Teach me how to smoke chicken legs (drumsticks)


 
Bradley Mack

Bradley Mack

TVWBB Pro
Gents and ladies alike,

Today I tried something a little different. Smoked chicken legs (or drumsticks depending on where you live.) I’ve done a few rounds of wings and thighs, all with terrific results. Today, however, was a bit of a different story.

Temps, cook times, everything I could have asked for went according to plan. The chicken looked amazing. I brought It in the house and quickly noticed how the skin was quite dry and tough...almost like leather. Excellent colour...but tough. The meat on the other hand was fantastic, juicy and tasty. I did not put water in the water pan, but rather wrapped in foil during our winter months.

It’s almost like all of the juices in the skin just evapourated. Whats the trick? Water in the pan? Brown the chicken on the grill first? I know I have to be missing something in this process.

Temps were almost 227 F the entire time. Pecan wood chunks. School me please.

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Bradley, you just can't get crispy chicken skin cooking at low temps. For crispy skin, it needs to be dry before going on, and then heat needs to be at least 350F (higher is better), so that the rendering subcutaneous fat will help to crisp the skin. At smoking temps like you used, the fat will just render out without the heat to make the skin crispy. As you have found, however, it's super tasty chicken!

I have had mediocre luck smoking chicken at a low temp for an hour or two, then kicking the temp up to try to get some crispy skin, but it still isn't the same as if I'd just used more of a roasting temp from start to finish.

Maybe someone else will come along with a method that works, but I've never had success with it......

Looks great, BTW! :)

R
 
Definitely not an expert but the meat and skin looked great. Obviously the skin texture was the problem child. There have been some positive results with either dry brining overnight and/or using baking soda to help with achieving crispy skin.
 
My last cook with chicken pieces (wings and thighs) I used my Vortex. Temps were higher. Skin wasn’t quite how I prefer it but it was 14 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Called it a win and ran inside.
 
Before I got my Kettle and the vortex, I would go water pan less in the WSM 14. I would get it nice and hot then let the legs get nice and done, then I took the WSM apart and put the grate and legs right over the fire.

I don't like doing skin on bone in chicken low and slow. I love doing skinless breast low and slow, I also like doing skinless boneless thighs on the WSM.
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But since I have gotten my kettle and my vortex I am a true believer in the power of those two products together on chicken legs. Here are a recent batch. Crisp to almost fried texture and amazingly juicy inside.
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I don't think you have a kettle and I am not trying to push you in that direction. Phil in florence does some cool things with the WSM and here is a video of him using the vortex with the WSM.

 
This an excellent idea. Funny you mention the kettle. I’m on the fence between the 22” in spring green, a performer or possibly a Summit E6. I’ll definitely try your metod of lowering the grate to the coals.
 
Bradley Mack said:
This an excellent idea. Funny you mention the kettle. I’m on the fence between the 22” in spring green, a performer or possibly a Summit E6. I’ll definitely try your metod of lowering the grate to the coals.
Click to expand...
Yeah in another resent thread, we were taking about what gets that great skin crispy and the chicken juicy and Jim C in Denver said it extremely well. He said the goal is high heat but indirect as high direct heat would burn them up. So going without the water pan and trying to get the WSM 400 degree-ish the distance between the grates and the fire meets the indirect requirement and you can get the heat you need because there is no heat shield keeping it controlled. Get them nice and then put the right over the fire for the last few minutes.
Also check out/search Case T's leg cooks on his WSM 14 in the photo gallery, he has some great examples on legs on the WSM.
As for adding a kettle, my Master Touch is my daily driver and I love it. Before my WSM I was a gas only guy my whole life. Now I don't have any gas grills. I love love love cooking on the Master Touch. I have a side table that never leaves the hit of the Master Touch. People love their performers and see it as the total package of a grill. If I had the money I would be buying an E6 right now, that is not in the cards for me and I am 100% ok with that!
 
Bradley Mack said:
Gents and ladies alike,

Today I tried something a little different. Smoked chicken legs (or drumsticks depending on where you live.) I’ve done a few rounds of wings and thighs, all with terrific results. Today, however, was a bit of a different story.

Temps, cook times, everything I could have asked for went according to plan. The chicken looked amazing. I brought It in the house and quickly noticed how the skin was quite dry and tough...almost like leather. Excellent colour...but tough. The meat on the other hand was fantastic, juicy and tasty. I did not put water in the water pan, but rather wrapped in foil during our winter months.

It’s almost like all of the juices in the skin just evapourated. Whats the trick? Water in the pan? Brown the chicken on the grill first? I know I have to be missing something in this process.

Temps were almost 227 F the entire time. Pecan wood chunks. School me please.

View attachment 22865View attachment 22866
Click to expand...
I like dry skin and those legs look delish! I may even try that.
 
As our fearless leader Chris A says in his recipe for hot/fast chicken:

After years of cooking chicken halves in many different ways using the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, I have reluctantly come to this conclusion:

I cannot smoke chicken halves “low and slow” at 225°F and get skin that’s worth eating.

I can get moist, tender meat. I can get smoky, flavorful meat. I can get beautiful skin that looks delicious. But all too often, the skin is soft and rubbery, especially on the breast and thigh. This is one of the biggest complaints that people have about chicken that’s barbecued “low and slow”.

What I’ve learned is that the problem has to do with the cooking temperature. Chicken skin has a thin layer of fat under it, and when it’s cooked at high temperature, the fat crisps the skin somewhat. When cooking at “low and slow” barbecue temperatures, this fat just melts away without getting hot enough to crisp the skin.

The best way to achieve chicken skin that’s worth eating is to cook the chicken at a higher temperature.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Hot & Fast Chicken - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Hot & Fast Chicken: Tender, well-rendered chicken skin worth eating is achieved using a high-temp smoke-roasting method in the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.
www.virtualweberbullet.com www.virtualweberbullet.com
 
Big fan of Chris A's hot & fast chicken on the WSM 14. Comes out just the way I like my chicken.

Wiviott mentions the 'swim cap' method which is breast down for the first period. I cannot say if it's made a difference - the main thing is running the WSM hot and wide open while cooking without a pan - imo
 
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