off to the NBA...

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borzwazie

Knows what a fatty is.
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...with the rubber chicken I did today. Seriously, this was the toughest, most terrible chicken I've ever made. WTF?

I cooked the thing on 375 to 400, for a little less than 2 hours. Juices were clear, internal temps were good...and I couldn't tear the skin with an angle grinder. It was super salty, and I didn't brine it, so I guess it had brine added.

I had the chicken on a rack, on top of a pan, to keep the heat indirect, and up out of the juices. I've done this before, no problem. What the heck happened here today?

Such a waste, I threw the whole thing out.
 
Direct heat is a good thing...drop the pan. My birds get diffused in the mini with the steamer pan but doesn't even need that. Birds in my UDS is the same way...directly over the coals baby and perfect skin every time. Dark skin and never rubbery. Same temps as you ran also. Do some more experimenting.


 
Sounds to me like you did everything correctly. Must have been improperly handled somewhere along the way to your smoker.
 
I don't do smoked birds, we whole Cajun deep fry them down here but I did try to smoke a chicken one time. The meat was great but the skin was like rubber.
 
A long long time ago I had a roaster bird that did like 28 hours in a crock pot. I was making a pot of chicken chili. That thing was tougher than a rawhide bone.
I ended up putting in a pressure cooker for like 2 hrs and it finally made it pullable.

Was this bird enhanced? weight? Somedays I get my butt kicked....especially on this old bird.

Now I only smoke smaller and younger chickens around 5# or less. That is all we seem to buy in my hood.

I might chance suppliers and try again. Good luck and let us know how things turned out.
 
just a guess, but at the temps/time you posted, i'd say it was overcooked. too high, too long, imo.
 
In my experience chicken and other poultry react better to direct heat vs indirect. Think how your skin reacts in say 90 degree shade vs 90 degree sunny day... you'll never get crisp in the shade but you sure as heck will out in the direct sun light. It's no different in your smoker so if you're smoker is capable of some direct heat i.e UDS or other vertical cookers then go for it.
 
mrbill said:
just a guess, but at the temps/time you posted, i'd say it was overcooked. too high, too long, imo.
Click to expand...

I'm no chicken guru, but my first thought is the same as Mr. Bill. 2 hours at 375-400 may have resulted in overdone chicken. Overdone chicken in my experience is tough chicken.
 
I agree with fwismoker here, poultry does react better to direct heat.
 
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