Chicken texture issues

I cooked up some chicken legs today to try them using the famous (infamous?) "Disney Style Turkey Leg" brine from AmzingRibs.com. I wanted to do smoked turkey legs for an upcoming scout camping trip, but decided to try it with chicken since getting 7 or 8 dozen turkey legs would be difficult and expensive.

Anyhoo, I brined them as directed and then cooked on my Performer with a pile of KBB in the middle (and a few small bits of apple wood) and the chicken in a ring around the perimeter. Temps were 325-350 the whole time.

In the end, the flavor was there, but there are textural issues. First, the skin pulled back quite a bit, and didn't crisp up at all. I'm guessing the cure is probably at fault for that. Also, where the skin pulled back, the surface of the exposed meat was very tough. Finally, inside, the meat was, well, rubbery. Not as bad as the skin, but still chewier than I'd like.

I know there isn't much you can do to keep the skin from shrinking, but is there any trick to keep the newly-exposed meat surface from turning to leather? Maybe I should just give up on legs and try the same process with some thighs. There's a better meat-to-waste ratio with thighs, and fewer other bits (tendons, etc.) to get in the way.

This is not the "Meathead" way, but one that a local renaissance faire uses for their turkey legs.
It is stupid simple. But it is good.
Marinate your turkey leg in Sprite soda for 30-45 minutes. Grill at 375F with your favorite smoke wood
till you hit your safe poultry temp.
Do this with a turkey leg, not chicken leg, till you get the hang of it. Your circle around the kettle should
be fine. Now I know that I will have to make a couple of these in the morning.....

One trick I use when doing "drumsticks" or lamb shanks or the like is to cut through the skin down to the bone just above the bottom "knob" the skin will pull the meat into a dandy orb at the bigger end. The technique works really on wings and will leave a drier cleaner handle.
The larger format of chicken or turkey drumsticks will require a little learning curve but, I have come to like the method quite a bit. I showed a friend this when she asked me to help her with some braised lamb shanks for a dinner party, the meat slid right to the head and was easily removed for service. It was delicious!
I like the Sprite soak idea, I might have to give that a shot, simple is often better

Next time you do this technique could you post pics Tim? TIA

Have not done legs in a while, I'll try to remember to shoot some pictures nice time I do!

Good tip Timothy!
The first time I saw the lollipops was on The Frugal Gourmet and I used to do them alot.
http://www.smoking-meat.com/july-17-2014-smoked-chicken-lollipops
Got away from that, but need to do it again soon.

Tim

I forgot about Jeff Smith doing those but, yeah! I saw it on "Top Chef" and it just made so much sense to me.
I really liked the "Frugal Gourmet" show on Lamb, it was almost a sermon. To this day I will "not send my lamb to the table undressed" I always do some kind of garnish! He did some pretty amazing feasts!
Timothy,
Your link shows the procedure much more fully than I could! Thanks for sharing. I might do that for "family dinner" next week!
I have gotten away from that as well. It's so easy and the results are so nice!

Try bacon wrapped lollipops sometime using drumsticks or drumettes.
pic from my '09 post with only 6, the rest were regular 2 piece wings.:

Doggone it Bob, now I have to do that before I do anything else! They look mighty appetizing!
I have some drumettes in the freezer! Dinner is determined. Thanks.

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. I'm not sure I want to invest the time to de-tendon or lollipop ~80 drumsticks, so I'm going to go with boneless/skinless thighs for this event.