Quick Chicken Skin Temperature Reference


 
P

P Bart

New member
Hey all, been lurking for about a year, and I'm now into month 5 with my WSM. The hard part is learning to relax and let it do it's thing. (Sorry "Guru" guys, but I'm comfortable and successful with 50 degree temperature swings, so I don't think I'll be joining you on the technology bandwagon quite yet!)

Anyway, I don't do a lot of chicken on the WSM, (yet) but have experienced the same frustration with rubbery chicken skin that many do. Most of us know that higher temperatures are needed to crisp up the 'ole bird, but I don't think many realize HOW high.

When roasting a bird in my regular gas range, I actually start the bird out (rubbed with your favorite oil/grease of choice) at 450 degrees for 15-30 minutes, depending on how large the bird is. Then I cook the bird to completion at 350 degrees after visually confirming the amount of browning I want to achieve.

This process was obtained from one of the Gourmet cooking magazines, and is highly successful with crisp skin, yet moist meat everytime. I do not brine or otherwise marinate the chicken for roasting, though I do for my WSM birds at the moment. I also insert small slivers of butter and some herbs under the skin before starting the browning process.

That 450 browning temperature is substantially higher than I've ever gotten (or want to get) with the WSM, plus I don't know how you would cool the WSM down 100 degrees to complete the cooking as the bird only takes about an hour or two total to cook.

So I'm going to begin some experiments with water pan out at the beginning, pre-cooking in oven, opening the side door to lower/raise temp, etc. to figure out what will give those results we're looking for.

Just thought I'd throw in a guideline temperature for others to experiment with as well.

I'll report back when I have my results . . .
 
You don't necessarily need to cool the cooker down. Very high temps are hard to achieve and maintain on the WSM as you point out--though lots of lit is a must; that's why I use a kettle for those cooks. I find it's better to hit the highs and leave the cooker alone. But that's me; ymmv. For small fowl, 2-3.5 lbs, I go high and keep it there (in my kichen oven, 475-500); a little lower for larger birds though I don't often do chickens over 4 lbs.

I'm totally with you on butter and herbs under the skin.

Do report as you do your experimenting. And welcome to the board!
 
Thanks for the welcome. I have read about the kettle being better for the higher temp cooks, I'm sure it's the optimum way to go.

But I'm going to try to do it the hard way, in the WSM, cause I'm just that stubborn!

Imagine a steam locomotive trying to beat diesel passenger trains for speed AND economy! The knucklehead you'd see in the steamer is ME!

The tough part is going to be eating or distributing all the birds gone bad! We actually had a family member (NOT by blood on MY side!) who said smoked food tasted like ... (hold your breath) ... dirt.

Yeah, she's out of the will, off the christmas card list, and perhaps may get a IRS audit if we can arrange it! ; ) SACRILIGE!!!
 
DIRT? Where does she get dirt from? Those in-laws are something, aren't they?
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You might ask her how she knows what dirt tastes like.
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I have noticed that when I over-smoke something it tastes kind of like the smell of old railroad ties. Creosote.
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Rusty
 
That's not creosote. Your experimenting with hi-tech, advanced jerky smoking techniques. It's an acquired taste.
 
If you want part of the cook to be at higher temp, I don't think it matters whether it is the beginning of the cook or the end of the cook. It wouldn't be too hard to operate at 300 for the first thirty minutes, then prop open the access door an inch or so, and let the temps climb for the remainder.

I typically do my poultry on the kettle though at higher heat for the duration. I don't really see the reason to have part of the cook at lower temps. It takes about one-third of the charcoal to achieve the higher temps on the kettle compared to the WSM, and it is much easier to get the temps up into the 450 range.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Lohrentz:
If you want part of the cook to be at higher temp, I don't think it matters whether it is the beginning of the cook or the end of the cook. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I have no idea if this is correct, but I recall reading, somewhere, that it is better to crisp chicken initially with the higher heat than later. The theory being that the fat will render out at the lower heat and not be around when the higher heat is applied for crisping.

Paul
 
Exactly, Paul G. Chicken HAS to go through the high heat process at the beginning, to "fry" the skin in its own fat. You can "toughen" chicken skin with high heat at the end of a cook, but it's not the same taste or texture.

Beef, on the other hand, can get a final "browning" at the end of a cook to get a "crust" like texture, because you're not dealing with a skin, but rather a uniform flesh that is simply carmelizing/browning on the outside. So a roast can get high temp at the beginning or the end for a tasty exterior. Though the cut of meat, style of cooking, container it's cooked in, and type of oven are all variables to be taken into account.

But I'm talkin' chicken here, so ignore all that! ; )
 
Right on both counts. And one loses some of the 'frying' benefit of the butter-under-the-skin addition if one waits to bump the heat.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by P Bart:
I don't know how you would cool the WSM down 100 degrees to complete the cooking </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Maybe lifting the lid for a couple minutes to vent the heat out might do it. Let us know how you make out.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking about beef.

How then to start hot and bring temps down? Use a lot of lit coals to start with the standard method. Use a wood chunk or something similar to hold open your access door during the first 30 minutes.

To bring temps down--have some fire bricks or other heavy mass items stored in your freezer. Prepare an ice water bath in a metal bowl. Working as quickly as possible, remove the top rack with the chicken, put the ice cold firebricks on the lower rack with the ice water bath on top. Quickly replace top rack and get the access door back to normal, and shut down your bottom vents. This should drop your temps considerably. Now that I think about it--shut down the vents and access door a little before you want to drop the temps.
 
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