Best Chicken so far

[Pork Belly]

Oil as a binder and apply rub.
Preheat smoker to 250, no water pan and 3 oz of sugar maple
Run Jerky Fan for entire smoke, smoked 3 hours.
The skin was not brittle crispy but it was crisp and very good.

 

[gregbooras]

Oil as a binder and apply rub.
Preheat smoker to 250, no water pan and 3 oz of sugar maple
Run Jerky Fan for entire smoke, smoked 3 hours.
The skin was not brittle crispy but it was crisp and very good.

Hey Brian,

The chicken looks great, I may have to think about buying the Jerky fan. Hope you don't mind a few questions

Did you use a whole cut up chicken or just the dark meat?

When you say pre-heat the smoker, did you bring it up to temp and then add the chicken?

Also it looks like you did not brine?

Thanks Greg

 

[BedouinBob]

Looks tasty Brian. 

 

[Pork Belly]

Greg those were leg-quarters that I separated, not brined just seasoned. I added the wood and ran the smoker for 30 minutes before I loaded the meat. I had it all laid out on a rack already. Popping the door and throwing in the rack was very quick. The fan was put on after the meat went in.

 

[NDKoze]

Maybe we're getting somewhere with this Jerky Fan idea. Awesome to hear that it turned out well.

 

[gregbooras]

Greg those were leg-quarters that I separated, not brined just seasoned. I added the wood and ran the smoker for 30 minutes before I loaded the meat. I had it all laid out on a rack already. Popping the door and throwing in the rack was very quick. The fan was put on after the meat went in.

Hey Brian,

Thanks for the update, I am wondering roll the jerky fan played....

Did it increase the heat or just help to dry out the skin so it could crisps a bit?

Greg

 

[TexasSMK]

Those look good.  Jerky Fan is in my future plans--will definitely give this a try. 

 

[Pork Belly]

It expels the moisture.

 

[gregbooras]

It expels the moisture.

I think also starting at the high temp helped.

Looks like I may need to purchase the jerky fan!

Greg

 

[paidin]

good to see that others are fighting the good fight!  One day, we will figure out the lazy-q crispy chicken skin combo.  My last chicken cook was chicken wings but it was for a birthday party at a friends house and I was planning on finishing it there on a grill to ensure it was hot and crispy.  That cook, I preheated the smoker while I was prepping the wings.  The smoker hit 300 degrees after two hours.  I think the key will be preheating the smoker, jerky fan, and 350 on the auber.  Theoretically, you should get crispy skin, smoked moist chicken in about two hours, maybe less because of the higher temps.  It may require some thermal mass in the smoker to make that happen but who knows.  Thats the fun in figuring things out.

 

[1stlink]

It's sounding like Steve may be selling a lot of jerky fans.  8)

 

[SuperDave]

I think the DIY inline duct fans for 1/2 the price have got to be tried. 

 

[1stlink]

Yes there are alternatives. I recall reading about using computer cooling fans which are very cheap in comparison.