Chicken... not getting crispy

eksmoke · August 2015

On my old Weber Gas Grill, I used to get a good crisp skin with the fat under the skin rendered out. On my BGE, I'm finding that I'm getting a softer skin with fat underneath...
Is this because moisture is kept within the BGE?
I've tried taking the top vent totally off, and adjusting heat with the bottom vent... also have tried raising the chicken to a higher level.
I know that keeping uncovered for hours or days helps, but that's not always possible (and I didn't need to do that with the Weber).
Any thoughts on how to get that crisp skin? Thank you.

Thatgrimguy · August 2015

What temp are you cooking at? I have a very hard time in my BGE getting bite through skin. For comps we have gone to using a weber or to actually scraping the skin. (actually both) I have found in my BGE using a little oil on the skin and cooking at 350-450 helps a lot. Lower than 350 and I just haven't been able to crisp that skin up.

ryantt · August 2015

dry the chicken off with a towel and dust with cornstarch. I cook my chicken at 375-425 and have had great results.

Darby_Crenshaw · August 2015

taking the top off won't let any moisture out faster really.

if you can't plan a couple days ahead (to dry the chicken in the fridge, unwrapped), try roasting indirect at lower temps for longer. 250 or so, 275, maybe 300 max.

also helps to oil or butter the skin a bit early in the cook

n00b · August 2015

ryantt said:

dry the chicken off with a towel and dust with cornstarch. I cook my chicken at 375-425 and have had great results.

do you corn starch then use rub?

Carolina Q · August 2015

Here's one possibility. I tried it once, but didn't get the results Judy raved about. Maybe you'll have better luck.

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1350550&catid=1

fishlessman · August 2015

direct raised grid: thighs at 275, wings 300, breasts 325. skin side down til crispy, then flip and raise temps. you can take the parts right out of the marinade dripping wet, the hard thing to get by is the need to flip early, wait til the skin starts to pull away from the chicken, get that darker crisp to it, wait for the fat to turn to liquid, then flip (once that happens the skin stays high above the moist wet chicken meat and continues to crisp). pretty much everyone does this backwards and cooks the skin sitting on the wet meat on top, it turns to rubber. start skin side down and wait it out. this problem never happened in my old kettle grill either, took me a year of asking questions on this forum before figuring what was wrong, in the egg you really need to cook the skin til done first, then cook the chicken, so skin side down til the skin is done works best for me

ryantt · August 2015

n00b said:

ryantt said:

dry the chicken off with a towel and dust with cornstarch. I cook my chicken at 375-425 and have had great results.

do you corn starch then use rub?

Yep. I dust it with a little corn starch then apply my rub over the top.

jak7028 · August 2015

I reverse sear chickens also. Spatchock - then cook raised indirect at 350-400. Get close to your desired temp and take it off. Open up the vents to get grill to about 600 degrees. Then direct grill each side below the felt line until you get the desired char or crisp you are looking for. Usually about 2 minutes per side depending on heat.

Result it a very low maintenance cook with juicy bird with crispy skin. Dont have to worry about flare ups during the indirect cook. I just take the bird out of the bag, rinse it off, apply a rub and put it on the grill. I never use corn starch or oil and get great results, but I know a lot of people that prefer corn starch or oil and also get great results.

The one thing that improved my birds more than anything was cook at higher temps and shorter times.

HoustonEgger · August 2015

Ditto on the cornstarch - rinse & pat dry the chicken, lightly dust with corn starch and then rub with your rub of choice. Just did this over the weekend and had perfect bite through skin. I let the corn starch and rub work it's magic on the chicken for about an hour before cooking.

TigerTony · August 2015

I stopped trying to achieve crispy skin when cooking chicken on my egg. I'm sure it can be done though. You can try the methods the others suggest. I do know that when I cook chicken on my bge they all love it! No one ever complains that the skin isn't crispy.
Crispy skin is over rated.
If I want to eat crispy chicken I buy or cook fried chicken.

Carolina Q · August 2015

I usually take the skin OFF. Egging some as we speak, in fact. Problem solved.

bgebrent · August 2015

For me on my L & XL I go raised direct at 375 for 45-50/60 minutes after 4-12 hours out in the fridge. Did 17 pounds yesterday. I rotate the grate 180 degrees after 30-40 minutes. Skin is always crisp and browned. I sauce after the wings come off. Just my brief experience but have found it to be reproducible.

Mikee · August 2015

I like a direct cook at about 325* when cooking pieces. When the chicken is almost done, raise the temperature to 500-550* , then cook dome open. The fat will cook out and the skin will be crisp. As the fat drips out and the fire flares up be prepared to smother out the fire by closing the dome and the vents.

johnnyp · August 2015

I had the exact same problem 6 months ago. i took @SGH advice and went indirect @~400*. That technique has worked great for me.

Chicken... not getting crispy

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