Double-Smoked Spatchcock Chicken Test

Bird

• ~5 lb whole chicken
• Spatchcocked

Seasoning

• Meat Church Honey Hog base
• Light Holy Gospel over top

Primary Cook

• Started prep/seasoning ~2:30 PM.
• On smoker 3:15 PM.
• Smoker: 350°F.
• At ~1 hour: breast measured ~127-133°F.
• Around 4:45 PM: most areas were >165°F; one breast area was ~157°F.
• Pulled at 5:00 PM.
• Total cook: ~1 hour 45 minutes.
• Rested ~10 minutes.

Primary Cook Results

• Chicken remained juicy.
• Wings and legs had crispier skin.
• Breast skin was still somewhat rubbery.
• 350°F straight through did not produce dramatically better skin than the previous low-smoke/high-heat method.
• The 350°F method was faster, but not necessarily better.

Secondary Smoke Experiment

• Pulled/chunked part of the chicken.
• Saved regular pulled chicken as a control.
• Put experimental chicken into a small foil pan.
• Added a small amount of butter.
• Left pan uncovered.
• Reduced smoker to 165°F.
• Gave chicken approximately 45 minutes total additional smoke exposure.
• Stirred/exposed chicken during the secondary smoke.

Result

• Success.
• Second-smoked pulled chicken tasted noticeably better.
• More smoke flavor than the control chicken.
• Stayed juicy despite the additional ~45 minutes on the smoker.
• Secondary smoking was worthwhile.

Next Cook

• Keep the secondary pulled-chicken smoke: 165°F / uncovered / ~45 minutes.
• Primary cook still needs improvement for breast skin.
• Consider testing: 225°F for ~30-40 minutes for initial smoke → 400°F finish for better skin.

Current Takeaway

Secondary smoking after pulling/chunking appears to be an effective way to get noticeably smokier flavor into pulled chicken without drying it out.