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D.F. Expat
01-09-2008, 05:47 PM
Brothers, this is my major weakness , I can get the flavor and moisture perfect smoking anywhere between 225 and 300 but the skin always comes out like rubber! What the heck am I doing wrong here? I tried more heat but that just ripped the skin but still left it rubbery. Should I smoke as normal but pull a little early and place it over the coals to crisp it up or?

blues_n_cues
01-09-2008, 06:47 PM
you can do that, or for bird smoke between 325-375.i've even heard of people dropping bird into a cajun cooker for just a few mins then smoking.- personally that works great for quail for me.

Larry Wolfe
01-09-2008, 06:58 PM
1 very important thing to crispy skin is to make sure you pat the pieces dry dry dry. Surface moisture will hose your skin regardless of cooking temp. Either air dry or pat very dry and cook at the temps blues stated above.

Hiloboy
01-09-2008, 07:02 PM
i know this is more work.. but the other night i made wings smoked them at 250 for maybe a hour and a half.. to give them some good smoke. then i deep fryed them in my wok.. crisp skin and great smoke taste along with the hot sauce.. it was the best chicken wings i have ever made..

D.F. Expat
01-09-2008, 08:03 PM
Thx guys, will try the high heat again and be sure skin is dry, never knew about the dry skin!

Mitch
01-09-2008, 08:14 PM
I like to let my chicken air dry for a day in the frig. Wash/rinse, pat dry and leave uncovered in the frige................of course all that goes down hill if you marinate before cooking which most of us do for comps.

River City Smokehouse
01-10-2008, 08:24 AM
There is a recipe floating on the web that is called Jumpin Jim's Competition Chicken Thighs. This may be some help to you. I personally cook mine at a very high heat like 350*, adding grill marks and such. It usually takes 45 minutes to do mine the way I like them. The skin is edible. Below is a picture of mine. I don't have a picture of the Jumpin Jim's, but here is a link to the recipe.
Jumpin Jim's Chicken Thighs (http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4880069052/m/3380093152)

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z234/River_City_Smokehouse/BBQ068w.jpg

rookiedad
01-10-2008, 08:41 AM
RCS,
these thighs look fantastic! i think an important part of getting the skin right is to pin it on the bottom so it don't shrink and thicken up. for me keeping it as thin as possible is important. do you pin yours? also what do you think about grill marks for comps. i try not to get them but i like the way those look.

phil

Divemaster
01-10-2008, 08:56 AM
I haven't tried pinning mine but it makes sense... Next chicken night I'm going to give it a shot!!!

Porky
01-10-2008, 11:10 AM
RCS

That thread on Jim's chicken was outstanding. I am going to try it with both his ingredients and my own and see how it comes out. Now I have to go order some Head Country stuff. I need a new set of cabinets just for my spices!!!

HB-BBQ
01-10-2008, 11:17 AM
What do you guys pin the skin with?

D.F. Expat
01-10-2008, 11:17 AM
So am I to take from this that I can't have crispy skin and smoked chicken together unless I fry it after smoking?

Larry Wolfe
01-10-2008, 11:28 AM
What do you guys pin the skin with?

Toothpicks. Just don't forget to remove them, especially in a competition, you'll be disqualified! :eek:

HB-BBQ
01-10-2008, 11:47 AM
Toothpicks. Just don't forget to remove them, especially in a competition, you'll be disqualified! :eek:Thanks, that was what I figured but I wasnt sure if they would burn up when cooking on high heat. I figured presoaking them would help there.

yelonutz
01-10-2008, 11:52 AM
Make sure you don't use colored toothpicks or you will have red or blue stripes in your chicken!! NUTZ

DaChief
01-10-2008, 11:57 AM
RCS

That thread on Jim's chicken was outstanding. I am going to try it with both his ingredients and my own and see how it comes out. Now I have to go order some Head Country stuff. I need a new set of cabinets just for my spices!!!

I have tried Jim's recipe before and have been very happy with the results!

Jack2u2
01-10-2008, 12:22 PM
Your chicken looks great, RiverCity, and I have read and used Jumpin Jim's recipe. My problem is that in the comps I go to in texas, there isn't any sauce. You can get by with a glaze, but soaking the chicken in sauce, or thick like your picture will disqualify your box. I will, however, try the higher temps and see if that will improve my skins.

Bottles 'n Bones BBQ
01-10-2008, 02:11 PM
1 very important thing to crispy skin is to make sure you pat the pieces dry dry dry. Surface moisture will hose your skin regardless of cooking temp. Either air dry or pat very dry and cook at the temps blues stated above.

I'm with Larry on that...You could try mixing a bit of cornstarch in your rub. Using a fan also works well. I've put chicken on with the skin pretty much paper~dry with excellent results.

Bigabyte did some real nice handiwork on this. Check it out...
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32463&highlight=skin+experiment

TOPS BBQ
01-10-2008, 04:53 PM
Brothers, this is my major weakness , I can get the flavor and moisture perfect smoking anywhere between 225 and 300 but the skin always comes out like rubber! What the heck am I doing wrong here? I tried more heat but that just ripped the skin but still left it rubbery. Should I smoke as normal but pull a little early and place it over the coals to crisp it up or?

Is this for comps or home use? For comps I smoke like always have, but I also marinate and the FAT 50 steamer keeps the skin from turning to rubber. Some people don't like the bite through skin, but then there are people that don't like the skin period.

As for turning up the temp, it's kind of hard to do when you have all the other meats in the smoker as well. One trick I learned was to treat the chicken like ribs and use the Texas Crutch. Worked great for me. Don't use that any longer since I got the Fat 50.

Of course, there are a lot teams that just grill their chicken. To each their own. Good luck!

River City Smokehouse
01-10-2008, 06:05 PM
Your chicken looks great, RiverCity, and I have read and used Jumpin Jim's recipe. My problem is that in the comps I go to in texas, there isn't any sauce. You can get by with a glaze, but soaking the chicken in sauce, or thick like your picture will disqualify your box. I will, however, try the higher temps and see if that will improve my skins.
I cook the thighs skin side down for almost the whole cook. I cook them indirect except for the 25 seconds over the coals to achieve the grill marks and then into a pan of sauce foiled over to finish skin side up indirect. I hope I didn't confuse you. I do brush with sauce but not heavy compared to a lot that I see ath the judging table. Those thighs aren't sauce heavy for KCBS around the mecca.

Oh....I must add, the chicken thighsin the picture that are yellowish in color a sauced with my RCS mustard BBQ sauce. I am thinking of trying it in comps. some this year just to see what it does. I guess it'll either hit or miss huh.

River City Smokehouse
01-10-2008, 06:12 PM
RCS,
these thighs look fantastic! i think an important part of getting the skin right is to pin it on the bottom so it don't shrink and thicken up. for me keeping it as thin as possible is important. do you pin yours? also what do you think about grill marks for comps. i try not to get them but i like the way those look.

phil
I noticed the grill marks popping up at contests in Mo. and KS. last year and liked the appeal it gives. I was skeptical at first, thinking it would be taken as marking but I never witnessed a KCBS rep. 'DQ' any or warn anyone about it so I started doing it too.
As far as pinning goes, I have stayed away from that because of a few friends that have done that in competition and it bit them in the arse. I just don't want to open the door for anything like that. It has been a rough past year in BBQ for me without choking a judge.:eek: