Thought it best to start a new thread. Just curious as to why some think it is so important to “dump moisture” during a cook. It has always been my impression for years that moisture during a cook was a good thing. Example, the water pan smokers that some swear by. The moister that my Amerique produces is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. At times I will place a can of soy and juice mixture on the fire box for added moisture and flavor. It is my impression that you are working to get for example a crispy skin on chicken. Although we do enjoy going to KFC when we are in a town big enough to have one, the problem of edible skin is not a problem as far as we are concerned with the A/Q. Realizing of course everyone has different taste.
This past weekend we did a 5# chicken, butterflied (back bone and keel bone removed) like we have been doing for many years with one exception. Brined for 24 hours, air dry in fridge for 16 hours, applied rub then placed on middle rack skin side down at 275° for one hour. Then I tried the buttered cheese cloth technique skin side up. At 165° (1hour 50 minutes) opened door to cool smoker down and let it go to hold for ½ hour. Result was a bird that had a nice color, very juicy with edible skin, not rubbery. The next time I do one like this, I will remove the cheese cloth while it is resting in the smoker. I liked the cheese cloth method as the bird cooked even faster because I only had to open the door once versus twice for basting in the past.
Comments please as I may be missing something.
Tom
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