Have you ever wondered how to cook a whole chicken on a Pit Boss? If so, you’re in luck. I’m sharing my first experience of cooking one on my Pit Boss. These steps will work for any pellet grill. You may have to tweak some of the settings for the grill you’re using.
How To Cook A Whole Chicken On A Pit Boss Grill
Fill up your grill with your preferred wood pellets, preheat the grill, wash the chicken season, and truss the chicken. Place it on the Pit Boss pellet grill and monitor the temperature.
If you don’t have a thermometer, you’ll want to know how to tell when chicken is cooked properly using different methods.
That’s it, and the grill does all the work. All you have to do is keep an eye on the internal temperature and take it off once it reaches 165 degrees.
If you don’t have a Pit Boss, check out this tutorial that will show you how to cook a whole chicken on a pellet grill, that works regardless of what type of grill you have.
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When it’s done, you get the amazing smoked flavor that you don’t get from a regular gas grill.
For this cook, we added apples to the cavity of the chicken. If you want just a plain cooked chicken, then don’t add the apples, and you’ll have a whole smoked chicken!
That’s the great thing about grilling your own chicken, and you can flavor it however you want. Not to mention, if you find whole chickens on sale, your dinner won’t cost a lot!
Even if you’re new to pellet grilling, you can follow the steps below to cook an amazing chicken people will brag about.
Coming up with a side dish is left up to you!
Cooking A Whole Chicken on a Pellet Grill
You can also watch this step-by-step video that will show you the exact process I used to cook a whole chicken on the Pit Boss pellet grill.
If you’re more of an instructional person who loves to read, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Washing The Chicken
Wash the chicken thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel.
Use a sharp knife to open the bag. Make sure there are no other dishes in the sink, as you don’t want them to become contaminated from the chicken.
Let the chicken drain off for a while, then turn on the water.
Remove the neck, heart, liver, and other gunk from the cavity with your hand.
Wash the chicken thoroughly in water and then place it on top of the cutting board with paper towels.
Pat, it dry with paper towels before seasoning.
Preheating The Pit Boss
Before you start seasoning the chicken, you want to preheat the grill. It can take about 5 minutes for the grill to heat up.
Turn the temperature 275-300 degrees to get a nice crispier skin that is easier to bit through.
Use Applewood Pellets
I wish we would’ve used the Applewood pellets, but I didn’t want to change the pellets. We had the Competition blend in the grill, so we just used those.
We still got a great apple smoked taste. But I do think it using the applewood pellets would’ve made a more smoked apple taste?
The next time we do this recipe, we’ll be using the applewood pellets.
Seasoning The Chicken
Use an apple-flavored seasoning to produce a great apple smoked flavor.
Rub the entire chicken with olive oil and coat it completely with your favorite applewood seasoning.
To follow this recipe, you can buy the McCormicks Applewood seasoning at Walmart or Amazon. Here’s the link to
If you don’t want an apple-flavored, use your favorite seasoning and skip the apples. That’s the great thing about cooking on the Pit Boss; you can season the chicken to your liking.
To get a more seasoning flavor, you can season it a day before grilling. It will give the seasoning more time to soak into the chicken.
Just cover the seasoned chicken with aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator for the next day.
Adding Apples
We used a granny smith apple, but you can use any apple you like.
We stuffed a whole granny apple into the cavity of the chicken. I had read about it from a website online before and decided to experiment with it for this cook.
Amazingly, it came out good. It did have a delicious flavor, and you could taste the apple. You can even eat the cooked apples if you want.
How To Stuff The Cavity
Take one apple of choice. We used a granny smith apple. However, you can try a sweet apple if you choose.
Core the apple with apple corer. Throw away the core and stuff the chicken with the cored pieces.
Truss the Chicken
The chicken is seasoned, trussed, and ready to be put on the pellet grill.
Trussing the chicken will not only prevent the apples from falling out of the cavity. It also helps everything cook evenly, ensuring that the wings and legs don’t burn.
If you grill a whole chicken that isn’t trussed, the hot air will dry out the breasts before the legs and thighs are cooked properly. I had never trussed a chicken before this cook, and this video walked me through the entire process.
Where To Put The Probe on a Whole Chicken?
Place the chicken on the grill and insert the probe in the chicken’s thickest part without touching the bone.
You’ll notice that I inserted the probe deep into the breast, without touching any of the bones. I inserted the probe through the front of the chicken breast.
Take your fingers and measure 3 quarters along with the breast, then mark the spot finger and insert the probe as far and as deep as it will go, careful not to touch the probe, especially, if you’ve put it in wrong the first time and are reinserting it again. (that’s what I did)
Inserting the probe correctly will give you a more accurate read on the SMOKE IT controller, and will ensure the chicken cooks evenly.
Once the probe is entered, you can close the lid and let the chicken cook. To monitor the chicken, all you need to do is open the app and monitor it from the comfort of your couch.
Here’s what the app looks like when I open it up to check the temperature of the grill and the internal temp of the chicken.
If you want to know how the Pit Boss SMOKE IT works, then check out this post.
How Long Does It Take To Cook A Chicken On A Pellet Grill?
The cook time will vary depending on the chicken’s size, grill temperature, and other factors. If you’re cooking the whole chicken between 275-300 degrees, you can expect it to take anywhere between 1.5 – 2 hours.
Make sure you have a good meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature. You’re looking for about 175℉ in the thighs and 165℉ in the breast.
Then it’s ready to pull off the grill and let it rest.
Resting Period
Once the chicken is cooked, pull it off the grill. Make sure you have some grilling gloves to prevent any injuries.
Place it on a cutting board and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing. The resting period is essential to allow the moisture to be re-absorbed and helps keep the meat tender and juicy.
Cutting The Chicken
After the resting period, you can cut into the chicken and have a taste. You should be able to taste a nice smoky apple flavor that will make you want to lick your fingers!
What To Serve With Chicken?
The hardest part is coming up with some sides to serve with your chicken. I recommend searching online for some easy-to-make side dishes for chicken recipes.
You can also top your favorite salad, which is how we usually eat our chicken. We also love making chicken burritos with a fresh home-cooked whole chicken.
Either way, enjoy your meal!
More Ways to Cook Chicken On The Pit Boss
There are several ways to prepare chicken on the Pit Boss. Here are some of my favorites: