All I have to say Pablo.....
I did a short ~2.5 hour dry brine followed by a solid 5 hours drying on a rack in the fridge before smoking some thighs last night... I was a bit skeptical.... but I knew within 30 minutes of the chicken being on the grill that something completely different was going on! The meat and skin turned golden brown instantly, and I noticed that the skin was cracking and crazing so much earlier -- at the 30 min mark! -- and the most noticeable thing was that the thighs were PLUMPING up --- that pellicle really sealed the juices in! Even tho I wanted to, I never did spritz the chicken during the whole 3 hour cook -- just basted bbq on for the last half hour. Chicken turned out tasty and juicy, although the skin just didn't have the 'bite' I always strive for -- need to work more on that - more flipping? less flipping? hotter cook?. Pretty sure it picked up more smoke than previous cooks - will have to verify on the reheats (five beers while cooking
) - but I did sneak a sniff from the leftovers and it smells fantastic! I am amazed that with all the smoking videos, recipes and blogs/forums I've watched and read over the last six months that no one has pointed out the importance of letting the chicken dry in the fridge for smoking.... they always rub it - start the smoker - throw it on..... Makes me believe there are a lot of people out there eating chicken with only a 'surface smoke' flavor and not knowing what they are missing. I will definitely be re-tuning my rub/dry brine/resting protocol for chicken now.
Thanks for pointing out the importance of the pellicle Pablo
Without it, I would have been part of the blissfully ignorant masses!
