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!
Combine salt, sugar, dry rub, and lemon slices in 2 quarts of warm (not hot) 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.)
Prepare chicken:
Take chicken out of the brine, let the water run off back into the pot, and place the chicken 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 about 2 tbsp. of 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.
Gently separate the skin away from the breast meat by running your hand underneath the skin. Add some butter between the skin and the breast meat and spread it around as evenly as you can.
Rub the whole chicken with oil over the skin. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the seasoning mix all over the back of the chicken, pat it on (don't rub), and flip. Sprinkle about 2/3 of the seasoning mix all over the top, in even layer. Don’t rub but pat it on.
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.
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.