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    Home » Recipes » Grill Recipes » Smoker Recipes » Pellet Smoker Butterflied Chicken Drumsticks

    Pellet Smoker Butterflied Chicken Drumsticks

    Published: Jul 11, 2024 · Modified: Jul 24, 2024 by Jenna Passaro · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Here’s a great party twist to smoking chicken legs! In this perfect recipe for smoked butterflied chicken legs / drumsticks, you’ll learn how to prepare, smoke, and sear chicken legs so you get the crispest, juiciest legs alive. Let’s fire up the smoker!

    Traeger Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs BBQ rubbed Sip Bite Go
    See step by step how to butterfly chicken drumsticks for smoking on the Traeger.

    Table of Contents

    Toggle
    • How long does it take chicken legs to smoke when butterflied?
    • Ingredients
    • How to make Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs / Drumsticks
    • YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE
    • Become better at home cooking
    • Traeger Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs Recipe | Sip Bite Go

    How long does it take chicken legs to smoke when butterflied?

    It takes 90 minutes to fully smoke the chicken legs to 165 – 175 degrees F internal temperature.

    Ingredients

    Here’s what you need to make Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs / Drumsticks.

    Infographic with ingredient list for smoking butterflied chicken legs on the Traeger with Jenna Passaro from Sip Bite Go
    • chicken drumsticks, aka chicken legs, bone-in with skin on or off (about 1 ½ LBs chicken drums)
    • BBQ dry rub (any chicken bbq seasoning will work, too, as much as you’d like)
    • BBQ sauce
    • cilantro, fresh chopped (optional, for serving)
    Traeger Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs Dinner with a fork Sip Bite Go
    These tasty smoked butterflied chicken legs are easy to make. 
    Basting Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs with BBQ sauce while they smoke on the Traeger Sip Bite Go

    Also see how to make grilled butterfly chicken drumsticks…

    How to make Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs / Drumsticks

    Now I’ll walk you through it…

    How to butterfly chicken legs for smoking them

    Sheet Pan with butterfly chicken legs cut in half for smoking Sip Bite Go
    1. First, find the bone of the chicken drumstick and get a pairing knife ready.
    2. Make a cut. Gently make one parallel cut down the leg, in the center, touching the bone. This first cut will help open up the chicken leg meat for the next step.
    3. Make two more cuts. One on each side of the chicken leg bone. You’ll want to use one hand to pull back the leg meat while the other hand makes the cuts.. Don’t cut all the way through the meat, that would defeat the purpose. At the end of your cuts, you should clearly see the chicken bone with chicken meat flaps on each side. On the other side, you’ll find the skin side. Smoosh the meat flat to butterfly it.
    Infographic demonstrating how to butterfly chicken legs and smoke them in the Traeger pellet grill with Jenna Passaro food blogger of Sip Bite Go

    Detailed recipe steps

    1. Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 250 degrees F. 
    2. Season butterflied chicken drumsticks. Sprinkle dry rub seasoning all over the chicken and rub it in with your hands.
    3. Smoke butterflied chicken legs / drumsticks with bone side (cut side) facing down, directly on the Traeger pellet grill grates. Smoke for 45 minutes FIRST (cut side down)…
    4. Brush BBQ sauce on butterflied smoker chicken legs. After you smoke them for 45 minutes, brush on BBQ sauce. (at this point of the Sip Bite Go smoked recipe demonstration, the chicken legs measured 140 degrees F internally – it doesn’t matter THAT much, but I’m just sharing incase you want to check how cooked your chicken legs are at this 45 minute mark, compared to the ones in the video). 
    5. Smoke butterflied chicken legs for an additional 30 minutes at 250 degrees F. (Check temperature to make sure they’re not “done” yet, which would be 165 degrees – 175 degrees F.)
    6. Flip over chicken (so the meaty side is facing DOWN and skin side is up). Brush the skin side with more BBQ sauce if desired.
    7. Sear smoked butterflied chicken to finish them. To do this, crank smoker up to a temperature of 500 degrees F to finish smoking butterflied chicken legs with a sear until done. They’re ready to remove from the smoker when they reach 175 degrees F as measured with an internal read thermometer.
    8. Finish smoked chicken drumsticks with a sprinkle of fresh chopped cilantro and enjoy.
    Closeup of BBQ Seasoned Traeger Pellet Grill Smoked Butterflied Chicken Drumsticks Sip Bite Go
    The butterflied smoked chicken legs done temp is 175 degrees F.

