AZ Barbeque.com

"Bite thru chicken skin"

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Gizzy's Smokin Crew

  • Karma: 1
As a newbie myself,that's one of the things I learned. It all takes practice. No matter what you are trying to achieve. Besides it's the practice thats half of the fun. If everyone did the same thing the same way BBQ wouldn't be any fun. I have recieved alot of "basic" info from this site and played around with it and I think I do a good job of making smoked meats and had a ball doing it.
Thanks to all that have helped. ;D
#46 - August 10, 2010, 01:30:08 pm
Gizzy's Q'N Crew......"FANG" Tastic BBQ
Brinkman Pitmaster Deluxe
Weber Genesis Gas Grill

AzScott

  • Karma: 13
I agree with both sides but will land on the side of the competitors.  Competitors have spent incalculable amounts of time and money perfecting their techniques whether they spent that money on classes, practice, or by purchasing books.  I think most people here will get into generalities with great detail but when it comes to presentation or small things that they believe makes their food stand out from another team in a competition they aren't going to share it.  Pickled Pig is a complete anomaly in the BBQ world where he has taken the time to show much of what he was doing but you don't really hear from him how he has changed things since he wrote his tutorials.

I'm a new competitor with a long history of food.  I love the stuff and use what I learned at culinary school, experience, time browsing kitchen gadgets, any food related forum, BBQ Pitmasters, etc.  In fact, I read a study last week about how the tongue tastes and I immediately changed my sauce for ribs.  In addition, I went to Montana a few weeks ago and had the best beef of my life.  Now I'm not sure if RD or even wagyu briskets are the way to go.  My feeling is BBQ competitions for the competitors or the judges wouldn't be much fun if everyone shared everything they do.

As far as bite through chicken you need to increase the tenderness of the skin.  There are several ways to do that and they all are very different methods but start with the question why isn't it tender.  Keeping with the spirit, enjoy the journey!

#47 - August 10, 2010, 01:51:56 pm
« Last Edit: August 10, 2010, 08:52:33 pm by AzScott »
14' R&O offset
FEC 100
3 L BGE's
1 Mini BGE

Competing since July 2010

Mark

  • Karma: 23
Cooking on a Kamado, I've never had a problem with rubbery or tough chicken. By its very nature, chicken skin comes out crisp. (But then so do butts & briskets if you don't use a heat deflector!)  I would imagine you could crisp up the skin after using a traditional offset smoker by laying it skin side down on a small grill for a few minutes. I wonder if one of those little creme brulee torches would do the trick as well?
#48 - August 10, 2010, 02:48:18 pm
Mark Motta
Meatier Creator

n2dabluebbq

  • Karma: 2
I, much like a few others here, understand why competition stuff is so closely guarded. after all, while we know the handle of someone on a forum, we do not know the true identity of them. while it may seem paranoid to not share certain info, it is what it is. for example lets say you are the leader of the points chase for TOY, and your second place chaser is only losing to you because they are having problems with ribs, they could theoretically log on to a site they know you frequent and ask for in depth information. if you were to give it to them and then found out that they used it to win TOY, how would you feel?
 now i also understand that you seem to not be asking for this type of information. but what if you only need a small bit of information to finish putting together things culled from other sites? remember most opsec problems stem from folks divulging little bits per person. no one really tells everything at once.
 now, another thing to consider is that what might work for mike and his ribs(boiling), won't work with you because you have two different smokers. while the smokers might be of the same style, most smokers are unique in how they cook. with the exception usually being the outdoor ovens that you plug and play with. hahaha
#49 - August 10, 2010, 03:20:01 pm
low and slow baby, low and slow

s.475 passed baby!           http://s801.photobucket.com/albums/yy291/n2dabluebbq/

AZWildcat

  • Karma: 22

The secret to Bite through chicken skin is to cook the chicken in such a way that the skin can be easily bitten through.  This is, and always has been the only way to achieve bite through chicken skin.

Practice various methods, then practice some more, when the skin of the chicken can be easily bitten through, you have achieved bite through chicken skin.

Ask Vince or Jay or Jim or Chuck or Dave or Brent (or anyone else who has had success in the chicken category,) how much chicken they went through to get the results they were looking for.  It really is about the practice.  There is no magic involved, you need to become good at chicken through practice, finding your own way is always the best way, and it will lead you to the answer you are looking for.

You running for office? Isn't that circular logic?haha......true though, it's just soooo much practice, and I still stink at it! Good thing chx thighs are cheap to practice with. Besides, chicken is meant to be grilled or fried, not low n smoked barbequed! Why the heck is it in comps anyway?  :'( :'( :'(

But hey, just my opinion.
#50 - August 10, 2010, 08:27:36 pm
2 UDS's-Stoked
2 WSM's-Stoked
BWS Party-Stoked
22.5 Kettle to burn burgers and steaks.

Be kind, polite and courteous to everyone you meet, and ALWAYS have a plan to kill them.

desertdog

  • Karma: 1
Actually there is an art to "slow smoking" chicken which few have mastered.  Most do cook the chicken at higher temps to get a satisfactory result.  Afterall, if it tastes good to the judges, they, for the most part, will not care if it was true smoked or smoke/grilled.
#51 - August 10, 2010, 09:43:28 pm
Pitmaster for Ship of Fools, er...Major Woody's BBQ Team
Beer Ambassador -currently doing research in assorted Bavarian Villages

Gizzy's Smokin Crew

  • Karma: 1
I've done whole chickens on the smoker @225 for about 6 hours and it has always come out great. I di need to work on the skin thing though
#52 - August 11, 2010, 09:25:33 am
Gizzy's Q'N Crew......"FANG" Tastic BBQ
Brinkman Pitmaster Deluxe
Weber Genesis Gas Grill

AZSmoke

  • Karma: 0
Growing up, I was given the advice that if you want to be good at something, or get better at something, you need to surround yourself with folks that are better then you.  I've found this advice to hold true, whether it be sports (competing against the best teams/individuals), hunting/fishing, or in this case bbq/smoking. 

For sports and in some case hunting and fishing, there are clubs that you can join which typically have well seasoned individuals that are more then will to pass on the tricks of the trade so to speak, I am part of Bird dog club as well as fly fishing club.  Both have individuals that simple enjoy passing on the "tricks of the trade", but don't expect them to give up their best fishing holes, or where they encounter huge coveys of quail.

In my case, since I knew absolutely nothing about smoking, first place I went to was the interenet, and joined a couple of forums, this being one of them.  I also went to the class that started this topic.  I understand holding secrets close, especially with the competition BBQers.  But I think that the success of any club/forum/organization is based on the nurturing of the newbie's.

Having said the above, I think the info shared on this forum, speaking from my experience as a newbie, has been great, very prompt, informative and steered me in the right direction.  I can also understand, that after a while, if I'm still asking questions, the help will tail off until I'm able to add or contribute to others. 

What I also think this thread was doing, indirectly, was providing input into the quality of the class, which was great and it was hands on.  It wasn't intended for competitors, although a lot of what was discussed by Chris he mentioned he specifically used in competitions, like the bite thru chicken.  I came out of the class with more info then I know what to do with, and in a year or so, will probably go back to pick up what I've forgotten or couldn't absorb.

For any of the newer folks to smoking that can afford to go to this class, I would recommend it, there was a ton of useful information discussed, and you got to eat your homework!!
#53 - August 11, 2010, 01:22:34 pm

Mark

  • Karma: 23
#54 - August 11, 2010, 03:07:08 pm
Mark Motta
Meatier Creator

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