Chicken thighs/skin

[prodano]

I have smoked chicken thighs a few times now and have run into the same problem. Mainly, the skin is rubbery. The meat itself is really good, but I can't even eat the skin. I marinated 12 chicken thighs in a bottle of italian dressing for ~15 hrs, took them out and put a rub on, smoked for ~1.75 hrs, wrapped in aluminum foil for 30 minutes, then threw the thighs on a medium temp grill and basted them with a bbq glaze for roughly 10 minutes, partly indirectly. Am I doing something wrong? How do you get the skin crispy? Thanks for the feedback!

 

[SP]

Do a search and you will find it many times.

 

[we'll smoke u]

You have to crisp it up on the grill over a higher heat.Thats the only way I have found to do it.

 

[Sawdustguy]

I have smoked chicken thighs a few times now and have run into the same problem. Mainly, the skin is rubbery. The meat itself is really good, but I can't even eat the skin. I marinated 12 chicken thighs in a bottle of italian dressing for ~15 hrs, took them out and put a rub on, smoked for ~1.75 hrs, wrapped in aluminum foil for 30 minutes, then threw the thighs on a medium temp grill and basted them with a bbq glaze for roughly 10 minutes, partly indirectly. Am I doing something wrong? How do you get the skin crispy? Thanks for the feedback!

I don't think crispy skin is acheivable with chicken either from a smoker or Grill. I think tender skin is acheivable. I can get my skin to the point where a soft bite is enough to bite through the skin

 

[Puppyboy]

Rubbery skin is a sad fact of smoking chicken.

Here recently I have been de-boning the thighs but leaving on the skin. I place skin side down and sean the meat. Roll the piece so only the skin is exposed. Give it another quick rub then smoke. When they are just about ready, raise the temp to firm up the skin. Works out ok for me.

 

[Smokin' Gnome BBQ]

At my comp site i was "listening" to a conversation on competition chicken between a fellow competitor and a judge (they were in my space and drinking my beer) the contestant asked the certified judge if he ever had comp chicken with crispy skin, the answer was no!!!!!!!!!He said the judges were to taste the skin but are not to judge the chicken as a whole on it.The skin gets "rubbery" in the box as it steams. not sure if this helps but try it at home cook thighs and crisp the skin, throw it in a take out box and see what happens. 2 fat polocks tried a "grilled fried" chicken (hear it was great) and it was crispy but didnt score well..L.O.L .. chicken is way HARDER then it should be!!!

 

[Sawdustguy]

Yup! We got murdered by the judges because it didn't look like traditional bbq chicken. Now that I think of it, I saw a show on Food TV where Bad Byron Chism actually got crispy chicken skin at a contest using a large Cajun Grill and rotisserizing the chicken. I think the show was part of the Food TV Challenge series and it was the Bama-Que contest. IRRC Chris Lilly was DQ'ed for brisket in that contest for turning it in late.


Here is a pic of our infamous BBQ Fried Chicken. Tastes great with very crispy skin.

 

[BBQchef33]

<time out>

IRRC Chris Lilly was DQ'ed for brisket in that contest for turning it in late.

As does ALL great chefs. :redface: :mrgreen:


Sorry, couldnt resist..
Back on topic.

<time in>

 

[tkuehn5410]

I like to throw the chicken on the grill side of my 'dera after smoking. It does a pretty good job of softening up the skin. The other way I like to do chicken is placing closer to the firebox on the bottom rack for the last half of the cook.

 

[watg?]

thanks a nice looking chicken box!

 

[The_Kapn]

<time out>


As does ALL great chefs. :redface: :mrgreen:


Sorry, couldnt resist..
Back on topic.

<time in>

There are ways to avoid "late turn-in DQs" Phil.

Watch your mail box :wink: :wink:
The "secret to success" is on the way! :lol:

TIM

 

[ericoask]

That looks really good !

 

[Ron_L]

There are ways to avoid "late turn-in DQs" Phil.

Watch your mail box :wink: :wink:
The "secret to success" is on the way! :lol:

TIM

This could be interesting...

At home I cook chicken indirect on either the gasser of the kettle (depending on how much time I have). I sear the skin side first and then cook until the meat is done. Most of the time the skin is crispy, but I'm cooking at higher heat than in the smoker.

 

[QansasjayhawQ]

I don't think crispy skin is acheivable with chicken either from a smoker or Grill. I think tender skin is acheivable. I can get my skin to the point where a soft bite is enough to bite through the skin

I smoke a lot of chicken and I think Sawdustguy is right on track.

