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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.
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.
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 .
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?