Sunday Cookin' 1.15.12 Smoked Chicken...

I don't claim to be a grillin guru, but I am learning.         

And one of the goals I established for myself is smoking a Whole Chicken...

Here's what you need to know going in...

What you will need:

1 whole chicken

1/2 Bell Pepper Gutted

Your Favorite Seasoning Blend and or Marinade

Here's Mine

Preparing the grill...

The grill needs to be hot, but not too hot...

You want to go for a convection oven effect, controlling the temperature of the inside of the grill where the smoke and heat from the coals slowly cooks the meat...

To create this effect:

I used half the amount of coals I normally would.

I lit the coals as I normally would.

I waited until 2/4 (or most of the coals) were gray in color or "ashed over" and they were smoking rapidly, this is when your grill is most hot.

I placed my grill rack over the coals.

I waited about 5 minutes.  (Another thing you can do is place your hand directly over the grill rack without actually touching it. You should feel a great amount of warmth, indicating the grill is hot.)

To start I placed my meat directly over the center of the coals and closed the lid of my grill. (When placed in the center of the rack and directly over the center of the coals, fat from the meat will drip over the coals and help with keeping them sparked just enough to produce more smoke.)

If the chicken seems to be cooking to rapidly where it is burning, remove it from the center of the grill rack toward the back of the grill.

I also kept my grill vents opened 1/4 of the way, (a little under half way opened) , to keep the heat in.

Other Tips:

Limit the number of times you open the grill. The more you do so, the more heat you let out.

Keep your eye on the grill and whether or not it is producing smoke. The more smoke the grill produces, the hotter it is and the more likely your chicken will cook.

Never poke grilled meat with a fork! Always use tongs to preserve the meat's natural juices and keep it from drying out!

Preparing the meat...

Remove Chicken out of the package.

Place in an empty sink.

(If there is any blood in the package; rinse the package out over the sink, double bag the emptied and rinsed package in plastic grocery bags, then dispose. This will keep the empty chicken package from smelling up your garbage)

Clean the sink where you rinsed the chicken package out with warm water and soap or warm water and bleach cleanser.

Remove chicken parts from inside the chicken and place in the sink.

Thoroughly cleanse chicken and inside parts with warm water only and place in a clean sink.

Clean the side of the sink you rinsed the chicken in with warm water and soap or warm water and bleach cleaner.

Thoroughly season chicken and inside parts with your choice of seasoning blend and/or marinade until well coated. Don't forget to season the inside opening of the chicken as well.

Place the seasoned inside parts of the chicken in the gutted bell pepper half.

Place the bell pepper inside opening of the chicken.

(My mom always roasts whole chickens with bell peppers stuffed inside them...It gives the chicken a superb flavor and it is a theory of mine that it helps with moisture too...)

Store in chicken in the refrigerator until it is ready for the grill. (This can also be done overnight to help seasonings saturate into the meat)

When the grill has been thoroughly heated, place chicken in the center of the grill rack directly over the coals.

Close the lid of the grill and let the chicken smoke for one hour.  (After 60 minutes the side of the chicken facing the coals should be considerably coated brown and have grill marks.)

Flip the chicken over with tongs and allow it to roast for another hour.

After an hour has passed, flip the chicken over with tongs to the original side.

Allow to smoke for another hour or until the temperature of the coals has considerably decreased. (The temperature of the coals has decreased when the smoke coming from the vents has drastically decreased )

Remove chicken from the grill with tongs and place in glass baking dish.

Cover the dish with foil and place chicken in the oven set on 300 degrees for an hour.

The chicken should produce broth and be moist and tender!

Enjoy!

I also grilled a steak when my chicken was about half way done and finished in up in an oven preheated on 300 degrees.

I served my steak and chicken with fresh green beans and mashed potatoes.

I like the wings to start out with!