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Frustrated with Chicken Skin

gte1
gte1 Posts: 379
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
When doing chicken pieces the skin comes out fairly crispy. Tonight I did halves, just like spatchcock the skin is a nice color but too chewy. The chicken is moist with great flavor, but the skin drives me nuts. Will oil help? I've heard the dry it out in the refridgerator thing, but roasting a chicken shouldn't be a 2 or 3 day project. Help needed

George
George

Comments

  • allitnils
    allitnils Posts: 109
    I don't cook whole chickens, let alone chicken with skin on.. But when I do, this is the steps I generally follow:
    Dry the chicken thoroughly with paper towels..
    Cook at 200 degrees indirect until internal temperature is 140 at the breast - should take about 3 hours..
    Let the chicken rest for a couple of hours.
    Increase the temperature of the egg to around 400-500 and prepare for direct heat..
    Once resting time elapses, add back to the hot egg for 10 minutes or until skin is browned.

    Note: I don't add rubs to meat. Ever. So I don't know how it will work if you add rubs.
    I often brine the chicken overnight when roasting whole.
    I generally add a sprig of thyme and a pierced lemon inside the cavity of the chicken.
  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,566
    I get a good skin cooking direct with a raised grid at 250 for about two hours. I sometimes do the first 20 minutes skin side down, flip once and leave it alone the rest of the cook.
  • KingtUT
    KingtUT Posts: 157
    Season with rub and put in fridge for up to a day uncovered.  Indirect at 375-400.  Start with skin side down for about 20-25 minutes.  Flip for another 20-25 minutes. Um,,good.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    there is more than one way to do it, as a few have shown.

    i've given over to simply going higher in the dome, indirect, at 250 or so.  if i can dry the skin overnight, all the better.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • I put a rub on the chicken, put on grid raised to the felt line, cook indirect at around 250 until the breast reaches 160.  If cooking whole chicken I check the thighs and make sure they reach about 175 before pulling off.  I have been amazed at how crispy and tasty the skin is.  It is so good it is difficult to limit my skin intake to ust a few bites. 

    I do not hold the chicken in refrigerator for hours or days.  I typically go buy the chicken, build my fire, put the rub on the chicken, wait for egg to stabilize and put the chicken on.  Total cook time has varied from 1.5 hrs to 2hrs.

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,173
    I go high in dome-about 3 inches above the felt-line, direct at 350-400 (whereever the BGE settles) and get great skin-also try to let it dry in the fridge for at least 12 hours prior but not a requirement.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • dscheyd
    dscheyd Posts: 19
    I get a good skin cooking direct with a raised grid at 250 for about two hours. I sometimes do the first 20 minutes skin side down, flip once and leave it alone the rest of the cook.
    I've read about the raised grid on the blog and purchased the grill extender, but I'm wondering if I'm not high enough  B-).  
    How high do you get?  to the lower lip of the egg or higher?

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,173
    @dscheyd-Here you go-I go high in dome-about 3 inches above the felt-line,  See post just above yours.  Many ways to get there-whole 'nother topic.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • One time, I accidentally left my chicken in the fridge for a week, and then realized that it produced really crispy skin.  As such, I've been doing it ever since. 

    Read this for the details:

    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1137891/best-parts-sorta-spatchcocked-part-ii-or-aged-chicken-breasts#latest

    HTH,
    Rob


    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • gte1
    gte1 Posts: 379
    I have tried most methods above except the 250 method, I'll give it a shot. Maybe my idea of crispy is different than others. Never had this problem in a Webber. Did I just say that out loud? Thanks for the imput. George
    George
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    metal cookers radiate away more heat.  more draft....  draws moisture away.

    one of the interesting things bout ceramics is the moisture they retain in foods. but that sword cuts both ways. 
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • allitnils
    allitnils Posts: 109
    Another thing you can try:
    Cook at a low temperature for a few hours until the breast reaches 160.
    Let it rest.
    Rub it with a buttery rub.
    Blowtorch the crap out of it.
  • chuff
    chuff Posts: 255
    New to this forum, but I've been cooking my own version of what everyone here calls "spatchcock chicken" for years on all kinds of gas and charcoal cookers. Try starting your chicken skin side down for the first 10-15 minutes of the cook then flip it over. 

    Drying the chicken (especially with salt on the skin!) overnight will produce the best results, but I rarely plan far enough ahead to actually do it. I still get nice crispy skin every time, though. One last thing - don't tent the chicken with foil while it rests. There's more than enough thermal mass there to keep it from getting cold, and the carryover cooking is going to happen with or without foil. So unless you're transporting it to someone's house the only thing tenting is going to do for you is build a bunch of steam inside the tent to "de-crisp" your skin for you.

    Just a few thoughts from an egg newbie for what they're worth.
    XL BGE
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    chuff is right about foiling.  lots of folks (including me, until the light dawned on me a while back) foil when resting.

    resting is actually allowing the meat to cool a bit, and that's not going to happened when foiling.  you're going to have some carryover, after which it will start to cool (this is what retains juices, the cooling).  if you foil, you are making a mini-oven, powered by the heat in the meat itself
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • gte1
    gte1 Posts: 379
    Better skin side down first rather than later?
    George
  • chuff
    chuff Posts: 255
    Yes, better at the beginning. And 10-15 minutes is just a starting point to keep from over browning the skin. I sometimes let it go as long as 25 minutes with the skin down. Just depends on the bird.


    XL BGE