Chicken skin

[seanwiley]

Any tips on keeping chicken skin from getting too rubbery while smoking? I typically don't eat it anyway, but the wife generally does and had prodded me to look out for her needs too.......

[Firemonkey]

Crisp skin is going to require higher temps. I roast my chicken at 300-400, depending on exactly what form of chicken it is. I add some apple or peach to the fire to get the smoke flavor too.

[mguerra]

try this

Cook direct, not indirect. But high up away from the fire.

[seanwiley]

Think it would help to crank up the heat the last 20 minutes or so. Kind of a reverse sear? or would that not make a meaningful difference?

Also, have you seen a significant difference depending on how the skin is treated? i.e. olive oil vs. just a dry rub?

[Firemonkey]

I dont know that the olive oil will help crisp the skin for you or not. If you have seen some of the whole chickens I posted on the everyday cooking pics thread, they are usually marinated in some sort of oil cider vinegar. Skin is crispy and golden brown, but I roast at 375-400 for 60-90 mins for that to happen, too.

I have done chicken wings at 300, with nothing but a rub and even a breading a few times. In those cases, there is plenty of fat in the skin to render out and make it crispy like it was fried.

I think the higher temps will make a world of difference for you.

[seanwiley]

yeah, probably so. I use the big bob gibson cookbook a lot and he has you using temps of 300 or 325 depending on the recipe, so I have been definitely coming in at lower temps.

Ironically, the wife said she wanted the loaf pan chicken tonight and since it kind of steams in the pan with all that apple sauce, I doubt I was going to get crispy skin no matter what. But I'll try different temps maybe in a week or two. Thx

[Duk]

i like to salt the chicken the night before with Kosher salt and put it in the fridge uncovered. The salt pulls moisture out of the skin but not the meat--leaving a nice skin ready to crisp up while cooking

[seanwiley]

i thought about that, particularly after reading the thread about salted steaks.

I was also thinking about butter. When people roast a turkey in the overn, don't they baste with butter to get a golden, crispy skin? (I've never done this preferring the fryer or smoker).

When the kids are in this summer and I have more people eating, I will have to cook a few simultaneously to test out these ideas.

[Porkchop]

if you want a balance between a smoked and a roasted chicken, try setting your drafts for 400 or so on the temp, set your fire, and set up for an indirect cook. as your cooker is ramping up, at around the 300 deg mark, throw on some smoke wood under the heat deflector, put in your food grate, and put the chicken on.

while the temp is ramping up, and your smoke wood is just catching, your chicken will get plenty of smoke. the smoke will get lighter as the temp rises, or cease completely. flip after about 30 min and let it go for another 30.

you will get crispy skin and smoke flavor. this works for spatchcocked or fryer pieces. bet it would work well rotis style as well, but that's a guess.

[Firemonkey]

That is exactly how I do my whole birds, except instead of flipping, I just rotate them 180* on the upper rack.