Smoked Whole Chicken with Honey Glaze

This smoked whole chicken recipe is perfect for your Louisiana Grills Wood Pellet Grill or Kamado .Easy to prepare and smoke, the halved chicken is topped with a lemon honey glaze for a nice combination of zesty, sweet flavors. With cooking time reduced to 40 minutes, this is a convenient recipe for a weeknight dinner with your family.

How to Smoke a Whole Chicken

In order to smoke a whole chicken, we first recommend either spatchcocking or halving the chicken. This will allow more even cooking throughout the white and dark meat. To smoke the chicken, set your smoker between 200°F and 250°F and cook until the thighs and breast reach an internal temperature of 165°F.

How to Halve a Chicken?

On a clean cutting board, place the chicken breast side down. Using the kitchen shears, cut on either side of the spine all the way up either side of the back and remove the spine, discarding. Flip the chicken over, breast side up. Using a very sharp knife, cut the chicken in half through the breastbone.

Note: It is recommended to use New England Apple Hardwood Pellets with this recipe.

This recipe uses LG Champion Chicken Seasoning.

1. Start up your Louisiana Grill Vertical Smoker or Wood Pellet Grill. Once it’s fired up, set the temperature to 225°F.
2. Generously sprinkle the chicken halves with Champion Chicken and let the chicken sit at room temperature for one hour.
3. In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and honey over low heat. Squeeze ½ lemon into the honey mixture and remove from the heat.
4. Smoke the chicken, skin side down until the chicken is lightly browned and the skin releases from the grate without ripping, about 6-8 minutes. Turn the chicken over and baste with the honey butter mixture. Continue to smoke the chicken, basting every 45 minutes, until the thickest part of the chicken reaches 160°F.
5. Remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with the remaining sliced lemon.