Smoking 2 chickens tonight - skin on or off ??

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smokey bones

Fire Starter
Original poster
Mar 2, 2010
46
10
which way comes out better ?
i like the rotisserie chickens when the skin kind of gets glued to the meat.
not sure how these are gonna come out on my smoker .
i can maintain 350 degrees if needed

they are around 4lbs each and going to be cooked vertical
should i start with high temp and then go lower or reverse ?
let me know what you think
icon_wink.gif
 
I like to cook them low and slow for a couple of hours then kick it up high toward the end to crisp up the skin.
 
I did 2 a few weeks ago, skin on at 325 and they didn't have the texture I would have liked. The flavor was there, but not the consistency.

It worked pretty well shredded for leftovers, though
 
Different folks do it different ways.. should be interesting to see how others smoke chickens.
 
I feel it really depends, you can leave the skin on and have moist tender juicy chicken or you can leave it off and get much more smoke flavor and barely less moisture at least from my experience.

I do usually pull the skin back a ways stuff some seasoning under and pull it about 1/2 the way back on.

As stated its a personal preference. Play around try some different ways and see what suits your fancy.
 
I like skin off. The only problem is if you smoke for too long, the meat develops a bark which is weird to some. Otherwise the brine + rub takes to the meat much better IMHO.
 
going for it skin on this time .

into food pro
onion, garlic
butter, evo
orange juice,
thyme, lemon pep seasoning

that mix was then stuffed under skin all over, and light sprinkle of lemon pepper mix on outside of skin
then on to soda can with killians beer
 
I smoke my birds laying down and keep the smoker at about 325° the whole time and the skin comes out pretty good to me. But it's not real crispy but it is good to me and my family. You can always put it on the regular grill to crisp the skin if you have that capabilities.
 
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