Crispy Skin

[thesmokingpenguin]

Hi All,

I've done quite a few chickens (whole and thigh) and whilst I can get lovely succulent meat, i am finding crispy skin (and not Trojan-strenghth rubbery skin) illusive. I've read that i should cook them faster, at 315F, rather than 225F, but will this keep the meat as juicy?

C

[JEC]

Higher temperatures will help but the one gaurenteed way I have found is to leave it uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking, you can still put on a light rub but avoid adding oil or butter as this will undo all of the good work.

[BBQFanatic]

The holy grail of BBQ. Many people have different recipes for this, this includes

- Smoke at low heat, then crank up the heat 300-350F to crisp up the skin
- Removing the skin, shaving the fat off the inside and then cooking at a higher heat
- Rubbing oil on the chicken
- Using a mix of flour/bicarb/salt on the skin to draw the moisture out

One way we have always go crispy skin is to cook on a kettle, indirect high heat. The problem is that you cannot get a nice smokey flavour in the 30-45mins it takes to cook the chicken and there is a moistness question that brining hasnt seemed to answer. In other words, when you find the answer, please let us know!

[thebarbecuemaster]

i agree about cooking the chicken long and low with hickory smoke or do a marinade the way i do it overnight and then smoke it in the morning

http://www.thebarbecuemaster.net/barbecue-chicken.html

[RobinC]

Or dont bother with low and slow. Chicken picks up flavours really easily. You can still give it a decent smoke flavour whilst cooking at a higher heat. I normally brine the chicken for added moisture