Prepare your brine solution to your personal taste with the ingredients listed above. This should be done 24 hours before you plan to smoke your chicken.
Remove chicken from brine solution and pat it dry with paper towels. Then, add your dry rub as desired.
Avoid constantly peeking at the chicken as it cooks. Opening the lid will cause the temperature to drop, which will slow the cooking process down. Allow the lid to remain closed for at least the first 45 minutes. While you wait, you can prepare your sauce so it will be ready to add to the chicken when it’s time to baste it.
After the chicken has been in the smoker for 45 minutes, open the lid to begin basting. You should allow 15 minutes for this step. This is easy: just pour some sauce on each piece of chicken and use a basting brush to spread it out over the surface of the meat. After a few minutes, repeat. If you want to add more of this flavor, flip the meat over and repeat on the other side.
After the chicken has been cooking for a total of 1 hour, check the temperature of the chicken by sticking the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the largest piece of chicken. By this time, the temperature should be at 165°F.