Chicken thigh practice, and just throwing and idea out for chef's choice

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Rusty Kettle

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I did some thighs on the traeger. First attempt at muffin pan chicken and just wondered what you all thought of their shape. I did not box them up but just curious what you thought. I am starting to practice for the amateur Whitings BBQ contest again to try and get better than DAL. I am trying commercial sauce and commercial rubs. Now I don't want to tell exactly what I am thinking for chefs choice as I am going to use a recipe I got from 3 Eyz Bbq at their class but I wanted an opinion on the way it will be served. How would you feel as a judge being served something in a bacon bowl? I mean you could literally eat the main dish and the dish it is served in. Does that sound appealing? I thought it might be a nice touch.
 

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Sorry, but those would take a hit in appearance for me. Just not appetizing looking to me. IMHO, chicken balls would have to have that perfect sauce glaze and perfect looking color evenness to score a 9 for me.

As a cook to, I actually received much higher appearance scores on thighs that I personally thought had a lot of unevenness to and got a walk
 
JeffR said:
Sorry, but those would take a hit in appearance for me. Just not appetizing looking to me. IMHO, chicken balls would have to have that perfect sauce glaze and perfect looking color evenness to score a 9 for me.

As a cook to, I actually received much higher appearance scores on thighs that I personally thought had a lot of unevenness to and got a walk
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What would you score them? I set the sauce the way myron mixon said in his book but I think maybe to dark? It seemed a bit long to set the sauce. Chicken seems difficult to get right.
 
Give the mini loaf pans a try they will look like thighs and still hold a shape, also give dunking the thigh in the sauce/glaze gives a real even coat.

Keep up the work! Comp BBQ is a blast!!
Clint
 
Uneven bones sticking out, uneven skin covering, uneven saucing, uneven coloration, some look more moist than others. This box would be either 5 or possibly 6 in person. Average at best. I'm NOT a fan of chicken balls, but I don't score down for them, I judge what is presented. There may be a judge or three out there that will judge down for un-natural looking chicken (although they shouldn't), so why take that chance.
 
I think I still need a lot of work... Oh well try try again. So muffin pan chicken probably will not work. I think I may need to just go back to drawing board again with chicken.
 
Rusty Kettle said:
I think I still need a lot of work... Oh well try try again. So muffin pan chicken probably will not work. I think I may need to just go back to drawing board again with chicken.
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Spend your time making them taste good instead of sweating appearance. People get caught up in the lowest weighted score to the detriment of flavor and texture. It makes no sense. Make the best piece of chicken that you know how to make without worrying about appearance. Once you get the flavor and texture dialed in then you can start to pretty it up!
 
As far as the bacon bowl goes, it depends on what is in it whether it would be appetizing to me or not. Honestly, I am over the whole bacon crazy fad.
 
The biggest problem that I've seen with bacon bowls is that unless the bacon is VERY crisp it gets soggy with stuff inside. Getting the bacon crisp enough without it crumbling all to pieces is the trick. Also, the usual mold for a bacon bowl is so large that it makes eating the bowl impractical when judging. Great presentation, but don't expect the judges to eat the bowl as part of the judging IMHO.
 
Rusty Kettle said:
I think I still need a lot of work... Oh well try try again. So muffin pan chicken probably will not work. I think I may need to just go back to drawing board again with chicken.
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or just learn how to trim and cook chicken thighs without the use of a muffin pan.
 
bbq.tom said:
The biggest problem that I've seen with bacon bowls is that unless the bacon is VERY crisp it gets soggy with stuff inside. Getting the bacon crisp enough without it crumbling all to pieces is the trick. Also, the usual mold for a bacon bowl is so large that it makes eating the bowl impractical when judging. Great presentation, but don't expect the judges to eat the bowl as part of the judging IMHO.
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Hey as long as the presentation is good. I have been tossing this around for a bit but had no idea how to turn it in. I am not sure if the rule about foreign objects in the box applies to chefs choice or not so the bacon bowl because it is edible gets me around my problem of it being a foreign object but if it is edible my problem is solved and if they eat it I think the flavor would work but if not it will still work just fine. I am trying a brine with chicken today to see how that works. As for not using a muffin pan that probably is not an option as I have a motor skills issue that makes my hands unsure as they shake not a lot but enough to make trimming square hard on me. I probably am going to get some mini loaf pans and try that and see. Today I am making muffin pan chicken again as I want to get it right. As long as I can place middle of the pack with chicken and do better with ribs and chefs choice I might stand a shot this may.
 
Rusty Kettle said:
I think I still need a lot of work... Oh well try try again. So muffin pan chicken probably will not work. I think I may need to just go back to drawing board again with chicken.
Click to expand...

Why???? Appearance is mere fraction of your score. Taste and tenderness are weighted much more heavily. If they taste great and are moist and tender than I wouldn't change a thing with my recipe.
 
I loved my flavor at whitings comp last May but I got scored low on everything so since I am planning on going back I am trying to go sweet and not spicy.
 
Rusty Kettle said:
Hey as long as the presentation is good. I have been tossing this around for a bit but had no idea how to turn it in. I am not sure if the rule about foreign objects in the box applies to chefs choice or not so the bacon bowl because it is edible gets me around my problem of it being a foreign object but if it is edible my problem is solved and if they eat it I think the flavor would work but if not it will still work just fine.
Click to expand...

Well, if you are only being scored on presentation, then go for it. Taste is usually the highest weighted category... so if the flavors don't work then it won't work "just fine." I would check the rules.
 
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