Smoked chicken is like liver. You either love it or hate it. In the South, you can start a fight by voicing a preference for smoked chicken or fried chicken. For me, it's all about the skin. Fried chicken is worthless unless it crunches. Smoked chicken, Georgia style, is big, bold, and assertive, but the skin, although it is packed with flavor, is not crispy. The only way to tell which side of the chicken wire fence you're on is to try it. Fortunately, it's easy to make. This method will produce a delicate, moist bird if you don't overcook it, so there is no need to even consider brining it.
Recipe
Pulled chicken
If you wish, when you are done, you can pull the meat off the bones and rip it to shreds, plop it on a bun, and crown it with a dollop of sauce. Voila: Pulled Chicken!
Serves. 2 people Preparation time. 5 minutes to get ready, and about 2 hours to cook
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, about 3 pounds
4 tablespoons of Meathead's Memphis Dust, approximately
About the rub. In Georgia this could get you thrown in the Okefenokee Swamp, but try it skinless with my Simon & Garfunkel Rub. I like it better that way. OK, I'll shut up now.
Optional. If you want, you can paint the meat with sauce for about 30 minutes near the end of the cook. Then, if you want, you can sizzle the sauce on the hot part of a grill for a few minutes, lid off, watching it carefully because it can burn in a hurry. But I usually serve it without sauce.
Do this
1) Preheat your smoker to 225°F. If you are using a grill, set it up for 2-Zone or Indirect cooking. That's the sweet spot most people are used to smoking at. If you can get it to 325°F, you can render more fat and crisp the skin a bit.
2) Split the chicken in half by cutting it with heavy shears. Rinse it, and make sure to get all that brown liver like goop nestled along the spine. In fact, I usually just remove the spine, toss it in a bag, and save it for making stock. Pat the meat and the bottom of the sink dry with paper towels. Lay the meat in the sink and dust both sides thoroughly with the spice mix.
3) Put the meat in the smoker or on the indirect side of the grill. Add about 4 ounces of wood for smoking and that's all. When it is gone, resist the urge to add more. After you've tasted it you can decide if you want to use more wood next cook. But it doesn't take much. Chicken just drinks it up. Cook for about 2-3 hours or until the temp in the thickes part of the meat without touching bone is 165°F. Remove from the cooker, let it rest about 5 minutes, and serve.
4) You can crisp the skin a bit by exposing it to high heat. At about 325°F it starts to tighten, lose fat, and get crunchy. So if you are working on a grill, move it over high heat or put it under your kitchen broiler.
5) If you cut the bird up in the sink, thoroughly clean it with a chlorine based cleanser like Comet.
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A good thermometer is why I never serve overcooked or undercooked food. This one has a very thin tip with a tiny thermocouple so it gives an accurate reading in just six seconds. I cannot recommend it more highly. It will improve your cooking overnight and pay for itself in a hurry. And it is inexpensive. Click here for more about thermometers.
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AmazingRibs.com is all about the science and zen of barbecue, grilling, and outdoor cooking, with great BBQ recipes and techniques: Baby back ribs, spareribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, steak, burgers, chicken, smoked turkey, lamb, barbecue sauces, burgers, steaks, rubs, and side dishes, with the world's best buying guide to barbecue smokers, grills, and accessories. It is edited by 
About Product Reviews and Best Value Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals. These are highly recommended products based on features, quality, and especially value. Rest assured that when we recommend a product, it is really because we like it, not because someone has paid us to say so because we do not accept advertising from products we review. We purchase many products we review although occasionally suppliers send us samples. We have always been transparent about when we are reviewing a product sample, even before 
The prize for Best BBQ Tool at the 2012 The National Barbecue Association conference went to a simple inexpensive fridge magnet by Meathead. It includes the latest USDA recommendations as well as chef recommendations (and they often differ) as well as color photos of the different stages of doneness for red meats. The temperatures are the same for both indoor and outdoor cooks. 
With a $30 donation you'll get a 100% cotton brushed twill adjustable low profile cap with the AmazingRibs patch sewn on. I'll even toss in a small bag of BBQ'rs Delight wood smoke pellets. Click here for 
