How long to smoke whole chicken
4 lb whole chicken at 225°F takes
4h 15min to 4h 20min
- Pull at
- 165°F
- FDA safe minimum
- 165°F
Your cook
3–5 lb
At each smoker temperature
| Smoker | Time |
|---|---|
| 225°F answer | 4 h 15 min |
| 250°F answer | 3 h 35 min |
| 275°F answer | 2 h 50 min |
| 300°F answer | 2 h 10 min |
By weight
| Weight | 225°F | 250°F | 275°F | 300°F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 lb | 3 h 15 min | 2 h 40 min | 2 h 10 min | 1 h 35 min |
| 4 lb | 4 h 15 min | 3 h 35 min | 2 h 50 min | 2 h 10 min |
| 5 lb | 5 h 20 min | 4 h 30 min | 3 h 35 min | 2 h 40 min |
When it is done
- Take it off at the minimum
- For whole chicken the pull temperature and the FDA minimum are the same: take it off at 165°F.Pull temperature: the internal temperature at which the meat comes off the smoker, read with a food thermometer whose tip sits at the center of the meat.FDA safe minimum: the internal temperature the FDA gives for Poultry (ground, parts, whole, and stuffing), as measured with a food thermometer. The meat must reach it before it is served.
- Rest
- None neededRest: the FDA gives no rest time for Poultry (ground, parts, whole, and stuffing), so the meat is safe as soon as it reaches the minimum above.
Other cuts
- How long to smoke whole turkey 6 h 45 min – 10 h 15 min
- chicken wings 2 h – 2 h 40 min
- Smoking chicken thighs 2 h – 2 h 40 min
- Smoking chicken breast 1 h 30 min
- Smoking chicken legs 2 h 40 min
- pork butt smoking time 9 h 35 min – 15 h 35 min
Sources
Figures built September 2026.
Where these figures come from (2)
- Cook times: Masterbuilt, “Smoking Time and Temperature Guide”, retrieved from https://www.masterbuilt.com/blogs/master-it-blog/smoking-time-temperature-guide on 2026-09-23. Restated as numbers and normalised to 225°F by the formula on this site; no text or table is reproduced.
- Safe minimum internal temperatures: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures”, August 2017, retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/media/107000/download on 2026-09-23.
Times are estimates for planning. Meat is done when a food thermometer reads the safe minimum internal temperature, not when a timer ends.