So I'll be Scraping Skin From Now On. And Question?

[fnbish]

My teammate and I have our 4th competition coming up in a few week and our 2nd KCBS (2 were MBN) and so we are cooking chicken so I wanted to practice. My last chicken was horrible and I could never get the skin to bite through. I tried scraping, but I was really bad at it. But I knew I just needed to practice more. So here is my latest attempt.

The bottom right piece I did NOT scrap and you can see it looks a little thicker and also pulled forward and it didn't come completely off only because I held on to the back for dear life .

The other 3 I bit right through. So scraping it is. The time is worth it for me. I still need to work on my flavor and color. These were rubbed, cooked skin side down in some margarine and rub for about 45mins at 275. Then pulled out covered in sauce and then cooked on a rack to tighten up.


Ok so now for a competition chicken prep question. Does anyone cut the bone ends? The rounded ball part that a lot of times sticks out and when I leave them on so many times the chicken pulls back as it cooks and the bone shows and looks bad. I know some people debone thighs and some do not and know people do well with either method, but does anyone just cut off the ends?

[Fatback Joe]

I have cut them off when I have a thigh that I really like with the exception of the bone during prep. I generally try to avoid doing it since it seems that the blood/marrow/whatever, kind of seeps out some during the cooking, but it has not seem to have any negative impact on my scores.

[fnbish]

Originally Posted by Fatback Joe

I have cut them off when I have a thigh that I really like with the exception of the bone during prep. I generally try to avoid doing it since it seems that the blood/marrow/whatever, kind of seeps out some during the cooking, but it has not seem to have any negative impact on my scores.

Thanks for the reply. I haven't seen any adverse results from the marrow/stuff in the bone discoloring or adding bad taste just from my experience. It really help me to get the pieces more even looking and I will continue to practice my trimming skills.

[Fatback Joe]

Originally Posted by fnbish

Thanks for the reply. I haven't seen any adverse results from the marrow/stuff in the bone discoloring or adding bad taste just from my experience. It really help me to get the pieces more even looking and I will continue to practice my trimming skills.

Yep, for a while it would frustrate me having a nice looking thigh with a bone that was a little too long. After I cut the first bone, it was like why didn't I do this before.

[fnbish]

Originally Posted by Fatback Joe

Yep, for a while it would frustrate me having a nice looking thigh with a bone that was a little too long. After I cut the first bone, it was like why didn't I do this before.

That was exactly my reaction too. And while I could completely de-bone I don't like the small size or maybe I need practice on that too . But this seems like the best of both worlds. I like the bone in and trimming the bone tips if needed get them down to a uniformed size since thigh bone size vary.

[Disconnect]

We don't, but talking to some teams it was a fairly common piece of advice - cut out at least all the cartilage/gristle from the end, and possibly trim the bone itself..

[atvalaska]

i've ran with boneless a couple times...when i find the chicken got beat up at the "plant", and i start digging around looking for more pices

[jalon]

Ok, I'm still kind of new at this...what do you mean by "scraping" the skin?

Jalon

[Bigfoot21075]

a super light dusting of corn starch or some mixed in with the rub did WONDERS for my skin without affecting the taste.

[Matt_A]

jalon, scraping the skin is a technique used by a lot of BBQ competitors to get the skin cooked properly so it will "bite through" just right when it's being judged. The ultimate goal is a piece of skin that has not fat attached to it. The fat can have a tendency to cause the skin to stretch rather than break cleanly when bitten. Basically, the skin is removed carefully form the raw chicken. Then it is turned over and the fat layer is very carefully removed from the inside of the skin through, most often, scraping carefully. The skin is then placed back on the chicken for the cooking process. Everybody who "scrapes" has their own tricks and techniques to do it.

[jalon]

Matt, thanks for the explanation. Now I know why chicken is not the favorite part of many teams....sounds like fun!! (j/k)

Appreciate it.

Jalon