need info on smoking whole chicken


 
Try the butterflied chicken in the cooking topics. You cut the bird down the back and it lays flat on the grate and cooks evenly.
 
Welcome to the forum, Steve.
You'll find everything you need to have great cooks in these pages.
HERE is a link to the poultry section of cooking topics.
The "find" tab works pretty good, too.
 
A few thoughts 1) if you're doing one do at least two. You're firing her up anyway. 2) Try sticking a beer can up their rear or spatchcock. I'm a fan of both. 3) I go with either a basic BBQ rub under the skin (we take don't eat the skin) or I use something pre-packaged like pappy's. 4) If you have time brine them.

Good luck on your cook!
 
Beer can chicken is really good, but my family prefers when I butteryfly them. Both methods can be found under the cooking topics on the site home page.
 
My 2 cents worth: don't overdo the smoke. It's easy to oversmoke poultry, as compared to pork or beef. And if you're doing one, why not four?
 
You can smoke chicken at higher heats than a typical low/slow brisket/pork shoulder, I usually aim for 300-350. I butterfly them, rinse, dry, and season over and under the skin. I love good chicken skin, which is why I aim for a hotter, quicker cook - more heat helps cook the skin to an edible consistency (crisp). Other than that, keep it simple, serve with a sauce of your choice if desired; chicken is very versatile, so it is really up to you how to flavor it.

The cook takes about an hour or a bit more, depending on the heat I get it to and the size of the bird.

http://virtualweberbullet.com/butterflychicken.html Chris's tutorial on how to butterfly a chicken...very helpful.

Good luck
 
Make sure the chicken isn't frozen when you put it on the smoker.
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Setup your WSM to use one big chunk or two small chunks of apple wood. Light your chimney

grab a bird or two. Decide to do it whole or chop 'em in half and then chop them or not. Spatching seems a bit refined for smokin'. Rub the skin with olive oil and throw on salt/pepper/garlic or any rub you have around.

Smoke at 250 for 90 min or 2.5 hours until done (half chickens cook faster) The skin will not be crispy but the chicken has beautiful flavor. mmm pulled chicken sammies....

This is great stuff for those 89/lb whole chickens that come up on special. Lots of good info here for favorite bird rubs.

If I want crispy skin I usually grill or bbq them on the kettle indirect at 375 but they don't seem to have that same soft smoky flavor as low and slow on the wsm.
 
There is a lot of great info here already. I'd just like to add that for a super juicy chicken, remember to brine it. Well worth the extra job.

And as others have said- easy on the smoke wood, or drop it all together. The chicken will still have a "grill/ open flame"- flavor.
 
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