- Jun 12, 2008
- 4
- 10
I think we have all run into the problem of how do deal with the limp, rubbery skin on smoked chicken. Some people finish their bird in the broiler to solve this. I think I may have stumbled upon something else. It all started last weekend. I was at a friend's house and he smoked a whole chicken in his Cookshack smoker. I noticed that he placed the bird, breast down, in a small aluminum tray which was intended to make clean-up easy. A side result was that the breast meat was very moist and flavorful since it was sitting in it's own "juices".
So this weekend, I thought I would try the same thing with cut-up breasts and thighs. I made small 1/2" high trays out of aluminum foil and placed the pieces skin-side down on the pan (after applying a liberal amount of seasoning). I put them in my MES at 230 for about 5 hours. When I took the pieces out, I noticed that the skin had taken on an interesting texture so I tried some. It was a little chewy with a hint of crispness, not bad at all! As best as I can figure because the chicken is in a tray, the skin was poached in all of the rendered fat. Not terribly healthy, but tasty. Incidentally, the meat on the chicken thighs came out great and the breasts were decent although I think I am going to brine them in the future.
I'm going to try this again in the future (and take pictures) to see if I can recreate it but I was wondering if anyone else has tried this?
So this weekend, I thought I would try the same thing with cut-up breasts and thighs. I made small 1/2" high trays out of aluminum foil and placed the pieces skin-side down on the pan (after applying a liberal amount of seasoning). I put them in my MES at 230 for about 5 hours. When I took the pieces out, I noticed that the skin had taken on an interesting texture so I tried some. It was a little chewy with a hint of crispness, not bad at all! As best as I can figure because the chicken is in a tray, the skin was poached in all of the rendered fat. Not terribly healthy, but tasty. Incidentally, the meat on the chicken thighs came out great and the breasts were decent although I think I am going to brine them in the future.
I'm going to try this again in the future (and take pictures) to see if I can recreate it but I was wondering if anyone else has tried this?
