Beer can chicken, #3, belli... bellissimi but the skin !


 
Enrico Brandizzi

Enrico Brandizzi

TVWBB Honor Circle
Hey Folks,

I did another try on BCC and, IMO, it was a great success for appearance, taste, and tenderness (EXCEPT THE SKIN... INEDIBLE!).


Start with 2 beautiful small birds, washed, trimmed, lemonaded and oiled.


IMG_6926 di BBQness, su Flickr


I used this dry rub and it was really good. Everyone liked it.


IMG_6917 di BBQness, su Flickr




IMG_6936 di BBQness, su Flickr


I decided to use the 22.5 WSM with 2 full big briqs chimneys


IMG_6939 di BBQness, su Flickr


I put the birds on the upper grate and let them grill w/o waterpan.


IMG_6950 di BBQness, su Flickr


After 40 minutes I took a peek and all looked good. I rotated them 180° and let them grilled. Because the cooking T in the first 40 min was round 310/320 F,
I decided to use 1 more small chimney to increase the T. In the second part, the cooking T was not so much higher because I wrongly manage the bottom vents.
Anyhow, after 1 h 40' I stopped cooking and I pulled off the 2 birds. They looked good to me


IMG_6975 di BBQness, su Flickr


I let them rest (NO FOIL) for 10 min and then carved.


IMG_6986 di BBQness, su Flickr


IMG_6994 di BBQness, su Flickr


IMG_7000 di BBQness, su Flickr


The problem is the skin: again not crispy at all.


IMG_6995 di BBQness, su Flickr


Final considerations about this cooking session are:

1) WSM w/o waterpan ensures an equal distribution of the heat. No heat spots. The birds look nicely browned all over. No dark spot.
2) Using 2 full big chimneys I reached only 320/330 F. And this is not the right cooking T, or better, it could be the right T for part of the cooking time,
but I must reach higher T almost in the last 20 min.
3) My plan for next BCC in 22.5 WSM is to start with 2 1/2 big chimneys and in the very last 20 min throw in 1 more big full chimney. Is too much 20 min ?

I need your opinions about.

Detailed slideshows on http://www.youtube.com/user/BBQnessdotcom/videos

Thanks for stopping by.
Enrico
 
Good looking cook. I cut my lemons in half and stuff them in the neckhole like you did those two plugs (sliced side up) I get the same affect as you did, plus a little lemon drip down the breast
 
Thanks for nice words!
But really I need good advices about getting crispy skin in the WSM. What about move the birds to the lower grate for all the cooking session? W/o waterpan it should be hotter or much hotter and I don't need to increase briqs quantity.
Your opinions?
 
Hi Enrico; great pictures and the chicken looks great.... except I get it about the skin. You need some high heat to crisp that up. I've not cooked BCC on the WSM; only do it on the kettle and that works pretty darn well.
 
Enrico said:
But really I need good advices about getting crispy skin in the WSM.
Your opinions?
Click to expand...

I've always thought that crispy skin and beer can chicken cancel each other out. There's a lot of moisture in the WSM anyway, plus you add a half can of beer and you really get a humid environment. Great for chicken flesh, not so great for crispy skin.

The crispiest skin I get from roasting or high-heat smoking chickens is if I leave the chicken uncovered for a day or two out in my fridge in the garage. The biggest key to crispy skin, in my opinion, is starting with dry skin. I also heavily salt the skin about a day before cooking with coarse kosher salt. When the skin looks kind of papery it's time to cook. I've never done this with a beer can chicken because when I'm doing a beer can I'm honestly not looking for crispy skin.

If you wanted to try something else, you might spatchcock the chicken after you pull it from the beer can and grill it, breast side down, over medium-high heat. I've never spatchcocked a hot chicken so not sure how easy that would be to do.

Good luck!
 
Beautiful looking birds Enrico! You can try the salting that Joe suggests or you can use a light coating of mayo on the chicken before
you put your rub on. It sounds weird, but it will help crisp up the skin, plus the high heat.
 
Enrico, if you have a weber kettle, it will usually give you the higher heat that you need to get easy crispy chicken skin.
These birds that you have done look terrific! Great color!
 
Birds look beautiful Enrico, you must have higher heat for the skin, and the skin must be dry before you start, as in doing a brine and then letting it dry for a day in the fridge.
 
Joe Milczewski said:
I've always thought that crispy skin and beer can chicken cancel each other out. There's a lot of moisture in the WSM anyway, plus you add a half can of beer and you really get a humid environment. Great for chicken flesh, not so great for crispy skin.

The crispiest skin I get from roasting or high-heat smoking chickens is if I leave the chicken uncovered for a day or two out in my fridge in the garage. The biggest key to crispy skin, in my opinion, is starting with dry skin. I also heavily salt the skin about a day before cooking with coarse kosher salt. When the skin looks kind of papery it's time to cook. I've never done this with a beer can chicken because when I'm doing a beer can I'm honestly not looking for crispy skin.

If you wanted to try something else, you might spatchcock the chicken after you pull it from the beer can and grill it, breast side down, over medium-high heat. I've never spatchcocked a hot chicken so not sure how easy that would be to do.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks Joe. Dry aging in the fridge one day long! I got it!
 
Mike Coffman said:
Beautiful looking birds Enrico! You can try the salting that Joe suggests or you can use a light coating of mayo on the chicken before
you put your rub on. It sounds weird, but it will help crisp up the skin, plus the high heat.
Click to expand...

Dry brining + mayo + dry rub! Ok, Ill try it. Thanks Mike
 
Thanks All for nice words and advices.
Summerazing:
36/24 hours in advance dry ageing in paper towel in fridge
3/2 hours in advance dry bryning w/coarse salt in fridge
15 min in advance brush away salt, apply mayo + dry rub in fridge
Start cooking in the lower grate WSM

I'll tell about in BCC #4
Thanks again to All.
Enrico
 
This might help:


From America's Test Kitchen Website:


Crisping Chicken Skin

From Season 10: Chicken Classics, Reinvented

First, the combination of baking powder and table salt will draw moisture from the skin of the chicken, helping the skin to dry out. The drier skin will become crispy faster because the skin cannot go above the boiling point of water (212 degrees) until all the water has evaporated from the surface. The temperature of the skin needs to rise above 300 degrees before it will start to brown and crisp.

Second, the baking powder is composed of an alkali (sodium bicarbonate) and an acid (monocalcium phosphate) in solid form. As the baking powder absorbs the moisture from the skin, the acid and alkali will react. The calcium ions from the acid can be absorbed into the skin and activate enzymes called calpains, which will start to break down the proteins within the skin. The alkaline baking soda and broken-down proteins will undergo browning reactions faster, thus creating a browner, more flavorful skin.

Here's the link (it may not work unless you are a member of ATK):

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/science/detail.php?docid=23098&extcode=M**ASCA00
 
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