My First Whole Chicken on the 22 WSM - Fail :(


 
Jose Suro

Jose Suro

TVWBB All-Star
Hi all,

With Thanksgiving drawing ever closer and being new to WSM smoking I decided to start practicing with whole chickens so that I can be ready for Turkey Day.

The whole chicken had delicious flavor and it was very moist, but the skin was rubber :(. I did put oil on the skin along with the rub and the skin did look perfect great color and all, but when I touched it I knew I had trouble.

I cooked without the water pan, although I did place a medium size aluminum pan on the lower grate pan under he bird with broth, carrots, onions, celery and spices for making gravy. I cooked with all vents open until the WSM hit 350 degrees then closed one vent and it held there until the bird hit 165 internal - about 1.5 hours.

I think the problem might have been that I put the bird on the smoker when the grate temp was still only 250, and it took almost a half hour to get to 350. Is this what I did wrong?

Best,

Jose
 
Hard to say exactly what went wrong, but that's very common (rubbery skin). Did you read the posts in the turkey section? I have not done a turkey, but in reading about it, there is a whole process that is done in order to get crisp skin. I don't recall all the details, but after brining the bird, there is a process for drying the skin and preparing it for cooking.

Start with reading this:

http://virtualweberbullet.com/turkey6.html
 
One thing you can do to crisp the skin of the bird when smoking them in any of the WSM's is after the birds are smoked to your desired doneness (I put a food probe in the breast and go to 160 degrees), remove the center section of the smoker, then place the grill directly over the coals in the lower coal section, now place your chicken pieces, skin side down on the grill grate toward the hot coals, and watch the pieces (or halves) very carefully...a few minutes if that long is all it will take to crisp the skin
 
That's OK Jose. Your getting a good head start to learn to roast in your WSM. I recommend brining then placing the chicken in a fridge uncovered for a few hours and as much as overnight to dry the skin. Then cook at 325-350 without water in the pan.
 
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It's hard to get crispy skin. Mine usually is when it comes off but by the time I cut it and get everything ready and get everyone seated for the meal its back to not being crispy.
 
Jake Wilson said:
One thing you can do to crisp the skin of the bird when smoking them in any of the WSM's is after the birds are smoked to your desired doneness (I put a food probe in the breast and go to 160 degrees), remove the center section of the smoker, then place the grill directly over the coals in the lower coal section, now place your chicken pieces, skin side down on the grill grate toward the hot coals, and watch the pieces (or halves) very carefully...a few minutes if that long is all it will take to crisp the skin
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Jose, after two beer can chickens on my WSM, one at 230 and the second at 350+ still not getting the level of crispy skin I wanted, I tried the method Jake is describing above with a Cornish hen recently and it worked great. Photo here: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?54724-Cornish-hen-on-the-WSM
 
Yeah that rest can be death on the skin. I've had some beautiful turkey skin and had to see it die waiting on all the sides to get made and people to show up!
 
Quote Originally Posted by T MacGreggor View Post

Jose, after two beer can chickens on my WSM, one at 230 and the second at 350+ still not getting the level of crispy skin I wanted, I tried the method Jake is describing above with a Cornish hen recently and it worked great. Photo here: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?5472...hen-on-the-WSM



Jose Suro said:
Interesting. Sounds a little complicated but doable.
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You'll want to have a good pair of grill gloves covering your hand to handle the hot mid section...I'm using the Gecko gloves

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00HLPXL80/tvwb-20

these gloves fit a tad tight on my hands, despite me powdering up first using a talcum powder, before I slide my hands in the gloves, but I've never felt any heat [picking up hot smoker and grill items

I think the way I did it when I crisped the skin on chicken I've cooked on my smokers (I have and use an 18.5" and a 14.5 WSM), I remove the lid, set it aside, then grasp the center section with the grills intact in place, then set it down. Next I take the top grill off and out of the center section, leaving the chicken pieces on it, then set that grill over the coals that are left from the cook. There's really nothing to it, but you have to watch the chicken pieces like a hawk, as they'll crisp up in not time, in nothing flat, and if you aren't careful watching it, you could burn the skin...but stay with it, it only takes a few minutes to get the skin crispy

