Smoking Chicken

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triplebq

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Dec 28, 2009
805
11
Tx
Do you turn your chicken when smoking at home and do you leave the skin on ? I smoke mine and never turn it . I also remove the skin from breast but leave it on for whole chickens and thighs .
 
The answers will be yes, no and sometimes to both turning and skin LOL. Really just a matter of preference. I personally leave skin on. I think it helps with moisture retention and I like crispy skin. Other do remove the skin for health/diet purposes. I also do not turn mine, just leave em sit till they are done.
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I think breasts dry out to fast for my personal taste so I mostly use thighs. That being said when I do smoke a breast I always leave the skin on to retain moisture then hit it on the grill to crisp it
 
Quarters are my chicken cut of choice and no I don't turn them. I do sometime hit them with some I heat on the Kettle afterwards though. Then they do get flipped. A couple of minutes on each side.
 
Skin on and leave them alone until done. Except when I use a muffin pan. Then Skin on and down. Finish them out of the pan.
 
when you smoke your chickens do you inject them w/sweet pickle brine and let them cure for 24 to 48 hours or are you using a dry rub and throwing them in the smoker?
 
I don't flip or mess with them. I love that beautiful mahogany skin. But, I always make a cut in the skin at the leg joint to allow the heat to penetrate. Also, I never cook a chicken or parts without brining. My choice.
 
I'll either leave whole birds on breast down till done or use a keester attachment without the can. Either way I leave the skin on for the smoke to retain moisture. I use the skin and bones for a soup base. I do refrigerate the base and skim off the fat and particles. Great Question!
 
Did a beer can chicken last weekend, I used the dripping and the left over beer in the can to make a box stuffing mix. I had put a rub on the chicken and added a small amout to the beer before cooking. It was the most flavorable stuffing I have ever eaten.
 
Qview from this past Sunday . I used Jack Daniels charcoal with wood chips in the sack . I took the water pan out and filled it with charcaol . cooked the yard birds for three hours . They came out perfect . No more pictures as I took this with my cell phone. Perfect light blue smoke , bite through skin and pull off the bone juicey and tender chicken . Fed 11 people and there nothing left of the chicken nor the jalopeno smashed potatoes .


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I may turn it a bit not flip it, and if it starts out with skin, it remains throughout the smoke. The skin helps the meat from drying out as easily.
 
Texas homemade fajita rub lightly sprikled on , legs tied up tight and no brining . Jack Daniels charcoal with woodchips in the mix . Right at the end I baste the skin with hot melted stick butter and brush . I am very pleased with this process and I never turn them .
 
I always brine them, and leave the skin on. Before smoking, I spatchcock the birds and remove the keel bone so they lay flat, as they cook more quickly and evenly that way. I also make up a nice compound butter, and slather it between skin and flesh and up into the wing and thigh areas.
 
mgwerks made me do some research. I've been cooking for a lot of years but had never heard the term spatchcock so I figured you had made it up but to be sure, I had to look it up. :)
 
Smoke with skin on, never turn them, never brine them. I do spritz with a canola/lemon juice mixture to give a nice color, then finish them up on a hot grill to crisp up the skin......not that I am going to eat any. Did you hear that Doc?
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