Smoked Lemon-Lime Herb Chicken
Prep Time: 25 hours
Cook Time: 5 hours
Servings: 5 – 6
Ingredients:
1 large Roasting Chicken (5-6 lbs), remove and discard gibblets
1/8 C Sea Salt
1 Gal Water
1 Lemon, quartered
1 Lime, quartered
1/3 C Equal parts chopped Fresh Mint Leaves and Fresh Basil
1 globe Fresh Garlic, sliced in half
½ C Butter, softened
5 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Tbs Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
Directions:
At least 24 hours before cooking, combine salt and water in very large bowl. Rinse the chicken and then submerge in the brine. Set bowl in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
Bring your smoker up to 225˚ F (107˚ C)
After soaking chicken, remove from brine and pat dry with paper towel and dry the bowl. Put the chicken back in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
After chopping mint and basil, place in large piece of cheese cloth with the two halves of the globe of garlic. Tie with twine. Set aside.
Thoroughly, mix the minced garlic, rosemary with the softened butter. Set aside.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator – make sure chicken is dry. Stuff 1 quarter each of the lime and lemon into the chicken cavity, followed by the cheese cloth bag of herbs and garlic. Add 2 more quarters of lime and lemon after the herbs/garlic bag. Skewer the skin flaps closed – do not remove any of the fat. Optional, you can add the last two pieces of lime and lemon to smaller cavity.
Slather the breast area with the garlic/rosemary butter. Turn the chicken breast-side down and then slather the rest of the garlic/rosemary butter on the rest of the chicken; making sure to thoroughly cover the legs and wings. Wrap all but the bottom (breast-side down) with heavy duty aluminum foil.
Place the covered chicken in the middle of your off-set heat smoker along with a disposable loaf pan filled with water (placed next to heat source). I prefer a wood-fired smoker. Smoke at 225˚ for 3 hours. Remove aluminum foil and bring the heat of your smoker up to 275 F for 2 hours. Once the internal temperature reaches 180˚, remove the chicken and wrap in foil and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before cutting it for serving. My experience, it pretty much falls apart at the joints.
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