    Also see how to grill chicken thighs and how to smoke chicken thighs…

    Tongs flipping BBQ butterflied chicken legs on the Traeger Pellet Smoker Sip Bite Go

    YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE

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    Sides

    Pro tip: One of my go-to tricks for perfectly cooked food every time is using the right BBQ meat thermometers.

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    Chat soon!

    – Jenna

    Next, browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection…

    Traeger Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs BBQ rubbed Sip Bite Go

    Traeger Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs Recipe | Sip Bite Go

    Here’s a great party twist to smoking chicken legs! In this perfect recipe for smoked butterflied chicken legs / drumsticks, you’ll learn how to prepare, smoke, and sear chicken legs so you get the crispest, juiciest legs alive. Let’s fire up the smoker! | sipbitego.com
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course, Main Dish
    Cuisine: American, BBQ
    Keyword: smoked chicken legs, traeger smoked chicken
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
    Servings: 2 people
    Calories: 650kcal
    Author: Jenna Passaro

    Video

    Equipment

    • Traeger Mesquite Pellets
    • Traeger Pellet Grill Ironwood 650
    • Meater Plus Thermometer

    Ingredients

    • 8 pieces chicken drumsticks aka chicken legs, bone-in with skin on or off (about 1 ½ LBs chicken drums)
    • 2 tbsp BBQ dry rub any chicken bbq seasoning will work, too, as much as you’d like
    • ½ cup BBQ sauce
    • 1 tsp cilantro fresh chopped (optional, for serving)

    Instructions

    How to butterfly chicken legs for smoking

    • First, find the bone of the chicken drumstick and get a pairing knife ready.
    • Make a cut. Gently make one parallel cut down the leg, in the center, touching the bone. This first cut will help open up the chicken leg meat for the next step.
    • Make two more cuts. One on each side of the chicken leg bone. You’ll want to use one hand to pull back the leg meat while the other hand makes the cuts.. Don’t cut all the way through the meat, that would defeat the purpose. At the end of your cuts, you should clearly see the chicken bone with chicken meat flaps on each side. On the other side, you’ll find the skin side. Smoosh the meat flat to butterfly it.

    How to smoke butterflied chicken drumsticks

    • Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 250 degrees F.
    • Season butterflied chicken drumsticks. Sprinkle dry rub seasoning all over the chicken and rub it in with your hands.
    • Smoke butterflied chicken legs / drumsticks with bone side (cut side) facing down, directly on the Traeger pellet grill grates.
    • Brush BBQ sauce on butterflied smoker chicken legs. Smoke for 45 minutes then brush on BBQ sauce.
      (at this point of the Sip Bite Go smoked recipe demonstration, the chicken legs measured 140 degrees F internally – it doesn’t matter THAT much, but I’m just sharing incase you want to check how cooked your chicken legs are at this 45 minute mark, compared to the ones in the video).
    • Smoke butterflied chicken legs for an additional 30 minutes at 250 degrees F. (Check temperature to make sure they’re not “done” yet, which would be 165 degrees – 175 degrees F.)
    • Flip over chicken (so the meaty side is facing DOWN). Brush the skin side with more BBQ sauce if desired.
    • Sear smoked butterflied chicken to finish them. To do this, crank smoker up to a temperature of 500 degrees F to finish smoking butterflied chicken legs with a sear until done.
      They’re ready to remove from the smoker when they reach ~175 degrees F as measured with an internal read thermometer.
    • Finish smoked chicken drumsticks with a sprinkle of fresh chopped cilantro and enjoy.

    Notes

    See the recipe: https://sipbitego.com/smoked-butterflied-chicken-legs
    Watch the full-length YouTube recipe video for smoked butterflied chicken Legs on Sip Bite Go’s YouTube channel.
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 650kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 55g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 279mg | Sodium: 1055mg | Potassium: 943mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 692IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 201mg | Iron: 8mg
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    Traeger Smoked Butterflied Chicken Legs with text overlay and smoked foods blogger Jenna Passaro from Sip Bite Go

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