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Tough Smoked Chicken Skin

by A Smoker Cooking Enthusiast

I am pretty new to smoking foods, but every time I smoke chicken or chicken wings, the skin comes out tough and rubbery. nothing like the ones I have gotten at restaurants or cook-offs. What step am I missing or what am I doing wrong?

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Tough Smoked Chicken Skin

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starstarstarstarstar 		A Different Theory
by: Smoke Ring

Brine, basting with fat and a higher temperature are the keys to a crisper edible skin.

During the normal oven roasting procedure for poultry the higher heat and basting with fat allows the skin to crisp.

At the higher temperature the juices are more fluent. This provides more moisture under the skin.

The hot dry heat over the fatty skin fries once proper tempeture has been reached and some fat has rendered. This allows the skin to crisp.

The juices under the skin stop the skin from drying out before it has a chance to crisp.

The brine adds moisture and flavor to the poultry so it will still be a moist tender flavorful product. It also contains sugar that will brown and help the skin to get crisp.

Now! It is an issue of terminology. The poultry is not "barbecued" it is "smoke roasted." Roasting with the addition of smoke.

Because of the shorter cooking time the poultry will have less time in the smoke, but, it will still be very very tasty and beautiful with a edible skin.

Temperature should be in the 300 - 325 degree F temperature range.
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starstarstarstarstar 		One more thing...
by: naow

One thing I forgot to mention in my comment (directly below this one) is that I first fire up the smoker and get it going before placing the chicken briefly on the gas grill. Then I grill the outside of the chicken and immediately transfer it to the smoker once the skin is done.
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starstarstarstarstar 		toughskins
by: naow

I agree exactly with Smoker Bill's advice, but there is one problem with some smokers: unless the outdoor temperature is 175 F, you can't get the smoker hot enough. Not all smokers have this problem, but both of mine are water smokers and are designed to naturally settle in around 225. Adding coals gives you a temporary boost, but then it settles right back down to 225. And, just like Smoker Bill says, then the fat doesn't render out of the skin and it turns out very rubbery and tough even when the meat is fully cooked.

So here's what I've done to counter that problem on a smoker that doesn't get hot enough: I fire up the gas grill and cook the chicken pieces (with olive oil and rub already applied) on medium heat for 2 minutes X 4 turns for 8 minutes total. This is just enough to render the fat out of the skin, plus the fat doesn't escape as it would if you removed the skin. It gets absorbed into the meat like it's supposed to add flavor. The skin will tan a bit and maybe even blacken along the grill lines, but that's okay. This will only contribute to the nice bronze look you want from the skin after smoking. Basically, you want to cook the skin until it loses that white, wet and rubbery look. But don't go too far- you don't want to begin cooking the inner layers of meat.

I've tried this process twice now and had great results both times. I was concerned that essentially "searing" the chicken would prevent the smoke from penetrating into the meat, but it didn't. Again, I would only use this method if you have trouble maintaining a higher temperature, like 325, on your smoker. But if you can get there, go with Smoker Bill's suggestion. And don't mess around with removing chicken skins, you're not a freaking surgeon. As Charles Barkley would say "man, thas a turrible idea, knucklehead". Smoking meats is supposed to be easy and relaxing. Hope it works out for you!
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starstarstarstarstar 		Tough Smoked Chicken Skin
by: Kevin

What I like to do is to make a little incision that allows me to separate the skin from the meat while still leaving the skin on. Then I like to put my dry rub in between the skin and the meat. Next, I inject the bird with a marinade. You can add a mopping sauce on part of the way through the smoking process - that would be great. Finally, it is good to smoke a duck or two on a higher rack in the smoker (if you have a multi-rack smoker). The fat from the duck drips down on your chicken and damn it tastes good.




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starstarstarstarstar 		Olive oil and low temperatures
by: Ben Molloy

I assume you're doing a "beer butt" or "drunken" chicken?

Coat the entire outside of the chicken with butter/olive oil, then sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper and seasoned salt.

Cook at 225 degrees for around 4 hours or until internal temperature of chicken is FDA approved. :)

What the heck...here's the recipe I use, and it's always SUPER moist and the skin is just right.

Lemon-Rosemary Drunk n Chicken by Kenneth Estes

2-3 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 lemon, halved
lemon pepper
seasoned salt
1/2 can beer
butter or margarine
1 Roasting Chicken

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place rosemary and lemon into chicken cavity. Rub butter or margarine under skin around neck. Season chicken well with lemon pepper and seasoned salt. Stand chicken upright (neck end up) on 1/2 full beer can. Insert other half of lemon into neck end of chicken and stand on smoker. Smoke at 225 for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Carefully remove chicken from smoker and remove can from chicken cavity as beer can any remaining liquid will be hot. Carve and serve.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Preventing Tough Smoked Chicken Skin
by: SmokerBill

Greetings Fellow Smoker!

One of the pitfalls of smoking skin-on chicken at "normal" meat smoking temperatures is that the fat in the skin doesn't get hot enough to render out. The skin ends up being rubbery, pale, and extremely unappetizing.

There are two ways to solve this problem. One way is to remove the skin from any chicken you smoke. That'll prevent the tough skin problem, but causes another. Without that fatty layer of protection the chicken meat will dry out.

The better solution for smoking skin-on chicken, and for all skin-on birds, is to smoke at a higher temperature. Chicken and turkeys cook nicely when smoked in the temperature range of 275-300 degrees Fahrenheit. True, it's more like roasting chicken (with smoke), but at that temperature, the fat renders from the skin and it become thin, tender, and crispy.

Another good thing about smoking poultry at higher temperatures is that the melting skin bastes the meat with awesome flavor! Try it next time you smoke chicken, and you'll be pleased!

Regards,

SmokerBill

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