chicken skin

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I recently got a wsm to supplement my oklahoma joe offset cooker for competitions in hopes that I can solve a recurring problem-tough chicken skin. I have tried whole birds, wings, thighs, brining, dry rubs,etc. all to no avail. My first run on the bullet provided great flavor and appearance-but the tough skin was still there. Today I am scoring the skin on the chicken thighs in hopes htat will help. Any suggestions? The Kansas speedway contest is right around the corner and I am stuck. Thanks
 
I do two things to get the skin right (I don't score the skin).

1. I put a pool of BBQ sauce in the bottom of a packet of heavy duty foil and wrap my thighs. If my cook time is 4 hours, I wrap for the last 1/2 - 1 hour. This tenderizes the skin.

2. I get a _very_ low fire going on my kettle. I keep the coals to one side so I have two heat zones of medium-low and low. I spray my grill down liberally with PAM (or like product). I remove the thighs from foil and crisp the skin. I constantly turn and position the thighs so they dont burn. Also, I will often use a sugar-less rub. I baste the thighs with garlic-butter while I crisp.

I dont apply sauce to the skin until the last minute in order to keep the skin as crispy as possible.

Chris.
 
I'll try finishing on the grill-the scoring did not work as well as I had hoped-although brining and cooking on the wsm yielded a much better product today than I have ever come out with from my joe.
 
Charlie,

Rubbery chicken skin on smoked chicken is a common problem. It is caused by cooking at low temps, and none of the fat renders out, resulting in a tough thick skin. Myself, I just throw the skin away. Finishing on high heat over a grill will render some of the fat out of the skin and make it much better. I know Jim Minion suggests the temp for smoking chicken should be 275? - 300? and this should also help the skin. You might try searching this board, as I'm pretty sure this has been discussed before, there might have been some other ideas that I am forgetting.

Good Luck in your competition.
 
In my experience, the higher temperature is the way to go. In my last competition, in which I placed 4th out of 27 teams, I cooked the chicken at 325 degrees--almost grilling some would say, but, still offset, indirect heat.

The skin was somewhere between crispy and tender and was definitely not rubbery

I cooked thighs, for about 90 minutes.

Dale
 
I cooked two whole, butterflied chickens last night for 3-1/2 hours at 235-250*F until they were at 163*F in the breast, 173*F in the thigh. Right at the end, I removed the middle cooking section and placed the chicken skin side down on the grate right on top of the charcoal ring. This renders out a little bit more fat and crisps up the skin a bit. You have to watch carefully to protect against flare-ups, but this gives me a nice, edible skin that's somewhere in between normal smoked chicken skin and grilled chicken skin.

Regards,
Chris
 
I definately think that the higher heat makes a lot of sense. This past weekend was taken up with pork buts, but I will probably try chicken again nest week-thanks for the help.
Charlie
 
I agree cooking chicken at close to 300* does acheive better skin. Crisping though over direct heat needs to be slow and LOW. Unless you like black char. Another thing that I have done is to remove the water pan for the last 30-60m.

ChrisH
 
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