AmeriQue cooking tip please.

Firts off, I am not an AQ owner. But... I think you got good advice. Smoke them at 300˚ as your skin "may" crisp up to an edible level. My guess is that you will still have to toss them on the broiler or grill to avoid rubery skin.

Let us know how 300˚ works should you decide to go that route.

I have no useful advice for you with an unflued steamer/smoker.
Be aware however that the limp fowl skin is not solely the result of low temperature cooking.
I get crisp skin at any temperature because i have an adjustable flue.
If you put wings in your home oven at 250f they will crisp wonderfully because the oven vents moisture which the CS does not.
I am not recommending you install a flue, only assuring you that with poultry you must vent moisture OR ELSE grill or high temp roast after smoking which is:
Not for me....
dick

Is the installation of a flue something of a permanent nature in regards to a Cookshack? Or is it something that can be used for desired cooks? Actually I don't even know what this gizmo is, so I may be asking a silly question. Just the same, I am interested in hearing how one makes a CS "flue friendly".

Thanks Dick,
Jeff

Jig has diagrams of the flue somewhere on the forum. Nifty device if you can figure it out. It's an alteration that will definitely void any warranty on you AQ or any other CS smoker.

Thanks for the info. Will definitely be checking out the flue.

Just put the wings in out of the fridge into the preheated AmeriQue at 300* until done. You will be glad you did.

CookShack engineers are plenty intelligent. If they thought these cookers needed a 'flue' or any way to further vent moisture, they would have it. Just my opinion.

Chefjeff.
The flue is simply an adjustable chimney which replaces the factory vent hole.
My inherited CS 50 had the chimney installed by the original owner.
Yes it is a permanent alteration but of course since the flue opening is adjustable one can operate it as a steamer smoker as CS intended or one can open the flue to any desired degree and easily get better poultry skin and better hot smoked fish.
I posted a diagram which some found hard to visualize though it's nothing more than a 3 inch diameter chimney that replaces the vent hole.
There is a plate in the throat of the chimney which is adjustable .
Think of the flue adjustment knob on a wood stove pipe or think of a fully adjustable carburetor plate.
Perhaps there is something about the Amerique which mitigates against this alteration.
I have never seen that model.
After the flue was installed my 50 was operated summer and winter for 9 years and has had no repairs or parts replacement.
The original element is still in service.
Best.
dick

I have cooked lots of chicken and turkey in my AQ. I cook at the highest temp (300). I have yet to have any skin that was edible. That's okay with us, since we usually pull the skin off any way. The moist enviornment really prevents any fowl skin from crisping. Maybe you can open the door a couple of times throughout the cook. Or maybe I'm just a novice with my AQ and I need educated!

There are an assortment of tricks that give us a more dry skin with a traditional Cookshack.

Although I agree about the moistness in cooking in a traditional Cookshack,it is not the only criteria.

Folks that bake french bread will mist their ovens to get that crisp crust.

Comp cooks will spray their 450º cookers to finish chicken skin.

Many folks that cook at home,or in restaurants,find that poultry skin begins to fry at something over 335º cooking temp.

Although some comp cooks can produce high temps to finish chicken in their cookers,some also finish direct over charcoal-or a hot spot in the cooker.

Many other fine/winning cooks slow cook and produce excellent "bite through" skin.

If it wasn't for the treads on here,I'd probably not remember to worry about the skin and focus on my moistness,tenderness,and flavor profile.

Just a thought.

Thanks everyone for your tips, advice, and bringing up new concepts I'd not thought of. Excuse the expression, but I ended up "winging" it last night, regarding technique/timing, and temperature. Checking this post just now, it turns out that my cook of last night mostly resembled GLH's recommendation.

And by the way---GLH, if you are reading this post, I know that I would benefit from hearing about "pre-heating", and your guestimate of how long to cook wings in a pre-heated 300ºAmeriQue versus a non pre-heated AmeriQue---preheating is one concept I'm really unaware of. I would also be listening to your thoughts on a brine for next time.

I took my oiled/spicy C.S. rubbed wings and placed them in AmeriQue. I set the temp to 300º, and let them go for 2 1/2 hours. Why I decided on this timing---who the heck knows? Thanks to Smokemullet, I felt good about using a little more wood than usual---not much more, I suppose---but the 3 oz. chunk of applewood gave a really nice flavor to the wings.

The wings were fun to eat and really zippy from the C.S. chicken rub. The skin on the wings did come out a bit crispy, and the appearance was a very deep brown, almost blackened color. I know the wings were done, because lots of the bones had that crunchy "potato chip" quality that has me chomping down to see how much of the bone I can consume. All in all, another great C.S. cook. Perhaps next time, I'll see what shaving 15 minutes off of the cooking time might result in. Cooking at 300º was a very interesting experience. I took meditation to a strange place because I spent lots of time just standing next to AmeriQue---watching the smoke billow out of the two holes, and listening. I suppose in time I'll stop this practice, but I'm like a 10 year old boy in a 51 year old body---it's just so much fun to see AmeriQue do its thing. At 300º, I actually heard lots of sizzling from dripping fat hitting the top of the woodbox.

Now that I'm beginning in earnest to experiment and have fun with AmeriQue, I anticipate smoke/cooking season to be a 12 month's a year endeavor. I told myself not to hit myself over the head from having let my AmeriQue go un-used for almost 8 months. Instead I'm going to focus on all of the coming possibilities.

Cheers all,
Jeff



My rendition of wings turns out to be closest to what GLH recommended What I ended up doing last night was closest to

I do not own an AmeriQue and do not know much about cooking in one, but I believe in preheating the smoker just as one would preheat the kitchen oven.

Look in the recipe section for some good bird brines.