# Spray chicken



## pennstpitmaster (Apr 8, 2015)

Hello all. Last time I did chicken, the skin was all rubbery. From what I have gathered, i need I have my heat up a little higher, then possibly finish on the grill. Most things I saw was people using oil or them not being dry enough. Do any of you spray your chicken with equal parts of melted butter and vinegar? I have never seen it on here or on any of the various bbqing groups I'm a part of on Facebook, however, a Mennonite man my father used to work with and the local mason lodge do that and it always turns out fantastic. Any thoughts?


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## dirtsailor2003 (Apr 8, 2015)

The less moisture you introduce the better. Higher temp is required to get edible skin. If you can get your smoker above 350, like 400-425, then you can spritz and spray all you want. If it's lower the added moisture will counteract what the heat is trying to do and you'll end up with inedible skin.


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## foamheart (Apr 9, 2015)

PennStPitMaster said:


> Hello all. Last time I did chicken, the skin was all rubbery. From what I have gathered, i need I have my heat up a little higher, then possibly finish on the grill. Most things I saw was people using oil or them not being dry enough. Do any of you spray your chicken with equal parts of melted butter and vinegar? I have never seen it on here or on any of the various bbqing groups I'm a part of on Facebook, however, a Mennonite man my father used to work with and the local mason lodge do that and it always turns out fantastic. Any thoughts?


When grilling chicken (as Case talks about), I always use butter, apple cider vinegar, salt & pepper to mop, which I do with every turn. Pop said that the butter/oil made it crisp and the vinegar made it tender. Its how I still grill my chickens. Its more a taste item with me that crisp and tender though.

When smoking because of the low and slow I don't find the need. Normally if I will just allow the chicken to dry a bit and form a pellicle before smoking I don't get rubbery skin. And yes I still rub all my birds with oil, Pop always called it suntan lotion. if your temp gets high for too long a period, the skin can char and break, the oil gives you a bit more time before that happens.


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## pennstpitmaster (Apr 9, 2015)

That makes a lot of sense. When I have done chicken in the past that turned out like rubber, I did them lollipop style at 225-250 in a pan of butter. This time I will skip the butter pan and crank up the heat some. And thinking about now about the Masons lodge, they do it over a big open charcoal pit.


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## foamheart (Apr 9, 2015)

PennStPitMaster said:


> That makes a lot of sense. When I have done chicken in the past that turned out like rubber, I did them lollipop style at 225-250 in a pan of butter. This time I will skip the butter pan and crank up the heat some. And thinking about now about the Masons lodge, they do it over a big open charcoal pit.


When I grill chickens, I start mine when the pit is hotter than most, I split mine in half, I salt and pepper before throwing them on, I do bone side down first because its the hotest the chicken will see. I turn at 10 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins, and 15 mins. Has a nice brown crisp skin, loads of juice, and unless really over sized birds they are perfectly cooked and tender. Oh and I use rubber gloves, when ya break the skin the juices all run away. If you don't wear gloves be careful handling that sensitive skined chicken.

Beef I try to only turn once, but poultry is a more sensitive critter.....LOL

Pop will wait longer for the coals to reduce down and will cook longer, more a BBQ type cook IMHO.

Grill is a hot fire in my opinion, smoke is extremely low and BBQ is in the middle.somewhere. Usually starting at the grill heat and cooking all the way down to the smokeing area.


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