Naked chicken ?

[Parshooter]

Has anyone smoked a chicken without the skin ? I love pulled chicken and really don't care for the skin. Just wondering if it would have to be done differently than a skin-on bird. TIA.

 

[sawhorseray]

I'M SMOKING THIGHS ON THE KETTLE THIS AFTERNOON. PULL THE SKIN OFF AS SOON AS THEY COME OUT. ALSO LOVE THIGHS EGG-DIPPED, ITALIAN BREADED AND FRIED IN OLIVE OIL AFTER REMOVING SKIN, MY KIND OF STUFF!

 

[BigW.]

I think the skin protects the breast surface from drying out. I'd leave it on, then toss it if you do not want it in the final product. I always get my fingers in between skin and meat so I can get seasoning directly on the meat.

 

[Torch&Tone]

You can give it a thin slather (mustard, for example, or Greek yogurt) to help keep the meat from drying out, without changing the flavor much. It's how I get away with smoking whole, skinless breasts for smoked chicken salad or pulled chicken gyros - that, and dry-brining. I've known some folks who spritz to keep skinless chicken from drying out but I don't know about timing/frequency or what exactly to spritz with (how much acidity, or oil, or flavorings...)

 

[Parshooter]

I think the skin protects the breast surface from drying out. I'd leave it on, then toss it if you do not want it in the final product. I always get my fingers in between skin and meat so I can get seasoning directly on the meat.

I have tried to get under the skin with some rub, but without much luck. Guess I need to be more aggressive pulling the skin away.

You can give it a thin slather (mustard, for example, or Greek yogurt) to help keep the meat from drying out, without changing the flavor much. It's how I get away with smoking whole, skinless breasts for smoked chicken salad or pulled chicken gyros - that, and dry-brining. I've known some folks who spritz to keep skinless chicken from drying out but I don't know about timing/frequency or what exactly to spritz with (how much acidity, or oil, or flavorings...)

What do you dry brine with ? Just your rub ?

 

[Sammie The Bull]

Naked chicken........ what the...... ? Ohhhhhhh, ok, now i get it.

I think it would become to dry. Leave the skin on it, take it off when you`re done cookin it.

 

[Torch&Tone]

What do you dry brine with ? Just your rub ?

Yes, the dry-brine basically is the rub. If I don't know for sure what the final dish(es) might be, I might go plain salt, nothing else. It is worth it just to preserve moisture and the flavor of the chicken, itself. Usually, though, I'll mix in dried herbs and spices according to inspiration. Because chicken is, well, chicken, that is wildly open-ended.

 

[Parshooter]

Naked chicken........ what the...... ? Ohhhhhhh, ok, now i get it.

I think it would become to dry. Leave the skin on it, take it off when you`re done cookin it.

Yeah, my thinking is that without the skin, I could get more flavor from the rub and more smoke on the meat.

 

[Elf@shore]

Has anyone smoked a chicken without the skin ? I love pulled chicken and really don't care for the skin. Just wondering if it would have to be done differently than a skin-on bird. TIA.

Skinless Chicken : Lacks both moisture and flavor
I Keep the skin on to maintain moisture and flavor.
1 Try adding herb butter and stuff it under the skin
2 Beer can Chicken also.
Both will produce a dried out crispy skin that will be removed , But having a very juicy meat.
I usually slice up the meat and pick the carcus clean . Leaving the remains for broth/soup?
Hope it helps?

 

[BigW.]

Yeah, my thinking is that without the skin, I could get more flavor from the rub and more smoke on the meat.

You can really work the skin away from the chicken to get rub all inside skin. I think chicken takes on smoke easily. I like crispy skin, if it is rubbery I'll also toss it.

 

[JLeonard]

You can really work the skin away from the chicken to get rub all inside skin. I think chicken takes on smoke easily. I like crispy skin, if it is rubbery I'll also toss it.

Agreed!

Jim

 

[Sammie The Bull]

Yeah, my thinking is that without the skin, I could get more flavor from the rub and more smoke on the meat.

Chicken will take on smoke easily even with the skin on it. Pull the skin back, add your rub, lay the skin back over the meat. Don`t ruin it by putting way to much rub on it. To much rub won`t allow the smoke to penetrate the meat as well. You need to find that balance. Low & slow smoke for an hour. Then turn up the heat for the final cook. If you want dry meat, then leave the skin off from it.

Chicken is not pork, and it is not beef. Chicken smokes much easier than most people think.

 

[chopsaw]

Has anyone smoked a chicken without the skin ?

Yes .
Pull the skin .

Apply the rub . The rub will form a crust and seal it up as it smokes .
I run around 250 .

I love pulled chicken and really don't care for the skin.

Whole bird injected with Dave's ham curing injection .
Cure / hold 6 to 10 days , then dry the surface and into a net .
Skin on .


Smoke at 250 until 185 in the leg joint .

Remove the skin and shred the whole bird .

 

[tallbm]

Has anyone smoked a chicken without the skin ? I love pulled chicken and really don't care for the skin. Just wondering if it would have to be done differently than a skin-on bird. TIA.

I wet brine my whole chickens and that solves or at the minimum greatly helps with dry whole chicken and chicken breast.

I would have no problem with one of my chickens done this way and then smoked. I would not go low and slow with a chicken, it simply doesn't care and the longer it cooks the more drying can happen.
I am with others on saving the skin and just laying on top of the meat. the rendered juices will baste the meat.

If you are hellbent on removing the skin you can and have a few options. There is also the very simple practice of tossing after the fact too. So again more options and they all work pretty well :D

 

[912smoker]

I leave the skin attached and just pull back and add rubs like the others.
But, if I WAS going to remove it I would probably use a layer of Dukes mayo as the binder and a pickle juice brine.

Keith

 

[thirdeye]

Has anyone smoked a chicken without the skin ?

Short answer.... YES. Now, for grilling, I like the skin on so I can crisp it up. For smoking...both turkey and chicken, I go skinless, but I have a little trick that fools the eye. And this works on breasts, thighs, drums, 1/2 birds etc.

I brine, or inject all my poultry for 4 hours, then season it about the time I fire up the cooker. Next, I use grill grates that are hot. The trick is.... I put grill marks on raw chicken (meat), then smoke as usual.

This is seasoned raw, skinless chicken thighs.

I smoke thighs to above 170°, then butter bath (covered) until it's 190°+.

The appearance of the grill marks actually improve during the cook.

 

[DougE]

I never try for edible skin on chicken when I smoke it; however, I do leave the skin on to help retain moisture during cooking. Skinless chicken tends to dry out quickly and leaving the skin on helps with that.

I have been known to pull the skin back and apply rub underneath, then put the skin back in place for cooking.

 

[Parshooter]

Thanks for all the replies. From now on, skin on !

 

[DougE]

Thanks for all the replies. From now on, skin on !

Try it both ways. I think leaving the skin on for the cook results in a more moist end product for pulled chicken.

You could also just smoke with the skin in place and crisp it up on the grill, or under the broiler for anyone who likes the crispy skin.

 

[Fueling Around]

Late to the party.
tallbm has great talk about brining. I've had pretty results with brined skinless chicken.