Leathery Skin

[fritz]

How can you keep the skin on a bird from getting tough and leather-like when smoking? Ive done several turkeys (in the 325-375 range) and the skin in always inedible. Looks beautiful taste great, but the skin? I've just come to not even serve it anymore. Others out there have this problem?

 

[Dave Russell]

If you find out, let me know. The only way I know to get truly crisp skin on a bird and still have it cook evenly is to either fry it or use my oil-less Big Easy infrared "fryer". Other than that, I've thought about braising a turkey in a pan in it's own juices to get TENDER skin, sort of like Chris Lilly's loaf pan chicken method. His pan method for turkey involves tenting with foil and a hole for smoke, but I haven't tried it.

 

[fritz]

I think its just the nature of the cooking method. That is, using smoke. I'm just looking for confirmation; or at least a thread that addresses this issue.

 

[Jerry N.]

I think its just the nature of the cooking method. That is, using smoke. I'm just looking for confirmation; or at least a thread that addresses this issue.

It has nothing to do with smoke. It has to do with the low temperature the bird is being cooked at. For crisp skin, you have to either fry it or cook at a high enough heat for the fat in the skin to basically fry itself. Low temp bar-b-queing (which is often referred to as smoking) renders the fat from the skin but doesn't get it hot enough to fry the skin.

Personally, I don't like the skin anyway and I like the way that the low temp method cooks the meat. It's a great way to get moist white meat. But to each his/her own. If you want crisp skin, you have to bring the temp up.

 

[fritz]

It has to do with the low temperature the bird is being cooked at. For crisp skin, you have to either fry it or cook at a high enough heat for the fat in the skin to basically fry itself. .

When i think "Low and Slow", i think 250 or below and for several hours. As mentioned in the original post, my birds are cooked at 325 - 375 range. Since birds really have no collegen to be benefited by "low and slow", that method has no purpose in poultry (but that another topic). Ive cooked birds with in the 350-375 temp range in the oven and while "crsipy" skin has never been achieved, no bird has ever come out with the jerky like texture as when cooked on a WSM with a couple chunks.

i just figured it was the smoke and some type of chemical reaction since smoke was the only variable (no brine, just salted) that was different between oven and smoker.

To clarify, im not interested in the super duper crispy skin when smoking a bird. i get that requires heat in the 400 +* range. I'm just wondering if it is normal for the skin to in-eatable in the WSM.

Does Smoking trump Eatable skin on poultry? I guess i should do a bird w/o wood and see.

 

[Bill Farmer]

Do you brine your bird? I have never had the problem you are talking about. I brine the turkey and keep my smoker @ 350. You may want to verify your thermometers are correct. If you have checked them, are you checking the temp at grate level?

 

[Mike Leiter]

The first turkey I did on the WSM the skin came out leathery. The second time I did two turkeys and brined one and injected the other. I let both sit in the fridge for 12hrs uncovered and it dried the skin a bit. The brined one had semi crispy skin while the non brined did not an was kind of leathery across the breast section.The legs and wings on both were crispy though. Brine helped I guess adding or taking something away from the skin.
I have always had crispy skin on the gasser at a bit higher heat so wonder if its a certain temp that helps to dry out the moisture more on both sides and crisp the skin.

 

[Gary S]

I achieved crispy turkey skin (for the first time) on about 60% of the bird this Christmas. I cooked it on my kettle and I believe the reason for it was partly due to the proximity to the kettle lid. Three inches. The heat radiated back onto the bird. My bird was 18lbs and the dome therm stayed between 300-310 degrees so the temp at the broiler pan was much higher. I had coals on either side of the broiler pan so the wings and drums were well cooked with crispy skin. The meat was not dry because I injected it. The breast skin was also crisp but the meat was moist. The stuffed bird cooked in just under 5 hours.

 

[fritz]

I did a dry brine for for 3 days. used Maverick-ET 732 (it was calibrated) probe in bird and other sensor hanging through top vent opening (about 3-4 inches down). Its seems this may the nature of the method.

 

[M Morrill]

The last turkey I smoked I did the apple brine and then let it "dry" uncovered on a plate in the fridge for about 16 hours before I cooked it. The skin came out perfect but I didn't have any as the turkey skin got poached by the relatives very quickly. Here is a picture at 2 hours - about 45 minutes to go...

 

[timothy]

Air drying over-nite in the fridge does help, also separating the skin (with you're hand) from the bird, helps crisp up the skin also.
I've yet to try the butter soaked cheese cloth, maybe next time.
http://www.cookshack.com/store/Smokin-Okies-101-Series/Turkey-101#_Toc56643405
HTH

Tim

 

[FreddyJ]

Are you using any oil on the skin? Reason I ask is I've done several turkeys on my wsm 22 @ 325 degrees and got crispy skin, here's what I did: brine for 3 days, take out of brine, rinse and thoroughly dry while I fired up the pit & rubbed vegetable oil on top of and under the skin. Skin came out crispy, here are some pics

Some of the dark meat

Some of the white

I also rubbed some spices on and under the skin..... Hope this helps.

 

[NeilH]

I rubbed mine with evoo and seasoning before the cook and about and hour left in the cook and jacked the temp up at the end and it came out crisp with no dryness of the meat.

 

[Jeremy Calow]

I have had luck with my skin by either rubbing oil of sorts on top of the bird before throwing it on (and smoking at a higher 300+ temp), or putting butter/rendered fat under the skin and on top of the flesh. I should qualify that by saying Calgary is a very dry climate area which might help.. I also rarely use the water bowl let alone with water in it... not sure if that helps or not.

j