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a future newbie

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Unknown
Unknown
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
my wife and i are committed to buying a BGE for our anniversary but can't decide between large and extra large. this will be our first BGE. any advice for a future newbie?
also i have heard that chicken skin doesn't get crisp, is this true? and if so why?
thank you
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Comments

  • Richard
    Richard Posts: 698
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    PDNest,[p]How large a family to feed or guests at parties? I have a large and a small and have feed 14-16 adults various items at the same time over the years. Some menus take a little advance preparation. Crispy skin can be done with spatchcock chicken, direct on raised grid very nicely at 350-375.

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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    PDNest,
    I would go with the large. Depending on how you cook it, you can get crispy chicken skin. Welcome aboard! -RP
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  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,110
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    PDNest,
    I have large and XL. I love my XL but I think the shape of the Large will give you more options and adding a small in the future would work great.
    The Egg holds moisture in the food very well because of ceramic heat holding ability. This gives you the ability to hold your cooking temp with much less air flow than most grill or smokers. This is great for "most" foods but makes you work a little more when it comes to wanting to dry out your outer skin on chicken and such.
    Darian
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
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  • KevinH
    KevinH Posts: 165
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    PDNest,[p]Below are some techniques to achieve crispy chicken skin. You can use some or all of them depending on the circumstances.[p]1. Use your fingers to create some air space between the skin and the meat. Don't separate the skin completely from the chicken (leave some corner spots attached). The skin will lie loosely on the meat to preserve the moisture inside, but it will get enough air to crisp.[p]2. Rub the skin with olive oil (or butter or oil of your choice) and then sprinkle or rub on dry spices (commercial rub, homemade, whatever). Don't use anything with a high water content. You can also rub some spices directly on the meat underneath the skin for stronger flavor.[p]3. Add a little corn starch to the rub to soak up moisture. This creates an effect similar to oven-fried chicken.[p]4. Direct heat will tend to dry and crisp the skin more than indirect heat. However, you need to be careful not to burn the skin. In some cases you might get nasty white smoke from the fat dropping into the fire and burning when cooking without a drip pan.

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    KevinH,
    Wow, great answer! Very thorough. I need to remember #3. I like that idea!
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  • Scott
    Scott Posts: 28
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    KevinH

    Thanks. I've been fighting with chicken skin for a while now. I'm going to try these suggestions this week.
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    PDNest,
    Go with the large. I have a medium, large and XL and if I had to pick one to keep it'd be the large. Like Richard said, if you're cooking for a party you may have to a little prep work in advance like cook some of the food a day or two ahead.
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  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
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    PDNest,[p] Unless you plan on feeding 50+ people in one sitting go with a large. I have two XL's but I cater and compete. My Large and small get the most work for my home cooks.[p]
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