Rubbing a chicken

[bountyhunter]

Getting ready to do my first chicken. From what I have been reading, you get better results if you get some rub inside the skin. How do you do that? Thank you in advance

Bountyhunter

 

[tucson bbq fan]

Yes, the meat will have much more of the rub flavor if you rub under the skin.

I usually start from the bottom opening.  Usually, you can get ahold of the skin right over the breastbone and gently pull it up while gently sliding your fingers (in gloves - or well washed) in between the skin and the meat.  Once you get a starting point, it goes pretty easy to separate the skin from the meat and then take some rub on the underside of your fingers (the side that is on the meat side and slide those fingers in to rub.  I like fingers the best since they are soft and blunt.  Anything with an edge is likely to tear the skin.

An alternate method is if you have an air compressor handy with a standard blow gun tip.  Set your gun air pressure to about 30-50 pounds of pressure to start, and insert the nozzle under the skin (again on the bottom by the breastbone).  small shots of air will tell you if you have enough pressure or too much.  You want just enough to separate the skin from the meat.  Once you have your pressure set, hold the opening and blow air in and the skin should balloon out.  Then use your fingers as above to get the rub in.

A side advantage of separating the skin from the meat is that the skin will be crisper.

This works well on the breasts.  with a small incision, you can work on the thighs or drums, but they are much harder to get your fingers in - the air compressor works much better in these areas.  Usually, I rub just the breasts on the inside.  If I have a big bird, like a turkey, then I'll go after the thighs and drums.

Good luck!