TrickyDick
New member
How do you get really crispy skin on chicken parts or even whole chicken (not tried yet) on a MAK? I came close with wings, but not quite what I was aiming for.
Thanks
TD
Thanks
TD
Crispy Chicken Skin
- Thread starter TrickyDick
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TrickyDick
New member
I'm doing a little experiment with some wings I picked up today.
Did a quick brine, then put under the fans to dry them out fairly well. Put some plow boys yardbird rub on.
Going to try a two-step cooking process, and some scoring on the chicken to keep fats and juices from accumulating beneath the skin.
Going to keep temp low on smoke setting until fats render out and probably keep them there for 30 minutes. Then I am going to bump up the heat to probably 450 and apply melted butter then cook on the flame zone til I get a nice crust (I hope). After that I may or may not use the rest of the melted butter with some hot sauce/BBQ sauce.
We'll see.. Hopefully done in time to eat by rose bowl kickoff!
Happy New Year everyone!
TD
Did a quick brine, then put under the fans to dry them out fairly well. Put some plow boys yardbird rub on.
Going to try a two-step cooking process, and some scoring on the chicken to keep fats and juices from accumulating beneath the skin.
Going to keep temp low on smoke setting until fats render out and probably keep them there for 30 minutes. Then I am going to bump up the heat to probably 450 and apply melted butter then cook on the flame zone til I get a nice crust (I hope). After that I may or may not use the rest of the melted butter with some hot sauce/BBQ sauce.
We'll see.. Hopefully done in time to eat by rose bowl kickoff!
Happy New Year everyone!
TD
TrickyDick
New member
Wings are done. ( I'll post some pics later).
Objective to get crispy skin was a success. I think I could've gotten crispier. Against recommendations by Big Poppa, I did baste with butter. However, I did clarify the butter first, and it did not burn that I was able to tell. However, I am not certain how much that contributed to the crispy texture since I did all the wings the same way. Seems I did not design my experiment very well.
One thing I will never do again is brine wings. Holy salt lick!! Too salty, which combined with the yardbirds, was a bad thing that dominated the flavor. I did a 2 quart water plus 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup kosher salt brine for less than an hour. Perhaps I over applied the rub, but can't imagine I used more than 1/4 cup of rub, probably half that, on a small pack of wings.
Next time, I am going to skip the quick brine, and I am going to use less rub if any at all. I will try half the batch with clarified butter and half without during the final part of the cook to see if there is a difference in texture, which was really what I was looking for.
as far as the clarified butter, I think I had maybe 1 1/2 tablespoons I used to coat the wings. The flavor was there in the final taste but flavor dominated by salt. The sauce was about 3 Tablespoons franks red hot and equal part of commercial BBQ sauce in the fridge warmed in a pan with 1 tsp butter then tossed with wings. The BBQ sauce was not complimentary to the rub however.
All in all I ate 2/3 rds before I decided that the flavor profile was wrong, though I did achieve crispy success.
TD
Objective to get crispy skin was a success. I think I could've gotten crispier. Against recommendations by Big Poppa, I did baste with butter. However, I did clarify the butter first, and it did not burn that I was able to tell. However, I am not certain how much that contributed to the crispy texture since I did all the wings the same way. Seems I did not design my experiment very well.
One thing I will never do again is brine wings. Holy salt lick!! Too salty, which combined with the yardbirds, was a bad thing that dominated the flavor. I did a 2 quart water plus 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup kosher salt brine for less than an hour. Perhaps I over applied the rub, but can't imagine I used more than 1/4 cup of rub, probably half that, on a small pack of wings.
Next time, I am going to skip the quick brine, and I am going to use less rub if any at all. I will try half the batch with clarified butter and half without during the final part of the cook to see if there is a difference in texture, which was really what I was looking for.
as far as the clarified butter, I think I had maybe 1 1/2 tablespoons I used to coat the wings. The flavor was there in the final taste but flavor dominated by salt. The sauce was about 3 Tablespoons franks red hot and equal part of commercial BBQ sauce in the fridge warmed in a pan with 1 tsp butter then tossed with wings. The BBQ sauce was not complimentary to the rub however.
All in all I ate 2/3 rds before I decided that the flavor profile was wrong, though I did achieve crispy success.
TD
RickB
New member
Some quick thoughts. Number one I do not think wings are a smoker friendly cook. Much better ways to cook. Two. Wings are way to thin to brine as you found out. Three. The clarefied butter was a great idea as it raises the burn temp. But as someone who uses CB it is a bit expensive to use as a baste. I do give you props for giving it a try though. 
TrickyDick
New member
No. I didn't rinse. I had read that "tip" in a Cook's Illustrated. The goal was to get fried texture with all the calories from the oil, and not the rubbery texture. I did recall a really rubbery skin batch of wings I did on my old Brinkman smoker. Great flavor, but bad texture. I marinated them in some concoction of wings sauce.
Anyways, one recipe my family makes is a skinless, boneless buffalo/bbq sauced chicken thighs, basted and broiled in the oven. It works pretty good. Just trying to find ways to cook on the MAK with some of the family's favorite dinner recipes. I thought I could experiment with wings to snack on during the bowl games. Gonna post some pics once they show up on my apple "photo stream" thing. I don't think my phone ever watched how "seamlessly" this appears on commercials...
TD
Anyways, one recipe my family makes is a skinless, boneless buffalo/bbq sauced chicken thighs, basted and broiled in the oven. It works pretty good. Just trying to find ways to cook on the MAK with some of the family's favorite dinner recipes. I thought I could experiment with wings to snack on during the bowl games. Gonna post some pics once they show up on my apple "photo stream" thing. I don't think my phone ever watched how "seamlessly" this appears on commercials...
TD
Matt Dalton
New member
I know this isn't really what your exactly looking for but it works and tastes awesome..I marinate overnight in a seasoned buttermilk hot sauce(vinegar based)mix..pat dry and smoke for about an hour..once the fat has started to render I break out the hot oil and fry them off for a minute or two..then I toss with the sauce..crispy and very flavorful!