- 1 whole chicken
- Deez Nuts Pecan Rub (substitute Honey Hog or Honey Hog Hot)
- 4 toothpicks
- 1 half steam pan
- 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
- 2 teaspoons of your favorite jelly (be creative - we recommend a blackberry or pepper jelly if you like a bite)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1/3 cup of the rub you chose above
- 1/2 gallon water
Brine prep
Mix the sugar, salt, bbq rub thoroughly in a 1/2 gallon of water. Feel free to be creative here and add items to enhance your flavor profile to your liking. Completely submerge the chicken in the brine mixture and place in the refrigerator over night. We recommend 12 - 24 hours for this brine.
Remove the bird from the brine. Rinse off and pat dray with a paper towel.
Butcher the chicken
Using a pair of chicken shears, or a really sharp knife, remove the back bone. Accomplish this by trimming along one side of the backbone from one end of the chicken to the other. Then repeat the process on the other side of the back bone as seen below and remove it completely.
Open the chicken once the backbone is removed. At this point you can remove the breast bone (optional) if you like. You will see it in the middle of this photo below.
Slice the bird in half using a sharp knife. Now you have 2 half chickens!
Apply Meat Church Deez Nuts Pecan rub to all sides of the chicken; underneath and on top of the skin. We also recommend working your hands underneath the chicken skin and applying rub directly on the meat. This will give your eaters a really flavorful bite even if they don't get any skin!
Prepare your smoker or Big Green Egg (indirect) at a temperature of 275 degrees. We recommend pecan or a fruit wood for this smoke.
Place the chicken halves in a half steam pan.
Baste the chicken periodically throughout the cook.
Using a meat thermometer, pull the chicken when they reach an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees in the deepest part of the breast.
Glaze prep and application
Mix the BBQ sauce and jelly. We used a mango habanero jelly that we picked up at First Monday in Canton, Tx. Heat in a small sauce pan.
Brush the glaze on the chicken and place back on the cooker for 10 minutes to "lock" the sauce in.
Carve up the bird and enjoy!
Finished product taught at Athens Eggfest on April 11th, 2015