The Best Butter Injected Chicken

When cooked correctly, chicken can be one of the tastiest meats around, packed full of protein, sweet and flavorful. Cooked wrong? You get cardboard. There's nothing worse than overcooked, dried out chicken. You know the kind – stringy, bland, and has to be smothered in sauce to be edible. Especially chicken breast - it's especially important to know all the tips and tricks of cooking a perfect chicken breast. But today we're going to learn how to tackle a whole bird.

Well, I've found one foolproof way of cooking tender, juicy chicken every time. I'm talking about butter injected chicken. Injecting the meat is a no-wait and no-waste method of tenderizing, adding moisture, and packing your meat full of flavor. But what to inject chicken with? The prep time is minimal and the overall cook time isn't so bad either.

Think of it like marinating from the inside out. Rubs, marinades, and glazes either sit on the surface or barely penetrate the meat, but with a flavor injector, you can have flavor packed food with simply the push of a plunger. Once you try this simple recipe, you'll wonder why you haven't been making butter injected chicken your whole life.

What you need for this butter injected chicken recipe:

You can buy plenty of premade dry rubs for chicken, but I prefer to make my own. My dry rub usually contains a mixture of brown sugar, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, powdered garlic, ground black pepper and powdered onion. Amounts are all to-taste, depending on your preferences. If you also have some hickory smoke powder, now is a great time to use it.

Season both sides of each chicken with your dry rub. Add as much (or as little!) as you like, to taste. Then, sprinkle on some of that extra brown sugar I mentioned earlier and massage it into the skin to give it a crisp and delicious flavor. You can learn this easy recipe for the absolute best chicken rub for smoking.

Step 5 - Time to cook the chicken

There's nothing better than smoked meat - so we are going to stick these birds on the grate and smoke at about 230 degrees. It’s always good to brush up on your smoking technique, for example with this quick and easy smoking guide. Another way is to use a Chicken & Turkey Rack which will assure the most delicious and moist white meat you've ever tasted.

Once they have cooked for about 45 minutes, put some of the extra apple juice in a spray bottle and mist the chickens one time to keep them moist during the smoking process. Cooking times will vary while smoking, so you are going to need to rely on your meat thermometer here.

You are going to want to keep them cooking low and slow until you reach an internal temperature of 175 degrees. Insert your meat thermometer into the breast meat for the most accurate temperature reading. Once they have finished cooking, remove the chickens from the smoker and allow the birds to rest for a few minutes. Carve and enjoy!

PRO TIP - If you want to keep the apple juice flavor subtle, dilute the juice with water. You can also dilute with your favorite bourbon or rum for an extra zing! There are a lot of different options for sprays to moisturize your meats while smoking - soda, vinegar, fruit juices, and more - so feel free to experiment with different flavors!

PRO TIP - Looking for crisper skin? Once the chickens have reached an internal temperature of about 160 degrees, turn your smoker up to 375 degrees. The meat will remain tender and juicy, and the skin will be dark and crisp. Remove from the smoker when the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees.

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4 from 44 votes

The Best Butter Injected Chicken

Injecting the meat is a no-wait and no-waste method of tenderizing, adding moisture, and packing your meat full of flavor. But what to inject chicken with? The prep time is minimal and the overall cook time isn't so bad either.

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time5 hrs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: BBQ Chicken

Servings: 1

Calories: 384kcal

Equipment

Flavor injector 

Mixing Bowl

Spray bottle

meat thermometer

Ingredients

• 4 Whole chickens
• Our favorite dry rub

Butter sauce:

• 1 stick butter (melted)
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Dry rub:

• brown sugar
• smoked paprika
• chili powder
• cumin
• powdered garlic
• ground black pepper
• powdered onion

Instructions

• In your mixing bowl, thoroughly combine melted butter, apple juice, brown sugar, and garlic powder to make the butter sauce. 
• Keep a little extra brown sugar and apple juice handy – you'll see why later! Insert the flavor injector into the sauce making sure the perforations are completely submerged.
• Pull back the plunger and fill the injector with the sauce.
• To inject chicken, insert the needle into the drumsticks and wings and slowly push it into the opposite side, careful not to breach the skin.
•  Inject the sauce slowly until you start to feel pressure pushing back. 
• As you withdraw the needle, slowly inject more sauce to allow for even distribution of the flavors.
• You don't want to go too fast or the built up pressure will cause the the butter injection marinade to squirt out at you. 
• Using the same method, inject the chicken breasts in several locations across the breast.
• Season both sides of each chicken with your dry rub. 
• Add as much (or as little!) as you like, to taste. 
• Then, sprinkle on some of that extra brown sugar I mentioned earlier and massage it into the skin to give it a crisp and delicious flavor. 
• You can learn this easy recipe for the absolute best chicken rub for smoking.
• There's nothing better than smoked meat - so we are going to stick these birds on the grate and smoke at about 230 degrees. 
• Once they have cooked for about 45 minutes, put some of the extra apple juice in a spray bottle and mist the chickens one time to keep them moist during the smoking process. 
• Cooking times will vary while smoking, so you are going to need to rely on your meat thermometer here.
• You are going to want to keep them cooking low and slow until you reach an internal temperature of 175 degrees. 
• Insert your meat thermometer into the breast meat for the most accurate temperature reading. 
• Once they have finished cooking, remove the chickens from the smoker and allow the birds to rest for a few minutes. Carve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 6oz | Calories: 384kcal