Quick Question[s] - Chicken Indirect, "Smoke Roasting"

[Eapples]

Hello, Everyone:

Quick question about doing chicken indirect.  "Smoke Roasting" reference courtesy of Raichlen, as he refers to the technique.

I used my charcoal baskets, and a drip pan in between the baskets.  Chicken leg/thigh, using Mixon's poultry rub, two small chunks of apple wood, kettle temp held at around 360-370, using the dome thermometer.  One hour, give or take, internal temp adequate or over, depending on where I stuck the probe (ThermoPop).  JUICY!  But (there's always a but, not to be confused with butt) the skin, although tasty, was a bit rubbery.

Maybe I should have banked the coals on one side, still do the indirect routine, but then maybe the last ten minutes or so direct to crisp up the skin a little?  Aim for a higher kettle temp?

[jamesnomore]

If your a skin eater you must go direct to get that crispy love you so desire.

This is your goal:

[OoPEZoO]

Yup, gotta go direct for at least a little while to get the skin crispy. With dark meat, I usually get it up to an acceptable internal temp and then go direct until the skin looks crispy. With white meat, I will go with the direct a little earlier due it getting overcooked (dried out) easier

[Aspiring Pitmaster]

I've been working on wings the last few weeks.  My best result so far came when I seasoned & dried the wings over night on a wire rack in the fridge.  I then banked the coals on one side, and cooked them at 400F indirect on GrillGrates.  I took the temp up to around 430F before adding the wings which made it easier to quickly get back up to 400F after adding them.  I flipped the wings at 20 minutes and pulled them at 45 minutes.  The skin was very crisp & was a beautiful golden brown. By far the best wings I've ever done.

I tried it again the other night after only drying the wings for around 5 hours and adding some smoke wood, but I didn't get the same results.  I'm trying again tomorrow, going back to an overnight drying period and no smoke wood.

[toddmog]

Don't be afraid to take the temp a little higher.  I measure temp at grate level with a Maverick ET-732...dome temp is always 15-20 degrees higher.  I also reverse sear to crisp up the skin even though most of my family doesn't even eat the skin.  I also brine my chicken and have yet to have any dry out since switching to the kettle.