Getting crispy chicken skin on my WSM

[jsaniga]

I have yet to be able to get crispy skin when I smoke chicken. Meat turns out great; end up throwing away the skin because it is chewy or tough. Happened again today. Started out in Maillard temperature zone, dropped below for about half the smoke, and then finished the last hour and a half in Maillard Effect zone (280-325). Empty water bowl and used 2/3 a big chimney to start the smoke. Charcoal ring was a little more than half full of Jealous Devil briquettes, I looks like I am doing everything correctly, Thoughts? How do you get crispy skin on your smoked chicken on a WSM?

[Jerod Broussard]

Skin with plenty subcutaneous fat won't get that crispy, ever.

Try running 400.

[jsaniga]

I had all the vents open. Only got to 350 at my max.

[ecowper]

jsaniga I have found that 350 on the WSM PLUS dry brining the chicken for 24 hours is the key. No wet brine, no oil, no basting. Don’t run a water pan in the WSM either.

[jsaniga]

I barely had an hour after dry brining. Will try that next.

[randy.56]

You will never get crispy skin at 350, try 450, put bird in fridge uncovered 24 hours helps dry out fattie skin.

[radiodome21]

I haven’t done chicken on my WSM in a while. When I do I take the bowl out completely and toss a hole lit chimney on top of unlit chimneys worth of coals. This is for whole chickens too. Vents open 100%. Spatchcocked bird as well.

[Smoking77]

Remove the charcoal access door. That, and a fully lit chimney full of charcoal, gets my temps above 400.

[jsaniga]

Wow - the whole time?

[surfdog]

jsaniga Nope…run it around 225-250 to cook the wings. (30 minutes or so) and then crank it up to 450° to crisp the skin.

Another trick is to add baking POWDER to your dry brine. Salt & baking powder is almost foolproof. Even if you don’t have the luxury of a 12+ hour brine, it can still make a difference.

[Smoking77]

I do it at this temp the whole time, but I only need about 45 minutes. When I cook chicken this way, it's spatchcocked (or even deboned if the butcher can do it), so it cooks up fast. Like others, I'm also dry brining in the fridge for 24 hours. I also pierce the skin in a few places. Read somewhere that helps.

[Panhead John]

On my Bronco, or my kettle, I also use a charcoal pan full of lit coals. I don’t use any unlit coals. That’s a key part of the cook for trying to get crispy chicken skin, you want it hot for the whole cook.

[jsaniga]

Yes this could make sense as well. Only need to last 2-3 hours.

[Panhead John]

jsaniga I forgot to mention, but I also leave all the vents wide open for the duration of the cook. If you do your next whole chicken this way, it’ll probably be done in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I hung a whole chicken in my Bronco this way and I believe it was done in 2 hours or a little less.

[au4stree]

When I competed, we’d run our chicken at 400-425°F cooker temp during the last part of cook and we would scrap the skin, get some of that fat off of the skin. Would yield an almost potato chip crisp.

[ecowper]

You definitely have to get the skin dried and no fat

[ecowper]

Just to be clear, I can produce very crispy skin on my Hasty-Bake, SnS Kettle, or WSM … the key is both getting the skin dry AND getting a very dry 350F heat …. 400 isn’t necessary. In fact, I’ve never had a 400F ambient temp measurement while cooking chicken.

[Panhead John]

Thank you for being clear.

[ecowper]

It’s better than opaque

[RonB]

Separating the skin from the meat helps a lot. You do need to leave it attached in a few spot to prevent shrinkage.

[Smoked Transistors]

Chud's BBQ just put this video out on Tuesday. Its basically an infomercial for sprayable Wagyu Beef Tallow. He put out a killer Chicken sandwich using direct heat from his mini Chud Box which is not a WSM but uses similar principles. All he did was dry brine bone in chicken thighs with kosher salt for a couple hours and held them in the fridge till he was ready to put them on the pit.