Wifey is my biggest critic when it comes to the way I cook chicken. If the skin isn't crispy, there'll be hell to pay<LOL> This comes from the fact that the majority of chicken I've cooked through the years (I'm pushing 58 and been grilling since my 20's) ahs been done primarily over very hot fires so the fat in the skin renders quickly and completely. It's that taste she's after, so I cook for her. When I started cooking chicken on the WSM's, I was getting the rubbery skin like the others, until I read where someone else here mentioned this grill trick, placing the grill with the chicken on it directly over the coal section, at the end of the cook
 
Jake Wilson said:
Quote Originally Posted by T MacGreggor View Post

Jose, after two beer can chickens on my WSM, one at 230 and the second at 350+ still not getting the level of crispy skin I wanted, I tried the method Jake is describing above with a Cornish hen recently and it worked great. Photo here: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?5472...hen-on-the-WSM







You'll want to have a good pair of grill gloves covering your hand to handle the hot mid section...I'm using the Gecko gloves

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00HLPXL80/tvwb-20

these gloves fit a tad tight on my hands, despite me powdering up first using a talcum powder, before I slide my hands in the gloves, but I've never felt any heat [picking up hot smoker and grill items

I think the way I did it when I crisped the skin on chicken I've cooked on my smokers (I have and use an 18.5" and a 14.5 WSM), I remove the lid, set it aside, then grasp the center section with the grills intact in place, then set it down. Next I take the top grill off and out of the center section, leaving the chicken pieces on it, then set that grill over the coals that are left from the cook. There's really nothing to it, but you have to watch the chicken pieces like a hawk, as they'll crisp up in not time, in nothing flat, and if you aren't careful watching it, you could burn the skin...but stay with it, it only takes a few minutes to get the skin crispy

Wifey is my biggest critic when it comes to the way I cook chicken. If the skin isn't crispy, there'll be hell to pay<LOL> This comes from the fact that the majority of chicken I've cooked through the years (I'm pushing 58 and been grilling since my 20's) ahs been done primarily over very hot fires so the fat in the skin renders quickly and completely. It's that taste she's after, so I cook for her. When I started cooking chicken on the WSM's, I was getting the rubbery skin like the others, until I read where someone else here mentioned this grill trick, placing the grill with the chicken on it directly over the coal section, at the end of the cook
Click to expand...

Those gloves look cool. Just ordered some thanks.
 
I typically do whole or spatchcock chickens in either the Performer or on one of the kamados. On the Performer I use charcoal baskets fully loaded with hot KBB coals. Temp usually gets to around 400 and stays there. I separate the charcoal baskets with a water pan in the middle, drop the chicken on and come back in an hour when it's done.

On the kamado just load coals, set vents to maintain 400-450, and in 40 minutes done.
 
PaulFisher said:
It's hard to get crispy skin. Mine usually is when it comes off but by the time I cut it and get everything ready and get everyone seated for the meal its back to not being crispy.
Click to expand...

Do you belive that the internal moistness makes the skin rubbery during the resting period? The fat in the internal side of the skin doesn't stop moistness?
 
Crisping pieces as described above works well, but hard to do on a whole turkey.

Dry the skin by letting it sit in the fridge for a while before cooking. Oil or butter it. Open all vents and get it hot before putting the bird on. I usually leave them wide open for the duration and often crack the lid to increase air flow. For me that gets temps above 400. If you have a big bird you might not want to use that temp for the entire cook. In that case using high heat early seems to work best for me. You can turn put the lid back on normal and use the vents to drop the temp a bit later on if you like.
 
Spatchcock it....standard method....2 (I like mine cooked to a higher temp so go 2.5 hours) hours.....all vents open all the time.
 
PaulFisher said:
Those gloves look cool. Just ordered some thanks.
Click to expand...
I've had my eye on a pair of those Ekogrips for a couple months. Currently I'm just using a pair of these cheaper Brinkman silicone mitts:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-Silicone-Grilling-Mitt-812-9234-S/203018102
Their insulating properties are great & they get the job done until detail work using fingers is needed. Then I have to resort to a pit mitt:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003FZAVZ6/tvwb-20
The pit mitt is very impressive with it's light weight and the tactile feel it affords to your fingertips, but you lose the insulating properties if it gets wet, which limits it's usefulness. So perhaps a pair of Ekogrips is in store for Christmas, if I can hold out that long.
 
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