Question on smoking chicken

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

Over the last month I finally tried smoking chicken for the first time. I heard several people say they think chicken is far better grilled than smoked, but I wanted to give it a try. So I bought some leg quarters (used yardbird rub)tossed them on the smoker. I smoked them until the IT was approximately 185 degrees. Took them off and the meat was moist but the skin was super ruberry. Like had to pull off chicken and couldn't be ate. Then 2 weekends ago I smoked some chicken wings. Used the same rub and smoked them until they were done with the eye test. They came out delicious with bite through skin. The only difference I am aware of is my quarters were cooked on the top grate of my WSM and the wings were cooked on the bottom grate. Any advice on this matter is greatly appreciated because I am wanting to be able to smoke chicken if I ever have the desire.

 

[jacobp]

At what temp were you cooking? The fat underneath the skin has to be able to render out for you to attain crispy, bite through skin, which means you need to cook your chicken at a higher temp.

Conversely, my brother's favorite method, usually with quarters, is a few minutes skin side down on his weber kettle at a high temp to render out the fat, before transferring to his smoker and finishing at around 250 for a couple hours.

 

[ebijack]

If you want crispy skin IMHO. Use kosher salt on the skin.
No need to dry the skin, just use kosher salt. Whole bird or parts.
That is just how I do it. Turkey's also.
No oil, dry rubs, butter etc. Just the kosher salt.
Cooking temp can affect how crispy the skin will get to some point. But pretty much from 275* up you should end up with crispy skin.
A couple examples of whole turkey's.

 

[darita]

My guess is that the lower grate is closer to the heat, so the skin was able to render better. I love chicken skin and think it's the best part of the chicken, so good skin is what it's all about for me.
With thighs, I've had great success with Thirdeye's butter chicken method, whereby wrapping is used to render that skin and make it very tender. I you prefer a crispy skin, I've also had great success with the boiling water trick as noted here... https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264759
So...if you're cooking at lower temps, then skin has to be rendered either by wrapping or by going closer to the fire. At higher temps, I think you can get away with the boiling water trick.
Don't worry...you'll get all other opinions here, based on one's own successes. Good luck and please post your successes with chicken skin.

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

I cooked both around 300 degrees. Which i assumed would be high enough to render out the fat. However the 300 may have actually been hotter than the reading with the wings being on the bottom grate.

 

[Stlsportster]

You need to smoke it at a higher temp. Chicken really likes 325 or 350.

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

My guess is that the lower grate is closer to the heat, so the skin was able to render better. I love chicken skin and think it's the best part of the chicken, so good skin is what it's all about for me.
With thighs, I've had great success with Thirdeye's butter chicken method, whereby wrapping is used to render that skin and make it very tender. I you prefer a crispy skin, I've also had great success with the boiling water trick as noted here... https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264759
So...if you're cooking at lower temps, then skin has to be rendered either by wrapping or by going closer to the fire. At higher temps, I think you can get away with the boiling water trick.
Don't worry...you'll get all other opinions here, based on one's own successes. Good luck and please post your successes with chicken skin.

I could not agree with you more, the crispy skin is by far the best part of bbq chicken. With this in mind you can imagine the disappointment with the rubbery skin. When I had to pull it off all the sauce and dry rub was gone. So there was a lot of extra flavor missing.