After pinning up the skin so it doesn't retract, I smoke the thighs for three hours at 225F With 30 minutes to go, I paint the skin with a 70/30 mixture of BBQ sauce and apple juice. This mixture reduces during the last 30 minutes very nicely.

The skin is not 'crispy' but it is very thin and tender "to the point where a soft bite is enough to bite through the skin". Now that's the way to do it, in my opinion.

For crispy skin, I guess I'd try deep fat frying in a turkey cooker or something like that.

Hope this helps.

 

[Muzzlebrake]

Watch your mail box :wink: :wink:
The "secret to success" is on the way! :lol:

TIM

would that secret happen to be pants?
belt?
suspenders?
:lol:

 

[prodano]

So mainly I need to grill the chicken thighs at a higher temperature after I smoke them. I will also try to pin the skin down as it does retract quite a bit. Also, I was grilling the thighs skin side up so I wouldn't burn the glaze, I am going to try to do it skin side down and see what happens. thanks for the feedback
Dan

 

[Vince RnQ]

Here is a pic of our infamous BBQ Fried Chicken. Tastes great with very crispy skin.

That chicken box looks very tasty. Is your BBQ Fried Chicken recipe a secret or is it something you would be willing to share? I certainly appreciate that it might be a secret so no disrespect intended in asking.

 

[Sawdustguy]

That chicken box looks very tasty. Is your BBQ Fried Chicken recipe a secret or is it something you would be willing to share? I certainly appreciate that it might be a secret so no disrespect intended in asking.

I'll share it. I am tired tonight but will be happy to post the recipe tommorrow morning.

 

[Vince RnQ]

Thank you. I look forward to trying it!

 

[River City Smokehouse]

Read this. It can be a lot of help.

Contest Chicken

Posted by Jumpin' Jim on January 31, 2001 at 21:04:41:

For contests I only cook thighs and I cook 16 of them. I marinade them in Paul Newman's Own (Olive Oil and Vinegar) 4-8 at a time in a heavy zip lock bag depending on the size of the thighs. I start them marinating at approx. 4 pm on Friday.
I have used various rubs but what I really like these days is Head Country (Ponca City, OK) tweaked for heat which I get by adding a small amount of Cayenne Pepper. The thighs come out of the marinade at 7:30 sat morning and I lightly and evenly dust them with the rub.
I put them on the smoker and cook them to 180 degrees internal temp in exactly three hours. If I am using the Ole Hickory I use pecan and if I am cooking on Traeger or a Fast Eddy Smokebox I use hickory pellets.
At the three hour mark I test each thigh with a toothpick for tenderness. I put my best 8 in one half size alum pan from Sams Club with one bottle of Head Country Original Sauce. I put the second best 8 in the other pan. I loosely tent the pans with foil and let them woller in the sauce for approx. one hour.
Half hour before turn-in I take 8-10 best thighs and put them on Weber Kettle or Cajun Grill indirect with a reasonably cool fire so I won't burn the sauce. I taste one of the worst thighs and make an assessment of how it tastes and if I think that taste can do well. If I need to make adjustments, especially with salt, I do it at this time and then set the seasoning with a light brushing of sauce.
For turn-in I pick my best six thighs and put them in the box. No special arrangement because the thighs usually take up most of the room. Just try to have a decent looking box.
This process doesn't always work but it has been very good to me. If any of you want more specifics please email me directly. I assume most of you are very good cooks and will be able to take this brief process and make it work for you. By the way Paul Newman's is a very good marinade for other meats, especially lamb when combined with Head Country Rub and Head Country Sauce.
Re: Clarification on Jumpin' Jim's Chicken

Posted by Jumpin' Jim on April 29, 2007 at 20:59:12:
In Reply to: Clarification on Jumpin' Jim's Chicken posted by Keri C on April 29, 2007 at 19:27:09:
I always went into the sauce skin side up. And it was always one 18 oz bottle of sauce (usually Head Country Original)per half size aluminum pan from Sam's. This doesn't really put much sauce up on the thighs. I would put four thighs in the pan and spoon the sauce up on the skin. Then put the other four in and do the same.
The two pans (8 thighs each) of sauce were on the cooker long enough to heat the sauce some. My idea was to stop the cooking process abruptly, or almost abruptly and let the chicken draw some of the sauce back into it as it cooled some.
I was always careful to not let my pan sauce get too thick. If it did I would add more sauce to keep it the same consistency as it was when I put it in the pan.