Here me out, I have never been a huge fan of chicken and maybe you are not either. Often it ends up dry, not having much flavor, or sadly both.
This is where I tell you I was dead wrong about chicken. If made properly, it can be phenomenal!
If you have not tried smoking chicken before, then you are missing out.
Not to toot my own horn but when I made these chicken drumsticks, after I took the temperature thermometer out of the drumstick, the juice shot out. No joke!
On top of being extremely juicy they were packed full of flavor. The crispy skin was by far the best part. It was delicious.
I have always tossed the skin aside because when I have had it in the past it was gross and chewy. That is now a problem of the past.
Along with scrumptious chicken skin, the smoky and savory flavors will have your taste buds jumping for joy, especially if you try out my crown apple whisky bbq sauce or my vanilla coke whisky bbq sauce recipe that goes great on chicken,
Why Try Smoking Chicken
One of the best features of chicken is that many flavors go with it. So, if you don’t want just savory drumsticks, you can even go with sweet or spicy.
Heck, you can do sweet and spicy. Not only can you switch up the seasoning when making chicken, but you also can use different pellets or other types of logs to help enhance the flavor of the chicken.
After giving this recipe a try, do not be afraid to experiment with different flavors. If you buy in bulk, make half the drumsticks with this recipe and than take the other half and try something new.
Get All My Latest Recipes & Cooking Tips Delivered Straight To Your Inbox!
Subscribe today and get a special gift, just for you!
Can You Use Other Parts of the Chicken?
Chicken Drumsticks are not the only part of the chicken that this recipe works well with. Give this recipe a try with chicken thighs, wings, or even an entire young chicken (much smaller than a grown chicken).
Just keep in mind that the time it takes to cook drumsticks verse these are parts of chicken is different.
You should always make sure to check the internal temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer.
Like Some Heat? Also Read: Franks RedHot Buffalo Chicken Slider Recipe
Smoked Chicken Drumstick Recipe
Follow my instructions and I can guarantee that this can be the best-smoked chicken drumsticks you have had.
Ingredients
- Chicken Drumsticks
- Lawrys Season Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- Butter
Equipment
- Smoker of Your Choice
- Pellets or Logs
- Mop or Food Brush
- Meat Thermometer
- Baking Sheet
- Tongs
- Small Glass Bowl
- Water Pan
Getting the Smoker Ready
Since it does not take a long time to prepare chicken, I first like to get my smoker up to temperature and all set up for smoking on.
This does not apply if you plan on letting your chicken marinate for hours or even overnight. Obviously, then you would want to get your smoker ready at the time you actually plan to cook.
Before I even get my fire or pellets going, I like to make sure that the racks that the meat are going to be on are scraped off.
This way I do not get any flavors on the chicken that I do not want. After the racks are scraped clean, I like to place the racks where it makes it easiest to maneuver the meat around.
You can always move the racks later on, but you are going to want gloves on to handle the racks since they are going to be hot later on.
Speaking of hot, this is now when I like to get that smoke rolling out the smokestack. After getting the initial fire set up, or pellets lit, look to keep your smoker in the 300-degree Fahrenheit range.
When using an offset smoker, do not forget to check your firebox often. There is almost nothing worse than walking over to check the temperature of your smoker and see that your temperature has severely dropped.
Trust me, I’ve been there.
Lastly, I like to fill up a water pan in front of the heat source to help protect the meat that is closest to it from cooking to fast and getting burnt.
Joshs Cookhouse Tips: Remember, keeping the temperature consistent allows the chicken drumsticks from taking an extremely long time to cook or burning it.
Preparing the Chicken
Preparing the chicken is a simple process.
Step 1: For the drumsticks I do not cut off anything. All I do is pat the drumsticks dry with some paper towel.
Then if the skin is pulled back, I make sure to stretch it out to so that it’s not all bunched up. This will let it get crispier faster.
Step 2: Give all of the chicken a light layer of all the seasonings. Make sure to cover all sides of the chicken. This way every bite is as good as the next.
Step 3: It is time to get these drumsticks on the smoker. Try to leave a bit of space between drumsticks. Smoke for about 60 minutes. Check the chicken’s internal temperature has reached at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 4: If you have hit 160 degrees Fahrenheit, go melt a stick of butter, and get your smoker up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 5: Once your smoker has reached the appropriate temperature, grab your mop or brush and start brushing the melted butter onto each chicken.
Increasing the temperature and adding butter will help in crisping up the skin. It can vary on how long this part takes so check on your chicken every 10 minutes until the skin has crisped up.
Do not worry, keeping the chicken on this long will not dry them out. Like I said before, these were the juiciest pieces of chicken I have had to date.
Step 6: Once the skin is crispy, take them off the smoker.
Looking For a Delicious Appetizer Also Read: Smoked Bacon Wrapped Pickles Stuffed with Cream Cheese
Time to Serve
Before dishing out these delicious drumsticks, let them rest for 10- 15 minutes. After you have patiently waited, dive in and enjoy all of your hard work.
Be careful, you may need nots of napkins available. As I said before these are going to be some of the juiciest pieces of chicken you have ever had. You are going to want to make these over and over again.
When I made some with a different flavor for myself, I thought my wife might not like the new flavor but when I left the room and came back, she had started eating the ones I had made for me.
She could not get enough of this chicken, and I do not think you will either.
I hope learning to make smoked chicken drumsticks was worth it and that you check out more recipes from Joshs Cookhouse, where nothing is off the table.
Read Also: Pit Boss Pro Series 1600 Wood Pellet Grill
For My Other Smoked Chicken Recipes Also Read:
- Smoked Chicken Tacos with Black Bean Pico De Gallo
- Smoked Chicken Lollipops Recipe
- Spatchcock Smoked Turkey Recipe On The Pit Boss
Equipment
- Smoker of Your Choice I personally used a Pit Boss.
- Tongs
- Small Glass Bowl
Ingredients
- 12 Chicken Drumsticks
- Lawrys Season Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- 1 Stick Butter
Instructions
Getting the Smoker Ready
- Since it does not take a long time to prepare chicken, I first like to get my smoker up to temperature and all set up for smoking on.
- This does not apply if you plan on letting your chicken marinate for hours or even overnight. Obviously, then you would want to get your smoker ready at the time you actually plan to cook.
- Before I even get my fire or pellets going, I like to make sure that the racks that the meat are going to be on are scraped off.
- This way I do not get any flavors on the chicken that I do not want. After the racks are scraped clean, I like to place the racks where it makes it easiest to maneuver the meat around.
- You can always move the racks later on, but you are going to want gloves on to handle the racks since they are going to be hot later on.
- Speaking of hot, this is now when I like to get that smoke rolling out the smokestack. After getting the initial fire set up, or pellets lit, look to keep your smoker in the 300-degree Fahrenheit range.
- Lastly, I like to fill up a water pan in front of the heat source to help protect the meat that is closest to it from cooking to fast and getting burnt.
Preparing the Chicken Drumsticks
- For the drumsticks I do not cut off anything. All I do is pat the drumsticks dry with some paper towel.
- Give all of the chicken a light layer of all the seasonings. Make sure to cover all sides of the chicken. This way every bite is as good as the next.
- It is time to get these drumsticks on the smoker. Try to leave a bit of space between drumsticks. Smoke for about 60 minutes. Smoke until the chicken’s internal temperature has reached at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- If you have hit 160 degrees Fahrenheit, go melt a stick of butter, and get your smoker up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once your smoker has reached the appropriate temperature, grab your mop or brush and start brushing the melted butter onto each chicken.
- Increasing the temperature and adding butter will help in crisping up the skin. It can vary on how long this part takes so check on your chicken every 10 minutes until the skin has crisped up.
- Do not worry, keeping the chicken on this long will not dry them out. Like I said before, these were the juiciest pieces of chicken I have had to date.
- Once the skin is crispy, take them off the smoker.
Time to Serve
- Before dishing out these delicious drumsticks, let them rest for 10- 15 minutes. After you have patiently waited, dive in and enjoy all of your hard work.
Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
I’m happy to know you like the post! Thanks you for the comment!