Let's Talk BBQ
FORUM SPONSORS => Pit Barrel Cooker Co. => Topic started by: Lemonhead78 on December 07, 2017, 09:34:40 PM
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I cooked many things so far on my pbc and like everything but chicken. This is unusual I think because pbc claims to make great chicken. My take on it is this. First the skin is rubbery. I can finish by cracking lid or bye high heat on my Webber grill. This will give you the thick rubbery skin with a crunch . Not tasty in my opinion. Next cook I will try high heat on my gasser first than finish in pbc. But anyway, secondly the chicken takes on way too much smoke flavor. Has a taste as if the chicken smokes over a pack of cigarettes a day. Too much smoke is not good eats in my opinion. I hope I'm not offending the diehard pbc fans. I love mine for ribs,pork butt, and a prime rib once. But chicken , I'll stick to my gas Weber on the rotisserie
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The Kettle is my "go to" cooker for great chicken...
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It’s funny how each of us are so different. I sold my PBC a couple of years ago as it just wasn’t getting as much love as my other cookers. What’s funny, is the only reason I’d probably buy another PBC is because of the chicken. I absolutely loved the chicken from it... and I never had anything but semi-crunchy bite through skin. Wonder what the difference is...???
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It could come down to the prep of the chicken. Some recommend leaving it out in the fridge overnight to remove moisture from the skin, some add baking powder to the rub which helps crisp skin as well and finishing with higher heat.
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Poultry is a smoke magnet and does not take much smoke to overpower. Try using only one rebar when cooking chicken or even cracking the lid a bit to raise the temps.
You can also try mesquite lump charcoal. That stuff burns hot and might help with that rubbery skin. Mesquite is also great for poultry...imho
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Just my little 2 cents, but DRY the skin well. Any moister on the skin will cause steam and that makes rubbery skin. Like Kona said, air dry in fridge if at all possibe or paper towel dry it as moch as you can if you don't have time to air dry in fridge.
Even in my SRG's the skin will not crisp up if wet and that's cooking with infrared so keep that in mind
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I always wondered if you took a chicken and packed it in salt all over the skin overnight. Rinse it off in the morning and pat it good and day.
Wonder if that would help crisp up the skin??
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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I think chicken being a smoke magnet is true. I must be sensitive to it because it's too much for me. The thing is I do enjoy the texture of the bird when cooked in the pbc. It's perfect actually. I never tried lump, would that give less smoke flavor than briquettes ?
I wanted to say thanks to everyone that helps me with tips and suggestions. I've been on many web forums where people can be such snobs. For example: I was scared to say I didn't like the chicken on pbc, fearing backlash and wise responses. Instead you guys are awesome and just seem to want to help and talk bbq. Thanks guys !!!!!!!
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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I think chicken being a smoke magnet is true. I must be sensitive to it because it's too much for me. The thing is I do enjoy the texture of the bird when cooked in the pbc. It's perfect actually. I never tried lump, would that give less smoke flavor than briquettes ?
I wanted to say thanks to everyone that helps me with tips and suggestions. I've been on many web forums where people can be such snobs. For example: I was scared to say I didn't like the chicken on pbc, fearing backlash and wise responses. Instead you guys are awesome and just seem to want to help and talk bbq. Thanks guys !!!!!!!
Reason this site is so good, the folks are really helpful and won't judge like other sites (I know left many sites because of snobs)
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Best people on this forum
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I don't have a PBC but I cook a lot of chicken on 4 different grills. There is one particular brand of chicken that I have stopped buying due to the skin and how much the meat shrinks when cooked.
The meat would shrink so much the skin hangs loose and yes it is like rubber. This happened in any of my cookers.
I changed to Springer Mountian and the cheap Sams Club double packs and do not have the issue anymore. I try to always brine my birds overnight and towel them off before cooking. I put most of the seasoning under the skin now too along with fresh herbs like rosemary and sage. I also use butter under the skin but I'm not sure about doing that in a PBC... ? ...
This is producing the best results that I have had over the years.
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The thing that works best for me is to leave the chicken in the fridge overnite after prepping ( whether tou brine or just season)....or even 2 days if you can plan ahead for the cook.
The cold dry environment of the fridge will pull the moisture out of the skin but will not dry out the meat. Try it if you have not done so. It works very well.
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Flavor wise, I have about the same thoughts as you with KBB chicken. Good texture, moist, but the smoke overpowers, especially the next day with any leftovers. I did/do trim the loose skin and extra fat before hanging to mitigate drippings.
One thing that has worked well for me (flavor wise) was switching to Stubbs briquettes when doing chicken. I get about the same barrel temps as KBB, and the chicken has a much milder flavor, more like cooking over a wood fire. Also did not overpower the leftovers. Food for thought.
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Will definitely try out the Stubbs. Thanks
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I just have to say wow. I used the Stubbs charcoal and can't believe the difference. Made a chicken with Stubbs and it was amazing. Far less charcoal taste. It had he perfect amount of smokiness and the skin came out fantastic. So glad I found this forum and got the advice. Being Stubbs is more money I will use it for poultry only. Kingsford does fine for other meats in my opinion.
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I just have to say wow. I used the Stubbs charcoal and can't believe the difference. Made a chicken with Stubbs and it was amazing. Far less charcoal taste. It had he perfect amount of smokiness and the skin came out fantastic. So glad I found this forum and got the advice. Being Stubbs is more money I will use it for poultry only. Kingsford does fine for other meats in my opinion.
Great to hear you got that fixed! And - play with different charcoals. Get a small bag of whatever brand you see out there that interests you - and take notes to refer to later. A cooking journal can be worth the moon.
And - FWIW - i like my lump charcoal the best. And I think there are better brands than others in lump charcoal as well. And lump will burn cleaner and hotter than briquettes - but not as long as briquettes. But in any case- enjoy the experimenting.