Smoked Chicken Failure

Money_Hillbilly

I have tried a number of times to make the perfect smoked chicken but so far another failure.  I buttermilk brined the whole spatchcocked chicken for 6 hours, dried and applied Elk Creek Gold dust.  Smoked in the KBQ with hickory @225 until the breast read 120 then ramped up temp to 325 to crisp up the skin.  Result 6/10, lightly smoked juicy chicken with skin like leather.  Now I understand why comp guys always say chicken is the hardest protein to cook.  Any answers?

RRP

Curious points:
Was your smoke clean before starting the cook?
What was the internal temp of that yardbird when pulled off?
How long did it take to go from 225 to 325?
Have you done the usual thing like calibrating your dome thermometer?
Typically 225 is a hard temperature to stick with possibly causing bitter smoke on the skin.

Money_Hillbilly

@RRP I was smoking on the KBQ and it makes clean smoke immediately, pulled @157, took about 5 minutes to get from 225 to 325, using Thermoworks signal for temp of smoker and bird. The chicken was juicy with a delicate smoky flavor the skin was not bitter it just had a texture tough and leathery. 

Foghorn

I struggle with this also.  I'll share what little I know.

The competition team I hang with does their chicken on a Weber kettle with grill grates at about 325.  They keep the skin side down for most of the cook. (Note: they also defat the underside of the skin and replace it and hold it in place with pins during the cook)

My brother-in-law does chicken thighs that my wife raves about because the skin is crispy and the chicken is perfectly cooked.  He cooks direct on a gas Weber on medium (usually 325-350) heat and his advice that he apparently read somewhere is "put the skin side down and leave it there much longer than you think you should". 

So, I've concluded that radiant heat to the skin for most or all of the cook is the key.

With that said, I've done several cooks since I came to that conclusion and I've not yet executed it as well as my brother-in-law, so do with this as you see fit.

Money_Hillbilly

@Foghorn I agree with everything that you said.  I can grill chicken raised direct on the egg with crispy skin perfectly every time.  I also compete and I am familiar with scraping the fat from thighs.  My goal is to make juicy smoked chicken with crisp skin like I can achieve grilling.  So far it is just out of reach. I have tried just about everything. 

DoubleEgger

I suspect that the KBQ is moving so much air that it overdried the skin. I would start eliminating variables and start at square one. Cook a test bird on the KBQ with no brine and just salt and pepper to test the skin. If the skin is like leather, then it’s the design characteristics of the KBQ. If not, next time add the seasoning or the brine but not both and test the skin. 

fishlessman

Skin side down direct til the fat turns to grease and fries the skin. Ok let's form under the skin if you  leave it that way long enough as the skin crisps. When you flip it late in the cook the grease runs out and the skin is crisp enough not to Matt back down on the meat and sweat back into rubber. You can get it too crispy without a good bite thru and to many cooks direct means. Burning the egg clean to remove the grease buildup. I still prefer a kettle grill for this, not enough airflow in the egg