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Smoked Chicken with Tomatillo Salsa

George Bryant
5 from 6 votes
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 5 hrs
Total Time 5 hrs 20 mins
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

Chicken

Brine

  • 8 cups of water
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1/4 cup black peppercorns
  • a few sprigs of fresh thyme

Chicken Rub

  • 1 tablespoon seaweed salt can use sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground thyme
  • 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

Tomatillo Salsa

  • 1 pound fresh tomatillos husked and rinsed well
  • 1 large red onion cut into chunks
  • 3 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1/2 packed cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
  • 1 jalapeno seeds and all if you like heat
  • 1 lime juiced
  • pinch of sea salt

Instructions
 

Chicken Prep

  • Combine all your brine ingredients in a large 2 gallon zip lock bag and stir well
  • Place your whole cleaned chicken in the bag, remove as much air as possible and seal the bag (make sure its closed or you will have a bad leak)
  • Place this bag in a large bowl and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours but up to 48 hours
  • Remove from the refrigerator and pat dry an hour before you plan on cooking

Tomatillo Salsa

  • Combine your tomatillos, onions, and garlic, and jalapeƱo in a food processor or blender and pulse until you get a salsa consistency
  • Add in your cilantro, lime juice and sea salt and pulse until all incorporated
  • Refrigerate until ready to serve

Smoking

  • Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees fahrenheit
  • In a small bowl combine all of the above ingredients for the rub and mix well
  • Generously apply the rub to the outside and inside of the chicken (you will have some extra rub, store in a ziploc bag for another recipe)
  • If you have a leave in meat thermometer now is the time to put it in the breast of the bird and then place it on the smoker
  • You want to smoke the chicken at 225 degrees until the breast reaches 180 degrees and refrain from opening the smoker as much as possible
  • Once done, remove the chicken and let it rest for 10-15 minutes and then serve with the above tomatillo salsa

Oven

  • If you want to roast this same recipe in the oven, brine it and season it as stated above
  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and roast uncovered in a large roasting pan until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees in the breast
  • Remove it from the oven and let it rest for 10-15 minutes and serve with the above salsa

Crockpot

  • You do not need to brine the chicken for this step
  • You can season the bird as stated above and then place in the crockpot on low for 6 hours and it will be all done
  • If you want to smoke it, you can follow the instructions for using woodchips in the crockpot HERE.
  • You will just only cook it on low for 6 hours