Cuisine at Home: Pellet Smoked Chicken with Bourbon-Pepper Glaze

Okay, I was originally going to smoke this chicken on my pellet grill, but it's over 105°F here, so that's not happening.  This means that you can absolutely make a pretty good knock-off in your oven, just make sure you add some liquid smoke in with the rub ingredients.  And maybe also with the pepper jelly glaze ingredients if you really want it smoky.  Very easy to throw together for dinner, and the sweet/spicy glaze just works.

Pellet Smoked Chicken with Bourbon-Pepper Glaze
From Cuisine at Home

1 (3½- to 4-pound) whole chicken
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
¾ cup red pepper jelly
3 tablespoons smoked bourbon
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce

Preheat pellet grill to 275-300°F.

Halve chicken by cutting along both sides of the backbone with kitchen shears; remove and discard backbone. Cut chicken along one side of the breastbone to separate the two halves. Rinse chicken halves; pat dry with paper towels.

Combine oil, lemon juice, rosemary, and garlic.

Rub chicken with oil mixture; season with salt and pepper.

Smoke chicken, skin-side up, covered, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh and breast, without touching bone, registers 165°F, about 1½ hours, rotating chicken every 20 minutes.

While chicken is smoking, whisk jelly, bourbon, and chili garlic sauce in a saucepan over medium heat until jelly melts, 4 to 5 minutes; reserve ½ cup for serving and ¼ cup for basting.  Baste cooked chicken; smoke 2 to 3 minutes more.

Transfer chicken to a cutting board; let rest 15 minutes before carving and serving with remaining ½ cup glaze.

Makes 6 servings