Rubbery Chicken skin, just a pellet issue?

[smokeitmike]

So I've read people mention rubbery chicken skin before but I was wondering if this is just an issue with pellet smokers due to the fan/convection functionality or if it happens with traditional stick burners as well?

After my long relationship with pellets smokers I think it's time to upgrade to a stick burner a few chief reasons being 1.) I just want more smoke flavor 2.) I do A LOT of chicken - not just for me but for events and party's - rubbery chicken skin is really a very annoying problem to try to deal with.

That leads me to my questions above - do traditional stick burners usually produce crispy chicken skin even at low/slow temps?

 

[worktogthr]

I don't have a stick burner, but I have charcoal, gas, and electric smokers and from my experience crispy skin comes from higher temperatures.  I'd say you'd have to have a cooking temp of at least 350 in order to get it.  I usually spatchcock chickens and cook anywhere from 400-450 degrees.  If you want to go low and slow you can always smoke it to maybe 150ish and then finish it on a hot grill.  Kind of like a reverse sear for steaks and roasts.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

As mentioned you need to smoke at higher temps to get the skin to crisp up. Also the drier the skin is when you start the better results you will get. When I have the time I air dry the bird for 8-12 hours in the fridge. When I don't have the time, I use a hair dryer on low right before putting the bird on the smoker. I too spatchcock 99% of my birds and I typically run my smoker 350-400 when doing poultry.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...spritzed-is-the-only-way-to-get-moist-chicken

 

[seenred]

IMO, rubbery chicken skin is more about cooking technique than the type of cooker being used.  I smoke chicken in my pellet cooker all the time, and always get nice crispy skin.  As has already been mentioned, It helps to start with a dry skin, then just cook it in the 350*-375* range...that should always make for a crisp skin.

The only smoker I ever used that struggled to make crispy poultry skin was an MES40 electric...it just wouldn't get hot enough to get the skin real crisp.

Red