Smoking whole chicken without skin
I smoked a whole chicken with the skin on it and it did not have a smoky taste.
My question is whether removing the skin will improve the depth of the smoke flavour the next time I smoke a whole chicken.
Best Answer
I wouldn't recommend smoking any whole poultry without the skin as it may dry out the meat. You would have to be constantly basting it and that would throw off your cooking time and temperatures due to keeping the lid open to often.
Not knowing your cooking technique, I can only guess at a few things. Either you're not cooking it slow enough to allow the smoke to set in or you're not using enough smoke. I like to cook very low at about 185 to 250 for a few hours with plenty of visible smoke then I raise the temperature to about 350 to 375 to finish it off keeping the bird close to the heat source so that it crisps the skin slightly.
Some other advice would be to avoid checking the bird often. It's tempting to see what's going on under that lid but if you lift the lid to often you're letting all that good smoke out and losing the flavor.
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Quick Answer about "Smoking whole chicken without skin"
It takes some planning ahead but makes a huge difference in moisture. Chicken smoked with no skin will dry out on the surface. There is just too much air moving around. On the other hand, the meat itself will absorb the smokey flavor instead of the skin and fat.Can you smoke a skinless whole chicken?
I wouldn't recommend smoking any whole poultry without the skin as it may dry out the meat. You would have to be constantly basting it and that would throw off your cooking time and temperatures due to keeping the lid open to often.How do you smoke chicken without chewy skin?
Cook at Higher Temperatures The ideal temperature to cook your chicken should be around 275 \xb0F \u2013 320 \xb0F (135 \xb0C \u2013 160 \xb0C). As you start to decrease temperature beyond this threshold, the skin will become rubbery. The chicken fat needs to be cooked into the meat, and that cannot happen when your temperature is very low.How do you keep chicken moist when smoking?
At 225 degrees F, it will take between 3 1/2 to 4 hours to get to an internal temperature of 165\xbaF, which is the safe temp for smoked whole chicken.Whole Smoked Chicken | A Beginner's Guide For Better Backyard Smoked Chicken Cooks
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