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competition chicken

Smokin' Gnome BBQ

Smokin' Gnome BBQ

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I have never really had any success with chicken and wanted some input. I generally marinate in Itailian dressing overnight, move the chicken (thighs) to a foil pan covered with foil for an hour and a half on the smoker and finish on my chicken grill with a little smoke and high heat then sauce with a sweet mix of sauce, juice and some corn syrup. bite through skin,trimming and presentation dont seem to be the issue. Im not sure if I am even in the ball park with this, what do you think?
Sal
 
Our chicken has been all over the place. One thing I think I've been doing is over cooking it. This might be part of what's going on with yours too. What temp is it when you move it to the grill?

Tom
 
VA BBQ PIRATES said:
Our chicken has been all over the place. One thing I think I've been doing is over cooking it. This might be part of what's going on with yours too. What temp is it when you move it to the grill?

Tom
Click to expand...

I switch it over about 140 and because of the way the MeadowCreek chicken cooker I can "flip" the chicken for about 45 min. to finish the chicken. The "fire" is far bellow the grate so I havent had any time getting it up to 170ish with out burning it, after the carry over it generally is about 180ish when it is resting.
 
Don't know if you'd like a judge's input, but here goes anyway...

You say you cover your pan during the 1 1/2 hours of smoking, do you leave the foil loose so some smoke can get in? One of my major complaints with chicken is that often there's just no smoky flavor.

Also, without knowing how thickly you sauce, it sounds like your sauce could be pretty sticky/sweet. Maybe leave out the corn syrup? Chicken is always the messiest category, and while most judges will try the first bite with skin, sauce & all, we do tend to then try to get past the sauce into the chicken itself. IMO, the meat should be able to stand on it's own, and in 7 years of judging, I've never heard a judge say they wish there was more sauce on chicken.
 
Having only cooked in one contest, I'm definitely no expert.... but I did win chicken at that contest, so I hope this helps. My prep was similar to yours (marinade, then rub), but I didn't use a pan or foil during the cooking process. The thighs went directly on the grate of the stumps, skin side up the entire time (no grill finishing). I did glaze with a sweet sauce about 30 minutes prior to pulling them to prepare my turn in box. I took the thighs all the way to 180* and had bite-through, not crispy skin. I don't really believe in resting chicken, because you don't cut, slice or pull it for turning in.

Here is a picture of my turn in from Rocky Mount

chickenbox.jpg
 
NelsonC said:
Here is a picture of my turn in from Rocky Mount
Click to expand...

Wow...THAT is some gorgeous chicken. I'd give it a 9 hands down.

See how his chicken is more even on the overall look? You can also see there's a lot going on with it, spices, etc.

Doesn't sound like anything is wrong with your method. We've stopped trying to finish on the grill as well and have been doing better.
 
NelsonC said:
Having only cooked in one contest, I'm definitely no expert.... but I did win chicken at that contest, so I hope this helps. My prep was similar to yours (marinade, then rub), but I didn't use a pan or foil during the cooking process. The thighs went directly on the grate of the stumps, skin side up the entire time (no grill finishing). I did glaze with a sweet sauce about 30 minutes prior to pulling them to prepare my turn in box. I took the thighs all the way to 180* and had bite-through, not crispy skin. I don't really believe in resting chicken, because you don't cut, slice or pull it for turning in.

Here is a picture of my turn in from Rocky Mount
Click to expand...
What temp are you cooking at? top or bottom rack?
 
I have seen some great looking chicken on here. the pic is my turn in at Pickin' in the PanHandle, it was 13th. I really hope this thread not only helps me but others like the Brisket sauce thread probably will (I know it will for me!!)there are alot of guys doing well in chicken on here, I am not looking for recipes more for a technique. Any pointers would be great! thanks! I really dont even mind a critique of my method, just want to add another chapter to the brethern book.
 
The best we ever done in chicken was when it was dark red with a shiny glaze! Seems to be the magic for us. We tried other methods for coloring and it never scored as well. We cook at 300+.
 
Appearance is all fine and good, but if the chix don't taste great, pretty is the least of your worries. Gimme some delicious smoky meat!
 
SmokeInDaEye said:
Ganome, it seems from the pix that you need a little more heat. The chicken looks kinda light and it make the grate marks very noticable. a thinned out sauce could also help even out the color, just make sure you give it a bit of time to set in.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=773352&postcount=82
Click to expand...


I agree with the lightness in color, this is when I first tried to turn it in, 11:30 insted of 12:00. it went back on the smoker and did set up/darken a bit. I was a little ahead of my self, I was thinking of sausage turn in at NewHolland! after all was said and done I laughed even though walking up to the judges tent a half hour early and see any one else wasnt funny.:roll:
 
Smokin' Gnome BBQ said:
I agree with the lightness in color, this is when I first tried to turn it in, 11:30 insted of 12:00. it went back on the smoker and did set up/darken a bit. I was a little ahead of my self, I was thinking of sausage turn in at NewHolland! after all was said and done I laughed even though walking up to the judges tent a half hour early and see any one else wasnt funny.:roll:
Click to expand...

Hey, at least you were ahead of schedule the rest of the day, no?
 
We've only been to one KCBS competition, but we took first in chicken. We don't grill and we don't sauce. We pull the chicken and immediately apply avery little thin, sweet glaze. The chicken is hot and the glaze is hot so it cooks on immediately. Best thing is the skin stays crispy and is a little sweet and shiny.
 
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