This is a favorite of mine, because I can smoke two chickens which gives us a delicious meal, 3 meals worth of leftover chicken, plus 6 quarts of chicken stock made out of the carcasses.
The key to this recipe is to spatchcock the chicken. This requires cutting the bird through along the backbone to open it up and flatten it out. This allows it to cook more evenly and allows you to season the bird inside and out.
First off, spatchcock your chicken by removing the backbone with a kitchen shears or a sharp serrated knife. Place the bird down inside down and press down in the center to crack the breast bone and flatten the bird out.
Clean the bird inside and out.
Brine the chicken, for at least 4 hours but overnight is even better.
Remove the chicken from the brine and dry thoroughly so that the skin will crisp properly.
Apply a thin coat of yellow mustard to help the rub stick to the bird.
Season with a good Poultry Rub, inside and out.
Hang the chicken in a Pit Barrel Cooker, or place into the smoker of your choice.
Use a temperature probe and smoke until the chicken reaches 160 degrees F in the breast, depending on your smoker this can take 1.5 to 3 hours.
Cut the chicken up by removing the wings, the legs and thighs together, and then slice the breasts off of the breast bone and cut into portion sized pieces.
