Tips for crispy chicken skin?


 
K

Kyle Ss

TVWBB Member
Low and slow is great but doesn't get you the crispy skin when doing chicken. Anyone have tips to smoke chicken and not have to finish on grill? Maybe corn starch or baking soda on skin? Interested to hear what people do.
 
Do a hot smoke. Google "Hotsmoke BBQ" (I think) he has some really interesting ideas on kettle smoking. I have adapted his technique for marking positions of bottom vents. I really need to steel wool off the old stuff and re mark it with a graver so it won't wear off.
I've done a couple of things from that site and it's a fun one. Worth the time for sure, as far as I'm concerned, anyway.
 
I have to go with the other replies. Jack the temp up to at least 325F. You'll still get plenty of smoke and the chicken will have beautiful, crisp skin.

I don't think even putting it on the grill after smoking is going to come out the same. Like is mentioned in the guide Tim linked, at high temps the layer of fat under the skin melts and gets hot enough to fry the skin. If you go low and slow first, that fat is just going to melt and drain away, never getting hot enough to do what you want with the skin. By the time you put it on the grill that fat is mostly gone. The post-smoke grill will no doubt improve the situation but it's not going to be like a good roast chicken should be.
 
Use a gas grill. :p

I cooked some split breasts on the 14.5" WSM that came out pretty good. I used the water pan if I remember correctly (without H2O), and then I removed it for the final minutes. I ordinarily do hot & fast chicken without the pan in the WSM, but I tried something a little different this time.
 
Fry it? There's also that Alton brown method where he steams wings to render some of the fat first. Something like that might work.
 
Excellent link Timothy! You know, I might just need to do that next week! I did some "high altitude" chicken one time the week after I got my WSM and it was pretty darned good! Blast it, I just had breakfast and now I want some crispy chicken!
You guys are killin' me!
 
Brining and/or Salting and then letting it air-dry in the refrigerator before cooking (to draw-out some of the moisture in the skin) is SUPPOSED to "help", but from what I've seen it is only PART of the solution.
The other part is that as others have stated - you simply need high enough temperatures, at least to finish-off and crisp the skin up

When I started using my WSM - I did some chicken halves in a Buttermilk brine and some in Mojo Criollo. Both of those never got "crispy" on the outside, but they did have nice color and flavor to the skin, but were also both cooked at pretty high temperatures.

Low-and-slow nearly ALWAYS produces rubbery / sometimes tender / but nearly always soft skin

Better Methods = Put it on a Rotisserie or go to Popeye's....
 
High heat is definitely called for. I shoot for 400+. Air drying the chicken before cooking, as already mentioned, definitely helps. Coating the skin with oil, melted butter or other fat is the final piece of the puzzle. Sometimes there's enough fat in the skin so this last step isn't necessary but it doesn't hurt to be sure.
 
I used to make crispy skin chicken (beer can) all the time is some hunk of junk gasser I had. When I came back to the Weber family, I have nothing but struggles getting crispy skin chicken. I don't know if it's punishment for leaving Weber brand BBQ's for about 10 years of my life, of if it's a curse, but I can't get good crispy skin chicken to save my life
 
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