This maraschino cherry lime smoked chicken practically cooks itself while you relax and enjoy your afternoon. Generous seasoning – and alternating cherry and lime palate sparks – provide a deep, rich flavor profile that makes you want to eat each piece all the way down to the bone.
Fall is Smoking ‘Round Here, Y’all
South Louisianians like to joke that we only get one to two weeks of ‘real’ fall down here. When people in other states start to wear sweaters and jackets, we’re still wearing T-shirts and shorts.
When the leaves turn up north, we (I mean Mark) is still cutting down green grass. And, when others far away are wishing that they still had a hold on summer, we’re down here praying for the blazing heat and humidity to end.
Well, today, I’m officially wearing a sweater, and Mark hasn’t had to cut the grass in two weeks. So, I’m claiming that it’s finally fall here, y’all. Yep. And, since we (I mean Mark) love to cook outside, we traded in the gas grill for the smoker for this past Sunday’s dinner. It was time for a fall change around here, and we couldn’t wait to eat something smoking new. Yay and yum…
Maraschino Cherry Lime Smoked Chicken Gets A Lot of Pre-Smoker TLC
Y’all know I love whole chicken, right? Since I like breasts and Mark likes thighs, buying whole chickens really works out for us. Whole chickens give us plenty of next-day leftovers, which helps us save money on weekday lunches.
I also like the almost free chicken broth you get when you turn a whole chicken carcass into a slow-cooked stock. These win-win situations make grabbing a whole chicken at the grocery a twice-monthly routine for me.
So, when we had the thought of smoking a chicken for Sunday dinner, I was totally ready to take on the marinating/seasoning challenge. I used chicken broth, vinegar, and dried seasonings. Then, I covered the chicken, and refrigerated it overnight.
On Sunday afternoon, I placed the chicken to drain over a colander. While it released the marinade, I made a quick dried seasoning mixture.
And then I had an epiphany!! Since we were using cherry wood pieces to smoke the chicken, I thought to add maraschino cherry juice to the seasoning mixture. And then I thought, ‘cherry and lime go great together’. Yep. So, I added some lime zest, too.
Then, I rubbed the chicken with the seasoning mixture. I also cut a lime, and squeezed the juice on both sides of the seasoned chicken. Finally, I placed the two juiced lime halves into the cavity of the bird. Then, I handed it off to Mark, and went right back to my lazy Sunday…
Roughly 3 hours later, we decided that maraschino cherry lime smoked chicken was share-worthy with the world. Yep. We forgot to truss the chicken (It was Sunday y’all, and we both had Sunday rest brain). But, the chicken was still tender and juicy on the inside. And it was crispy and oh sooo flavorful on the outside.
Enjoy each juicy bite, and see y’all on the yum side…
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- 1 5.5-pound whole chicken, innards and neck removed
- 2 cups gluten free chicken broth
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup gluten free Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 lime, cut in half
- 2 tablespoons gluten free maraschino cherry juice
- 1 tablespoon chicken broth
- Mix chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, parsley flakes, onion powder, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a large bowl with a fitted lid.
- Add chicken, and cover. Refrigerate overnight, turning chicken over a few times to better rest in the marinade.
- Remove chicken, and drain over colander in sink.
- Stir remaining ingredients together, except for the lime. Rub over both sides of chicken. Squeeze each lime half over each half of the chicken.
- Fill the bottom of your smoker with charcoal, and ignite charcoal. When ready, add soaked cherry wood chips to the wood chip pan of your smoker.
- Place chicken on top rack of smoker. Smoke for about 2½ to 3½ hours, or until a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160 degrees F. Check charcoal and wood chips after every hour, adding additional charcoal for fuel, or wood chips for flavor, as needed or desired.
- (Our smoker held about a 250 degree F temperature and took about 3 hours to smoke our chicken.)
- Rest the maraschino cherry lime smoked chicken for 20 minutes before carving.