Chicken!! (grill, bbq, barbecue, Italian)

[NewHavensFinest]

Skipping the history of my cooking experience.......

I made some brine for chicken legs, never cooked chicken using a brine but im big on experimenting with food and flavors so I had a go at it.

Dont want to get into every detail but the brine went something like this

Garlic
salt
rice vinegar
water
sugar
tab of brown sugar and some other italian spices.

Maybe a bit overkill on the flavors but I tasted some of the brine before adding the chicken and it was ok.
Like I said im into experimenting and im not too picky, only when its too dry or salty.


On to the point.

I would like to bake and barbecue these but I cant stand skin that is gooey and flops off the meat.

I just want the skin to be nice and crispy with the BBQ sauce glazed on top of it.

I know I could do more internet research but first, what do you guys do for crispy skin?

Do I really have to grill the chicken first before drenching it in BBQ and sitting it in the oven?


I just want crispy BBQ skin!!!!! lol

Thanks for any advice

[NewHavensFinest]

Nobody likes chicken I guess......

[George Chong]

Here are some tips to get the skin crispy on chicken. Your secrets to crispy chicken skin - Home Cooking - Chowhound

You should also loosen the skin from the meat.

[debzkidz]

Originally Posted by NewHavensFinest

Nobody likes chicken I guess......

Not chicken skin. It comes off before I cook it.

[maggie2101]

I brine my turkey every Thanksgiving. Roasting it low and slow and on a rack makes for a good crispy skin. Make sure you pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel before roasting. If you want BBQ sauce on it I would brush it on in the last 15-20 minutes.

[NewHavensFinest]

Pretty sure I came across that link posted above. Im cooking them now.

I simply patted the skin down and salted it. Put it in oven at 325 for around 40 minutes, skin got nice and brown so I just cranked it at 450 for another 5 minutes lol.

Its probably dry now but I had some BBQ sauce in a pot simmering so I soaked them and put them in at 325 again for a few more minutes, well see how they come out.....

I probably dried them out but whatever im still going to eat them.

[eating while walking]

Hello,

The main factor that affects the crispiness of the skin is how dry the exterior is when it goes into the oven. Hence, brining can be counterproductive unless you add an additional step of letting the meat air-dry after brining. One trick is to pour boiling water over the skin after brining. This tightens up the skin and the hot water evaporates fast, leaving a chicken that's dry and ready for crisping.

If you don't want to fool with all that then I would just skip the brine and dry rub the bird. Give the chicken a generous salt and spice rub and let it sit overnight before roasting. I always do this instead of brining and I find it's far less hassle.

[NewHavensFinest]

Thanks for the help. I was cooking drumsticks rather than a whole bird, but its almost the same thing.

Well this batch came out ok, the skin wasnt dry enough but Im going to try some other methods and see what happens. I feel like the brine kept the skin moisturized even after I thought I turned the oven off and walked away for 15 minutes. The meat was nice though, had flavor and wasnt dry.


This is why I love to cook....experiments!