside temperature, and more. You should ensure that your chicken cooks to at least 165 degrees in its thickest part.

Cook Time for Smoking Whole Chicken

It takes approximately 30-40 minutes per pound at 350°F, or 1 hour per pound at 250°F. for a whole smoked chicken to cook to an internal temperature of 160-163°F.

Tip #4: Don't Overcook Your Chicken

The FDA-approved temperature for cooking chicken is 165, but your chicken doesn't stop cooking the moment it comes out of the smoker. The bones of the bird hold heat, so you should actually remove from the smoker between 155 and 160 degrees.

How long to smoke a 5 lb chicken at 250? ›

How Long to Smoke a Whole Chicken. It takes approximately 2.5-3 hours to fully smoke a whole chicken at 275 degrees F. The final internal temperature of the breast should be between 160-165 degrees F, and the thighs should be between 170-175 degrees F.

Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, taking care not to touch any bones, as this will reduce the temperature reading. Then, read the temperature. If the temperature has reached 165°F or higher, the smoked chicken is fully cooked and safe to eat.

Smoked poultry, commercially prepared, is usually pink because it is prepared with natural smoke and liquid smoke flavor. Federal regulations require all processed poultry to be cooked to at least 165 °F (71.1° C) instantly, or to an equivalent level of safety attained by this minimum temperature requirement.

Smoke – Place chicken on smoker. Close pellet grill lid and cook at 250 degrees for about 3 hours for 3.5 lb chicken or until chicken has reached 165 degrees F. Rest – Let rest 5-10 minutes and then enjoy!

Stuff the cavity with the lemon, onion, whole garlic cloves, and thyme. Tie the legs together. Insert the probe into the thickest part of the chicken breast. Place the chicken directly on the grill grates, close the lid, and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 160℉, 2 1/2-3 hours.

Smoking is always about internal temperature and not time, but a 4 to 6-pound chicken will cook in about 1 to 1 1/2 hours on a smoker, maintaining an even heat of 325 to 350 degrees F.