Help for rubber chicken skin?

BearQ

Egged up some chicken thighs tonight. Tasty but try as I might I can't seem to get the skin crispy. I removed the skin, scrapped the fat and replaced, let air dry in fridge uncovered for 2 hours, dusted with corn starch cooked direct at 300 for 40 min. Appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks

SoCalTim

I leave them in the fridge overnight.Works like magic.

MaC122

Ill usually bump up the heat the last 10 to 15 minutes to about 425. That helps to crisp it up. 300 is way to low.

Mattman3969

I will do all of what you listed except I don't dry in the fridge and I start them at 350-375 and let the temp creep up to 450-500 over the cook. Guaranteed potato chip like skin.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Everything was right but go 450 raised direct. It will be like a potato chip. 300= rubbery skin. 

BearQ

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll know better next time.

SGH

Lots of great advice above. The only thing that I will add is if you like or prefer to cook indirect then raise up into the dome some to pick up more reflective heat. I use the AR with the standard BGE cooking grid sitting on top of it. This puts me 2 1/2 inches above gasket level into the dome. By doing this you will get crispy skin when cooking indirect. If you so chose, you can reduce the skin to mere ash with this method. Either way, crispy skin is a given.  

TigerTony

You can cook some awesome chicken on your egg! Moist, tender, juicy, smoked.... all kind of good adjectives can be used to describe chicken cooked on a bge. Except crispy. At least I've never achieved crispy skin.
But with that said, I feel that crispy skin is over rated.
If I want crispy skin I fry the chicken.

BearQ

Thanks @SGH for the advice, I've been thinking that I should learn more about getting higher in the dome to help my pizza cooks as well. Do you think that the temp is more evenly distributed higher up or will I experience more intense reflected heat to the top and less so from below?

DoubleEgger

Try cooking a whole bird using one of those vertical chicken roasters. That'll get the bird higher up in the dome.  I put the bird on cold at 450F and always get crispy skin. 

NPHuskerFL

Pat skin dry, refrigerate on a wire rack uncovered, S&P skin or your choice of rub, egg raised direct or raised indirect 400℉. 

SGH

BearQ said:

 Do you think that the temp is more evenly distributed higher up or will I experience more intense reflected heat to the top and less so from below?

That's kind of a two fold question. Nonetheless I will offer my thoughts. First, at between 1-3 inches into the dome, I certainly do feel that this is the most even area of the cook chamber when cooking indirect. This does not apply when cooking direct for obvious reasons nor when cooking indirect and you have the egg dramatically over loaded or restricted. I can explain farther in depth if need be.  As to the intense reflective heat, as you get closer to the dome and run higher temps, the reflective heat will certainly start wreaking havoc on certain things. You have to find that happy medium between the two for best results. In my experience for the type of cooks that I do, I find that anywhere from gasket level to about 2 inches into the dome is ideal for most things when running low to moderate temps. Now I'm basing this on the indirect piece being at its lowest possible level. As you move the indirect piece higher, all of the above will change. As far a pizza, there are many folks on here that can offer you far better advice than I can. But with that said, the best pizzas that I have made to date were all cooked as high up in the dome as I could get them while sitting on a already preheated and up to temp stone. When cooking pizza, the reflective heat from the dome is what helps cook the top at the same pace as the bottom that is sitting on the already hot stone. Also remember that all of the above is based on how I like to set up and cook. Everyone has there own preferences. But through trial and error on my part, I find that all of the above is sound. 

Dobie

TigerTony said:

You can cook some awesome chicken on your egg! Moist, tender, juicy, smoked.... all kind of good adjectives can be used to describe chicken cooked on a bge. Except crispy. At least I've never achieved crispy skin.
But with that said, I feel that crispy skin is over rated.
If I want crispy skin I fry the chicken.

Sorry but you're just doing it wrong. I get it consitantly and just had a spatchcock that 
literally squirted juice when I grabbed it with the tong to slide on the plate and the skin was crispy goodness. I cook 5 lb birds spatchcock with no prep indirect at 450-500 raised to at least the felt line (higher if you can) and cook breast until 155-160 and its perfect. It can be done and done consistently. Indirect high heat is the ticket. 

anton

Yes, as with others above, I have cured my skin issues by cooking chicken high in dome, at high temp 400-475 also, haven't had many scorches, skin is delicious, and meat moist.