Smoked Pulled Chicken

Smoked pulled chicken is the juiciest, most tender, and tastiest pulled chicken you can have. The texture is unlike other methods of cooking and the smoky flavor is excellent! Use a whole chicken to get both, dark and light meat, season it with a flavorful dry rub, and smoke it with a light and fruity wood.

If you enjoy smoked pulled meats, try our Smoked Pork Shoulder, and Pulled Smoked Chuck Roast.

Smoked Pulled Chicken

Smoked pulled meats are always a crowd-pleaser at a big event or a small house barbecue. It’s easy to prep, the cuts used for pulled meats are usually cheap, and you can make enough to feed all the hungry mouths easily. Pulled chicken also has an added benefit of being fast!

Compared to beef and pork, which could take 8-10 hours (and even more), chicken only takes 2-5 hours. (And it would have to be a pretty big chicken to take 5 hours.) The fact that it’s a much faster protein, usually wins over with me when it comes to planning a barbecue party.

This pulled chicken also goes over the best with the family and guests. It’s perfectly tender and juicy, while quite flavorful at the same time. The way to get the best juicy texture on your pulled chicken is to use a whole chicken and cook it nice and slow.

Smoked whole chicken is great for so many recipes, not just served whole for dinner. It makes a delicious chicken salad and of course, this pulled chicken.

How To Make Pulled Chicken Juicy?

Use whole chicken – when you use the whole chicken, you don’t just get a mixture of dark and light meat, you can also do extra tricks to make the meat moist and tender. Brining and stuffing the chicken with vegetables are steps I don’t skip.

Brine the chicken – Brine does help keep chicken meat moist and it does give the meat a little extra flavor. You can do it overnight but even 4 hours will help.

Stuff it – a simple combination of quartered onion and apple with a few aromatics will help with the juicy texture. It will also add flavor to the meat, so win-win!

Cook it nice and slow – don’t be tempted to raise that temperature, keep it nice and low 225° for the best juicy results.

Tent and rest it before pulling – resting is always an important step with cooking meats, don’t skip it. Loosely tent the cooked chicken with foil and let it sit 15-20 minutes. After all, you do need to give it time to cool before pulling.

How To Make Smoked Pulled Chicken

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken – for the best juicy and tender chicken meat, use a whole chicken.

Brine – combination of warm water, salt, sugar, fresh lemon slices, and a little dry rub.

Oil – mild olive oil, canola, or avocado oil will work well to rub the chicken.

Dry Rub – while you can use any dry rub you like, I highly recommend that you try our beloved rub.

Butter – mix softened butter with dry rub and add some in the cavity and under the skin on the chicken breasts.

Apple – you will use half or a whole sliced apple, depending on the size of the chicken

Onion – same a the apple, you will need half or a whole small yellow onion for the cavity.

Directions:

To brine the chicken:

Combine salt, sugar, dry rub, and lemon slices in 2 quarts of water until it’s dissolved. Carefully submerge chicken into the brine solution and make sure it’s fully covered. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (Overnight at the most.)

Stuff the chicken:

Take chicken out of the brine and onto a rimmed baking sheet. (It’s easier to rub meats on a rimmed baking sheet than on a cutting board.) Pat chicken dry.

Mix softened butter with dry rub and divide it in two. Half will go into the cavity and half on the chicken breast.

Cut apple and onion into quarters or eighths. Season inside the cavity. Stuff the cavity with half the butter, apple, and onion. Bring the legs together and tie them with cooking twine.

Season the chicken:

Rub the whole chicken with some oil. Starting with the back, sprinkle on dry rub liberally and pat it on, don’t rub. Carefully turn the chicken over and sprinkle and pat the dry rub all over the wings, legs, and the front of the chicken.

Smoke the chicken:

Set up your smoker and get it to a steady 225°. Insert digital meat thermometer probe into the chicken breast and place it on the grate.

Close the lid right away and do not open it again until the chicken is done. Chicken will take about 2 1/2 hours, depending on the size. I usually cook the chicken to about 170° to be pulled, but the chicken is done when it reaches 165°.

Rest:

Take chicken off the smoker, place it on the cutting board, and loosely tent it with a sheet of aluminum foil. Let it rest 20-30 minutes before pulling.

To pull the chicken:

When it’s cooled enough to be handled, carefully take all the meat off the bone, one section at a time. Collect the meat you are pulling into a mixing bowl. You can choose to keep the skin or discard it. If you want to discard it, rub the dry rub off of it, onto the meat.

Use two forks or your hands to pull the chicken meat. After that, you can either mix in your favorite BBQ sauce or leave it as is.

Smoking Chicken FAQ

What is the smoker temperature for the whole chicken? Cook the chicken nice and slow, at the magic 225°. Don’t let the smoker go over 235°.

Best types of wood for smoking chicken: apple, apricot, peach, pecan, maple, cherry (more options in our guide above). Personally, I love apple and other fruit woods.

How to insert thermometer into chicken? Insert a digital probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast diagonally, not touching the bone, but along the bone. If you touch the bone, pull back just a little bit.

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