Comp chicken skin question(s)


 
Bob Bass

Bob Bass

TVWBB Gold Member
Hi Donna. Thanks for joining us here and sharing your pitmaster and judging experience and knowledge with us.

For comps, I have seen cooks fully scrape the chicken (thighs, of course ;) ) skins to almost paper thin sheets.
Have also seen cooks just cut off the butterfat and remove that web whatever it is called.

What method do you prefer to end up with truly excellent, bite through skin ?

When choosing the best chicken for a comp, which do find to be more consistent and desirable...
free range chicken or chicken from a large, well known retail producer ?

Bob
 
Last edited:
Good morning Bob,
Man, I hate chicken. And worse, I hate chicken thighs! When they end up in the bucket from Popeye's, I just shiver. You"re killing me. Okay. I buy my chicken at Costco so Foster Farms which is our local chicken. If I lived elsewhere, I'd buy Smart chicken. I don't like to fully scrape chicken skins. But if there is too much fat on the skin, I will bring it down with my Santuko knife. I like to braise the fat off but in all honestly, I'm trying my best to switch to some other muscle because I'm so tired of thighs as a judge and as a cook. I tried Mary's in my rookie year and was unable to get the skin to perform correctly and I've never revisited the issue. Thank you for your question my friend.

Donna
 
Hi Donna,

Thank you for your reply and involvement on TVWBB. Very Much Appreciated !
Being relatively new, thighs have yet to achieve that status. Heck, for the longest time, overcooked breast meat was my most enjoyable piece of chicken ;)
Glad you brought up Mary's. Was thinking about taking a road trip to OC for some, since it's the only local outlet.
Thanks for the Foster Farm suggestion. Tried Pilgrim's Pride last week... since the store was out of Tyson.
Looking for that "perfect" ;) entry of buttery goodness ;) for next year ;)

Thanks again, Donna.

Bob
 
Bob,
There was a really interesting article in the .....NBBQA rag about breeds of chicken. I think it was a month or two ago. Take a look at it if you can. Not sure how all of that translates to comp chicken or chicken you make at home, but if I had access to those breeds, it would be worth a shot.
Donna
 
Love it when I see something other than thighs in the box as a judge
But understand teams sticking with what's working for them
 
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