My 1st BEER CAN CHICKEN...yumm

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AP514

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Sep 9, 2018
83
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Hi all
I just did my 1st Beer can Chicken tonight..it turned out Awesome, Juicy good smoke(used Maple and a bit of Cherry)...BUT....

The Skin was Tough had a plastic'y feel to it...any tips on this ??

Cooked at 240 for about 1 hour per pound (almost 6lbs each)
 
The birds look good, nice color.

You cooked those birds for 5 hours plus at 240°?
They took that long to come up to a proper IT?
That seems like a very long time for chickens.

Smoked fowl is notorious for rubbery, chewy skin with poor bite through consistency, there are several things you can do to improve it. You may not get crispy crunchy, but you can get a nice bite through with a Pop!

Thoroughly air dry the skin for 12-24 hours and cook at higher temps to render the skin, temps of 350°-375°.
Or
Rub the skin with a 1:3 mix of cornstarch:salt, then thoroughly air dry in the fridge for 12-24hrs and cook at higher temps of 350°-375°

If your smoker can't attain the higher temps, you can smoke long enough to get color/flavor, take it to an IT of maybe 145°-150° and then finish under the broiler or at 450°-500°.
The preheated skin will crisp very quickly.

Birds can also be moved to a blazing hot grill and finished there to crisp the skin with direct heat.
 
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My God man, how do you keep that smoker so clean. You must scrub it after every use.
 
I’ve never used an electric smoker, but like Chile said, I think higher temps would get the skin a little more crisp and the fat rendered down a little more. The fat under the skin is what keeps them a little rubbery. But aside from the skin texture, those yard birds look delicious, and have a nice color! Good job.
 
You cooked those birds for 5 hours plus at 240°?
They took that long to come up to a proper IT?
That seems like a very long time for chickens.
Well, cooked until IT at Breast was 163. My TP-20 and the built in Probe are only 3 degrees off (lucky me). As far as a higher temp do not think the MES will go over 275.
 
Your BCC looks mighty tasty to me. Nice job on those. Chili has you covered on how to get the skin done correctly. I use the Kettle for chicken now, and cook at a higher heat 325+*. Poultry takes on smoke rather quickly so you can still achieve that smokey taste at higher temps.

Point for sure.

Chris
 
Skin is tough when smoking 275 here when I use my MES but I cut the skin off to cut fat unless its fried chicken which would be against the law
 
Every time I Smoke I learn something new from this community...great input thanks all.....


AP514
 
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Great deal on LEM Grinders!

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