William Schmitz
TVWBB Fan
OK, so I'm probably wading in deep here, but I question whether it's possible to get the skin of a chicken "crispy" after cooking a chicken low and slow.
Last night, I brined and butterflied a chicken and smoked it for about 4 hours at 250-270, until the breasts read 165 and the thighs were 180. Then I disassembled the smoker and put the chicken, skin side down, on the grate right over the coals for a few minutes until the fire was flaring up and I pulled it off. The skin appeared nicely crisped and charred from the few minutes directly over the charcoal. Any more would have resulted in burned, black skin.
That said, the skin as still pretty rubbery, despite a little texture on the outside. Frankly, not very appetizing and I ended up pulling it all off and serving the chicken naked. The flavor of the meat was superb, smoky and moist (I used a small chunk of hickory and a medium sized chunk of apple). But without the crispy skin, it was still a little disappointing.
Anyway, the point of the post is to wonder whether it's possible to get the same crispy texture to the skin after going low and slow, even if you take the time to put the bird over direct heat skin side down at the end?
It seems to me that this short blast of direct heat cannot simulate the effect of 45-60 minutes of high indirect heat you get from a traditional kettle roasting or high heat WSM cook. The best crispy skin chicken I make is using a Cook's Illustrated recipe where the bird is butterflied and cooked at 500 degrees on a broiler pan whose bottom is lined with thinly sliced potatoes to soak up the chicken fat and prevent it from burning and smoking your house during the cooking process.
Thoughts? Comments?
Bill
Last night, I brined and butterflied a chicken and smoked it for about 4 hours at 250-270, until the breasts read 165 and the thighs were 180. Then I disassembled the smoker and put the chicken, skin side down, on the grate right over the coals for a few minutes until the fire was flaring up and I pulled it off. The skin appeared nicely crisped and charred from the few minutes directly over the charcoal. Any more would have resulted in burned, black skin.
That said, the skin as still pretty rubbery, despite a little texture on the outside. Frankly, not very appetizing and I ended up pulling it all off and serving the chicken naked. The flavor of the meat was superb, smoky and moist (I used a small chunk of hickory and a medium sized chunk of apple). But without the crispy skin, it was still a little disappointing.
Anyway, the point of the post is to wonder whether it's possible to get the same crispy texture to the skin after going low and slow, even if you take the time to put the bird over direct heat skin side down at the end?
It seems to me that this short blast of direct heat cannot simulate the effect of 45-60 minutes of high indirect heat you get from a traditional kettle roasting or high heat WSM cook. The best crispy skin chicken I make is using a Cook's Illustrated recipe where the bird is butterflied and cooked at 500 degrees on a broiler pan whose bottom is lined with thinly sliced potatoes to soak up the chicken fat and prevent it from burning and smoking your house during the cooking process.
Thoughts? Comments?
Bill