Alabama White Sauce Smoked Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, 4 to 4 1/2 pounds
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons coarse black pepper, for the sauce
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, for the sauce
• 3 chunks hickory wood

Before you cook

• Cut down both sides of the backbone with kitchen shears and remove it, then split the bird in half through the breastbone.
• Pat both halves completely dry with paper towels.
• Mix the salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne together.
• Season both halves under and over the skin.
• Refrigerate the chicken uncovered on a rack for at least 2 hours so the skin dries out.
• Whisk the mayonnaise, vinegar, two tablespoons black pepper, horseradish, lemon juice, sugar and salt in a deep bowl until smooth.
• Reserve one cup of the sauce for the table and keep the rest in the bowl for dunking.

Steps

1. Bring the smoker to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and add two chunks of hickory.
2. Lay the chicken halves skin side up on the grate.
3. Smoke for about 1 hour, then rotate the halves so both get equal heat.
4. Continue cooking until a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh reads 170 degrees Fahrenheit, about 2 hours total.
5. Check the breast as well; it should read at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Lift each half with tongs and lower it straight into the bowl of white sauce.
7. Turn the chicken in the sauce until it is coated everywhere, then lift it out and let the excess run off.
8. Set the dunked halves back on the smoker for 5 minutes to let the sauce set on the skin.
9. Move the chicken to a cutting board and rest for 10 minutes.
10. Cut each half into breast, thigh, drumstick and wing and serve with the reserved white sauce.