Smoking a whole chicken: oh, sure, we all thought about it, but only we had the guts to do it! Wait, that’s not true. No, people everywhere love smoking whole chicken. Why wouldn’t they? A smoked chicken is a great meal for the whole family, and it’s almost as easy to make more than one chicken if you have room in your smoker. Boom. Dinner party.
But if you’re going to smoke a whole chicken, you want it to come out tasty, juicy, and tender—properly cooked throughout—not dry, tough, or flavorless. So, you guessed it, we need to be able to control the temperature! Here are some temperature tips for making the best whole smoked chicken. Make one for your family tonight, or make a couple for a fun dinner party next week—either way, you’ll love how it cooks up when you take temperature into account. Let’s get down to it.
When you smoke chicken breast at about 250°F, the meat comes out very moist, tender, and flavorful. But it can be hard to get the timing just right. Undercooking can be dangerous, and overcooking makes the meat dry and rubbery. So how long should you smoke chicken breast at 250°F? Let’s find out.
Why Smoke Chicken Breast at 250°F?
Low and slow smoking around 225°F is fantastic for tough cuts of meat that need hours to break down. But for relatively quick and delicate items like chicken breast, a slightly higher 250°F strikes the perfect balance between cooking quickly and infusing flavorful smoke.
At 250°F, the chicken cooks through steadily without getting dried out. You get less overall smoke flavor than lower temperatures, but still plenty to give that signature barbecue taste. And you avoid the risk of chewy skin and meat that can happen below 225°F.
So 250°F gives you the best of both worlds – quick cooking times with plenty of smoke infusion.
Smoking Times for Chicken Breast at 250°F
The length of time the chicken breasts smoke for depends on how big and thick they are. Here are rough estimates:
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Small chicken breasts (4-6 oz): 30-45 minutes – Brining is recommended to ensure juiciness. Watch closely near the end to avoid overcooking.
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Chicken breasts that are about 6 to 8 ounces: 45 to 60 minutes. This is the most common size you’ll find. If you’re thin, aim for the lower end. If you’re fat, aim for the upper end.
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Large chicken breasts (8-12 oz): 60-90 minutes – These thick pieces will need more time to cook through without drying out. Resist temptation to crank up the heat.
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Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts: 90 minutes – 2 hours – The bone and skin insulate the meat, slowing down cooking. Stay patient for the best texture and moisture.
The cooking times given here are based on a smoker or grill that stays at 250°F. Fluctuations up or down will increase or decrease times. Wind and outside temperature can also be factors.
Your best bet is to invest in a good digital meat thermometer. Cook to between 160-165°F internal temp for foolproof doneness. The bone and skin make taking temperature tricky, so focus on the thickest part of the meat.
And if in doubt, undershoot cooking times and verify doneness early. You can always put chicken back on the smoker if undercooked, but you can’t reverse overcooking. Better safe than sorry.
Tips for Maximizing Flavor and Moisture
Beyond dialing in cooking times, there are a few easy tips that will help ensure smoked chicken breast comes out perfect every time:
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Brine the chicken breasts beforehand – Soaking in a saltwater brine ensures seasonings penetrate deeply and helps the meat retain moisture, especially for lean boneless skinless breasts.
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Pat the chicken dry pre-smoking – Removing surface moisture will help the chicken brown and crisp more readily once on the smoker.
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Use a rub or seasoning – A flavorful spice rub adds tons of flavor as it caramelizes on the chicken from the smoke and heat.
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Smoke with fruit wood – Apple, cherry, peach and other fruit woods pair wonderfully with chicken. Avoid heavy smoke like mesquite or hickory which can overpower.
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Smoke skin-side up – This prevents the skin from sticking to the grill grates. You want that skin crispy, not stuck to the grates!
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Let it rest before serving – A 5+ minute rest allows juices to redistribute inward, ensuring juicy meat and preventing dryness. Don’t skip this step!
Follow these tips and your smoked chicken breast at 250°F will be your new go-to meal. Juicy, tender and bursting with flavor, it’s fantastic on salads, sandwiches and more. Once you dial in the perfect smoking time, you’ll make this again and again.
Smoked chicken difficulties and solutions
Smoked chicken is manifestly tasty. I mean, it’s chicken, so it has that going for it already, but then you add the delicious flavor of smoke and you end up with something even better than before. But not all smoked chickens live up to their potential.
A chicken that is left in the smoker to cook until “the legs wobble” or “the juices run clear” will almost certainly be dry. And we all know that smoked chicken skin is not the greatest culinary delight known to man. It can be rubbery and flabby, not words that describe how I want my food to feel.
Luckily, there are solutions to both problems, and temperature is a big part of those solutions.
For juicy meat that isn’t dried out, we need need to actually monitor the temperature as we cook. Using a leave-in probe thermometer like Smoke X2™ allows you to see the internal temperature of your bird as it changes, and the alarms let you know when it’s time to act to prevent the meat from drying out. Of course, you still need to verify that temperature with an instant-read thermometer—Thermapen® ONE being the best bet. (I rarely hit the thermal center correctly with my probe, and I cook a lot of birds.)
The rubbery skin has a two-part solution. First, dry-brining helps a lot. Seasoning your chicken 4–12 hours before you cook it and allowing the seasoning to pull water out of the skin will help the skin cook more crisply. The other prong is a two-stage cook. Cooking the meat gently to impart smoke flavor and then turning up the heat to render and crisp the skin is the way to go.
Smoker temps for smoked chicken
We should talk about some temperatures if the key to juicy chicken and skin that doesn’t flake is both temperature-based, right? For starters, we need smoke to get into our chicken, so we need to cook it at a smoking temperature. Cook your chicken at 225–250°F (107–121°C) for an hour to imbue the meat with smoky goodness.
The slow smoking not only gives us flavor, but it also cooks the meat quite gently for that first hour. Once that’s done, though, it’s time to crank up the heat. Using Billows™ BBQ Control Fan to control your temperatures really comes in handy here, because you can simply change your fan-control temperature and get up to your new temp easily and without lots of fussing with vents, etc. You’re aiming for 350–375°F (177–191°C). At those high temps, your chicken skin stands a chance of crisping, and that’s what we want!
How to Smoke Chicken Breast That Doesn’t SUCK
FAQ
How long do I smoke chicken breasts at 250 degrees?
Smoking The Chicken Cook the chicken breasts with the smooth presentation side facing up for 1 hour at 250-275°F measured at the lid, until they reach an internal temp of 160-165°F with an instant-read thermometer.
Is 250 too hot to smoke chicken?
Cook your chicken at 225–250°F (107–121°C) for an hour to imbue the meat with smoky goodness.
Do you flip chicken breasts when smoking?
While it’s not strictly necessary, flipping chicken breasts while smoking can help with even cooking and achieving a more desirable skin texture, but it’s not a requirement.