Whole Smoked Dijon Chicken – Recipe!

A Whole Smoked Dijon Chicken is something that can be done without much effort and it produces some of the juiciest flavorful chicken around.

I got a smoker a few years back and I find that there are certain foods that smoke beautifully — one being a whole chicken.  An entire bird rubbed in Dijon mustard and sprinkled with dry rub creates a coating that adds tremendous taste to poultry.  After a few hours at a low temperature, with moderate smoke — a whole chicken becomes dark matte brown with some of the most tender lightly smoky meat.  If you don’t have a smoker, no worries, you can use a regular gas grill, just fill a piece of foil with wood chips that have been soaked in water and puncture holes on top, so when the packet is hot, it releases smoke.  Allow the bird to sit over unheated portion of grill and place the packet near the flame, or some gas grills have a separate container for wood chips.

Just shy of four hours and your bird is ready for carving.  You don’t need to be an expert at slicing an entire chicken.  The meat is so moist that you can practically tear it apart with your fingertips, just make sure it’s cool enough to handle, if you go that route.  It’s lovely sliced and served with salad, polenta or rice and the leftovers can be made into so many meals for during the week.

Ingredients

3 pound whole chicken

2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 lemon

5 sprigs fresh dill, parsley or thyme

(Serves 6)

To Prepare:

1. Preheat smoker or grill to 250 degrees.  Remove chicken from any packaging.
2. Rub bird with Dijon mustard all over skin.
3. In a small bowl, mix together poultry seasoning, paprika, salt and pepper.  Sprinkle over chicken and rub into skin.
4. Place chicken on smoker with foil container underneath to catch juices.  *If using wood chips, add those to grill next to heat source.
5. After 3 1/2 hours, or instant thermometer reads 165 degrees remove chicken.  Place on cutting board to rest for 30 minutes.
6. Slice and serve.  Enjoy!