Smoked Chicken Recipe - Los Angeles Times

Smoked Chicken

Name: Smoked Chicken Recipe
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients: 2 whole chickens (3 to 4 pounds each), spatchcocked and halved through the breastplate (a total of 4 halves); 3 tablespoons Rodney's Rib Rub (see recipe below); 4 cups Rodney’s BBQ Sauce (see recipe below); 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt; 2 tablespoons MSG; 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons sweet paprika; 2 tablespoons chili powder; 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar; 1 tablespoon garlic powder; 1 tablespoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne; 4 cups distilled white vinegar; 1/4 lemon, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cayenne; 1 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes; 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 hours 45 minutes, mostly unattended

Serves 4 to 6

Smoked chicken, one of several classic recipes from pitmaster Rodney Scott. (Photo by Jerrelle Guy)

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By Rodney Scott

June 17, 2021

My mother used to make what we called “barbecue chicken” in the oven. It was basically baked chicken with commercial barbecue sauce. I don’t want to knock it. I enjoyed that baked chicken, but I wouldn’t call it barbecue. It wasn’t until later, when we added chicken to the menu at the family restaurant, that I got into true smoked chicken. The oven and the pit are very different, obviously. When you taste this chicken, you’ll have a hard time going back to your oven.